Julius Randle's Wife Says John Calipari Saved Her Grandma's Life
John Calipari's departure from Kentucky left a lot of fans with a sour taste in their mouths. But Kendra Randle — wife of NBA All-Star Julius Randle — has nothing but love for the longtime Wildcats basketball coach.
Kendra shared on Twitter / X Sunday night that Calipari once helped save her grandmother's life.
"4 years ago my grandmother was very sick in a small hospital in eastern KY," she recalled.
"Julius called Coach Cal and asked if there was anyone he knew that could get her transferred to UK hospital. 15 mins later she was in a helicopter to UK and I still to this day believe he saved her life."
Julius played one season under Calipari. He earned SEC Rookie of the Year honors in 2014 before becoming the 7th pick in the NBA Draft. And it seems the Randle family maintains a close relationship with Coach Cal.
"The impact and excitement you brought Kentucky as a whole will never be forgotten," Kendra continued. "But our family specially will never forget that. Just a small example of how much he loves his players truly. We love you coach!"
News broke Sunday night that Calipari was leaving Kentucky to accept the head coaching position at Arkansas. Tensions at Kentucky were at an all-time high after the once-dominant program fell to 14th-seeded Oakland in the first round of this year's NCAA Tournament.
"Fans of Kentucky were tired of hearing about how this team was ‘Built For March’ but would flame out once the time came to back those words up," OutKick's Trey Wallace wrote.
"One SEC Tournament win in the past five seasons, along with only one NCAA Tournament win in the past three years wasn't cutting it for Kentucky fans, and those behind the scenes, including the ones who are donating massive sums of money to the university each year."
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Despite how the relationship ended, there's no doubting Calipari's impact in Lexington. He won a National Championship in 2012, took the Wildcats to four Final Fours, won the SEC Tournament six times, and regularly brought in some of the best recruiting classes in the sport.
Oh, and he saved at least one grandma.