By LARRY VAUGHT

Joe DeGregorio is a John Calipari fan and has been since Calipari played point guard for him at Clarion in Pennsylvania almost 30 years ago.

DeGregorio will be at Friday’s exhibition game between Cal’s Cats and Clarion and expects to see a talented Kentucky team.

“John is a motivator. He is a demanding guy. It is not easy to play for him. If it was easy, everybody would do it,” said DeGregorio. “I think they will be special in his first year. Normally you give a guy two or three years to get it going, but John expects a lot, too. He says they had a great recruiting year, Patrick Patterson is back and the whole state of Kentucky is behind him.

“His energy is a plus. It’s not just basketball. He knows other things that go with job, but he loves every bit of that, too. I just think he was born to coach at a place like Kentucky.”

DeGregorio expects to be part of a special pregame presentation to Calipari.

“They are going to have buses come down. This is a big event for Clarion. It’s just an exhibition for Kentucky, but I will be there and so will a lot of other Clarion folks,” DeGregorio said. “I want to find out what country club he belongs to because I want to play some golf. I have got to be careful where I spend money, but he has always taken good care of me and his high school coach (Bill Sacco). Whenever John gets involve in a new position, Bill and I become semi-celebrities. It is kind of fun to be involved

“I see Johnny at the Final Four every year. I have the right to purchase two tickets every year. John invites me to the dinner they have for all coaches that have taken teams to a Final Four. He doesn’t have  to do it but he invites me to be his guest and I appreciate that.

“I was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame a year ago and Johnny flew in for that. It was nice touch and very much appreciated. He was upset I got in before him, though. But Johnny just hasn’t forgotten people that helped him along the way and we all know so many who do forget.

“When you get at the top, there will be folks who don’t like and want to see bad things happen. It’s tough. Johnny has handled everything very well. There will always be Little storm, but he will weather them and be fine. I know John Calipari is on the up and up and he will run a program people will be proud of and I am proud to be coming to see just what he has going.”

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