Calipari believes he's 'overrated' as a recruiter

John Calipari has brought in some of college basketball's most highly touted recruits during his tenure at the University of Kentucky, as the likes of Anthony Davis and John Wall have suited up for Big Blue Nation since he became head coach in 2009.

But in recent years, Calipari has been beaten at his own game.

Duke beat the Wildcats for 2018's top recruit, RJ Barrett, and earlier Tuesday, next year's top prospect, James Wiseman, chose the University of Memphis over Kentucky.

"I think I'm overrated as a recruiter," Calipari said, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello. "We've had kids that made the decision to come here, and it's played out well for almost all of them. My thing is, I want to be able to sleep at night. I want to make sure I'm telling the truth. I want to make sure I'm sticking with guys.

"We don't get every kid. We get the ones we are supposed to get. It just kind of plays out that way and it always has."

Although the Wildcats missed out on Wiseman, Kentucky is the only school with two top 10 prospects committed for next season, and Calipari says he won't change the way he approaches recruiting.

"I gotta be able to sleep at night knowing that I'm being honest, I'm not embellishing: 'Here's what it is,'" Calipari said. "I'm not saying that against anybody else, everybody recruits the way they recruit. But you've got good programs and good coaches, and that's why we don't get everybody we recruit. We're not the only ones out there trying to get good players and trying to help kids."