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Kentucky's Coach Calipari Slam Dunks the Social Networking World

by Caleb Johnson on March 24, 2010 at 06:25 PM

In the past, sports and social networking sites have had a tumultuous relationship. But now, many in the athletic world are learning what a powerful ally a bluebird might be. University of Kentucky men's basketball Coach John Calipari, for example, has become a pro at Web 2.0.

According to The New York Times, Coach Cal, as he's affectionately known to his legion of fans, has more than 1,113,647 followers on Twitter and 138,325 fans on Facebook. Not to mention, a Coach Cal iPhone application that debuted last month shot to the top of the paid sports apps chart in less than a week. That's star power, folks. To manage all these irons in the social-networking fire, Calipari has two assistants -- Dave Scott, who co-wrote a book with the coach, and DeWayne Peevy, Kentucky's associate athletic director of media relations. The assistants run his Facebook page and send tweets from his account marked with their initials. But Calipari takes the reigns every now and then to tweet about food, his All-America point guard John Wall or even his dogs.

The only other basketball figure that comes close to Coach Cal in popularity is NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. Could a Twitter feud between the two be imminent? We can only hope. [From: The New York Times]

Tags: basketball, college basketball, facebook, JohnCalipari, shaquille oneal, ShaquilleOneal, SocialNetworking, sports, top, twitter, University of Kentucky, UniversityOfKentucky, Web

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