Harrellson discusses the Calipari-Jones profanity issue

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In the closing minutes of the Alabama game, UK head coach John Calipari was caught cussing at Terrence Jones. He issued an apology on Twitter shortly after the game, and Terrence Jones brushed off the incident on Twitter the next day.

Friday, Calipari wanted nothing to do with any questions about it — when asked, he immediately put his hand up, turned away and said South Carolina was next — but Josh Harrellson discussed the relatively common nature of coaches cussing and downplayed the incident.

“I didn’t think it would catch as much attention as it did,” Harrellson said. “Every coach does it. He gets caught one time, but we’re moving forward.”

Harrellson said Jones wasn’t worried about it, and pointed out that Calipari was understandably upset because UK had messed up three plays in a row.

“I didn’t notice anything. I didn’t actually hear it,” Harrellson said of the actual moment. “They always zoom in on people, and I know I’ve been caught saying stuff a couple times. One of my friends from home would text me, like, ‘don’t say that on TV.’ They zoom in when you say something. Even I’ve been caught a couple times.”

Harrellson said players usually don’t listen to the actual curse words coming from their coach, but instead focus on what the coach is trying to convey.

“You don’t really listen to how he says it, you listen to what he’s saying,” Harrellson said. “It doesn’t matter what words he uses or how he says it, we just listen to the message. If you listen to the way some coaches speak to you, that could tear your morale down.”

Still, Harrellson thought how the incident played out — and the amount of attention it garnered in the following days — would lead Calipari to be more conscious of his language.

“I don’t think he’ll be experessing himself in that way anymore,” Harrellson said.