Kentucky star freshman had a surprise for John Calipari on his birthday

Kentucky head coach John Calipari got a special birthday surprise.

The Kentucky Wildcats have not been playing their best basketball lately, but these players are still close with their coach. 

Kentucky lost a close game to Gonzaga on Saturday, stretching the losing streak in Rupp Arena to three games, which has some members of the Big Blue Nation starting to worry about this team. One of the things we have learned about this 2023-24 Kentucky basketball team is that win or lose, it is a close bunch, and Coach John Calipari loves to coach them. 

Saturday was Coach Calipari's birthday, which wasn't the best way to spend his birthday as the Wildcats lost 89-85 to Gonzaga. On the 9th, Kentucky got together for a meal, and Rob Dillingham had a special surprise for his head coach's birthday.

Coach Calipari had this to say on his radio show about Dillingham's surprise for him on his 65th birthday, "Let me give you one other thing he did. This is what makes me proud. So you may not have known it, but it was my birthday on the 10th. On the 9th, we had dinner, and I told everybody this was about this team, not me having a birthday. I don't want any recognition. I want nothing. I told my wife, I told my staff, I told my secretary nothing don't. We go to dinner, and at the end of dinner, Robert walks in with this cake that Brandi (Romines) did, which was ridiculous. I said well, that's nice. What I didn't know was he directly messaged her himself and then said how much is this cake because I will. I don't know what they do, PayPal or whatever it is. He was willing to buy the cake himself. That shows you his heart and that he's kind." 

This shows that win or lose, this team feels good about their head coach. It also shows that Dillingham embodies everything the University of Kentucky stands for. While this team isn't playing its best basketball right now, how close they are should give fans hope they can turn it around before March arrives.