Drake says Kentucky coach inspired him to finish high school

theGRIO REPORT - Kentucky men's basketball has attracted the support of some of hip-hop's biggest names since head coach John Calipari's arrival in 2009. Rapper Drake may be one of the Wildcats' most visible fans and now he's taking it a step further - telling Kentucky's cn|2 that Calipari inspired him to finish high school.

Todd Johnson

Sep 18, 2012

Kentucky men’s basketball has attracted the support of some of hip-hop’s biggest names since head coach John Calipari’s arrival in 2009. Rapper Drake may be one of the Wildcats’ most visible fans and now he’s taking it a step further – telling Kentucky’s cn|2 that Calipari inspired him to finish high school.

The 25-year-old dropped out of high school to pursue a career in entertainment and music.

“When Coach ‘Cal asked me to come here for the first Midnight Madness, it just really gave me…it gave me a sense of school, a sense of love, a sense of belonging to something,” Drake said, with Kentucky alum and current Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins at his side. “And so you know that’s why I feel like I belong to the UK family and that’s why I’m graduating high school this month.”

Jay-Z is another ‘friend’ of Kentucky’s program. Earlier this year, the NBA fined him for posing for pictures in the Wildcats locker room following their Final Four birth in the NCAA tournament.

Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg also points out Drake’s past involvement with the team, which included sitting behind the bench during the NCAA tournament in 2010 and coaching one of the Kentucky squads in the annual alumni game in 2009 and 2012.

Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter @rantoddj