Not at all.
Delk is all for his alma mater bringing another title back to Kentucky.
"I went to Kentucky and I just left there," said New Mexico State assistant Tony Delk from New Orleans on the eve of Saturday's Final Four game between Kentucky and Louisville. "Anyone who knows me knows who I am pulling for."
Delk does have strong ties to both programs, although he is and always will support Kentucky, where he starred as a player under current Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
Delk's club beat current Kentucky coach John Calipari's UMass team in the national semifinal on the way to the 1996 national title.
Prior to coming to Las Cruces this season, Delk spent the previous two year's on Calipari's staff at Kentucky, where he still ranks fifth on the school's all time scoring list.
"You have two guys who have impacted my career with Coach P as a player and Cal putting me on his staff," Delk said. "Both are great guys.
"I texted both of them congratulating them for making it and Coach Cal called me three weeks ago when we made our run to the tournament. Cal helped me more with my coaching career as far as running a program and I played for Pitino so I didn't get a chance to be around him like that."
Delk said the Kentucky/Louisville rivalry wasn't much of a rivalry during his time at Kentucky. Delk's team beat Louisville by 30 his senior year, he said.
"It's great for the state of Kentucky," Delk said. "It's two teams that play extremely hard and will play until the buzzer sounds."
What will be the difference in the game?
"Louisville has problems scoring but they defend so if they aren't scoring, you're not going to score," Delk said. "The difference is guarding the 3-point line. They have had good tests against Iowa State and Indiana and if it's a half court game, Kentucky can play either style."
Following this weekend, Delk said he plans to continue improving as a coach.
"Of course I'm going to do some recruiting and try to watch some Olympic practices this summer," he said. "Just try to learn my craft."
2 comments:
Colin Cowherd this week said that Tony Delk's Wildcats would wipe the floor with this years Wildcats...I wonder what Coach Delk would say to that?
Whats the rumors out there about new basketball players coming to the program for next season?
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