Markquis Nowell reveals that John Calipari reached out to him about ‘little kid’ remark

Markquis Nowell has heard from Kentucky coach John Calipari after Calipari’s remark about the Kansas State guard being a “little kid” drew backlash following K-State’s win over UK on Sunday.

Nowell, who is preparing to play Michigan State on Thursday in the Sweet 16, said at a press conference that Calipari sent him a direct message and apologized.

“I congratulated him on his career, and what he’s done at Kentucky, and told him that I’d be happy to see him at the Hall of Fame one day,” Nowell said. “He said, ‘Yeah, you’ll get there, too. Because of your passion and hard work’ and he wanted to stand at my press conference when I do inducted. So it was just a cool exchange. Shout out to Coach Cal for reaching out to me, that was really big.”

Nowell scored 27 points and had 9 assists in the win over UK.

.@MrNewYorkCityy said Coach Cal sent him a DM apologizing for his comment and congratulated him on a good game. He even said he’ll be at his Hall of Fame presser one day ? pic.twitter.com/BhntDCG8fA

— Micaela Dea (@MicaelaDeaTV) March 22, 2023

Kentucky Coach John Calipari’s opening statement after losing to #KState. The “Little Kid” @MrNewYorkCityy put up 27 points and 9 assists. #KStateMBB pic.twitter.com/aCu5kovOCf

— Rob Collins (@RCFOX4KC) March 19, 2023

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.