John Calipari is living out a dream he sought in 1992. He is the UK men’s basketball head coach.

Calipari remembers the emotion of the crowd and the feel of Rupp Arena when he brought his University of Massachusetts team to Rupp Arena, a game they lost 90-69 to the Cats.

Despite the loss, Calipari knew a dream had been engraved into his future.

“This is heady stuff,” Calipari said. “But it has been a dream since 1992. I said I’d love to coach there some day. I didn’t want to pass on the job and three years down the road regret anything.”

Calipari almost never got the chance to live out his dream though. Two years ago, UK decided on a different path — Billy Gillispie. Calipari said he remembers calling his wife, Ellen, everyday for six days asking if UK has called.

UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said Calipari was on his list two years ago, but he got to a place where he thought he was comfortable to make a hire in Gillispie. This time around, he said he decided to go about it in a different way.

Barnhart and UK signed Calipari to an eight-year contract worth $31.65 million plus incentives. An additional $200,000 buyout was paid to the University of Memphis.

“The marketplace that we operate in, to be the premiere basketball program in America, you want the best coach, you must pay a premium price,” Barnhart said. “We don’t mind doing that because we think it’s important. If done correctly, the investment in a coach will pay for itself and yield returns for the overall program in general.”

Calipari said the return he hopes for is national championships, not for himself but for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Calipari called himself a gatherer and doesn’t take anything personal. He referred to the 2008 NCAA Championship game, when Memphis blew a nine-point lead with 2:12 left to go, as something he didn’t take personal and was more upset for his players and Memphis fans than himself.

“Do I want this (to win national championships) to happen? Let’s double these,” Calipari said, pointing to the banners at the Joe Craft Center. “But you know what, it’s hard. And the challenge of being here is not competing for national titles, but winning them. But that’s what you buy into when you come here.”

While he wants to and plans to compete for national championships, Calipari said he won’t make any promises. The only promise Calipari could make would be to run a program that Big Blue Nation would be proud of. He also wants to make sure the players are having fun when they play for him.

Calipari knows there are high expectations for UK every year, but he warned UK fans he is not a miracle man — just a regular guy instead.

“You may want to know about me,” Calipari said. “I’m a regular guy, folks. I do not walk on water. I do not have a magic wand. I’m day to day. I told Dr. Todd and Mitch, if you want something to happen in a year, do not hire me. That’s not how I do things. But when we get it right, you notice we’re No. 1 in the country, we’re No. 1 seeds, we’re playing in Final Fours — when you get it right.”

One of the things Calipari has been credited for doing right is his unique offense known as the dribble drive motion. Unlike a traditional offense, which includes a lot of passes and screens, the dribble drive motion is based off almost no screens and strictly beating your man off the dribble.

Calipari said he plans on bringing the offense to Lexington and told the current UK players if they can’t play to tell him, because it’s not the right program for the player.

“I can’t hide you. You have to be able to put it on the floor and make basketball plays and do things,” Calipari said. “If you can, you’re in heaven. This unleashes players.”

Calipari has already unleashed something on UK’s campus that former player Richie Farmer calls the start to something special. He said the hire of Calipari and his methods are something UK has been waiting for.

“It’s the tip-off for where Kentucky needs to be,” Farmer said. “One thing we have at Kentucky that no one else has is tradition built for decades, decades and decades.”