DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Derrick Rose has cried after losing an AAU game. Not just once, but multiple times.
An AAU game? Are you serious? There's usually another game in a few hours, and no one pays much attention to an AAU team's win-loss record.
"What turned it for me was when I saw him cry after an AAU loss and the other dudes were racing to get to McDonald's," Calipari said. "This kid was crushed by losing."
Rose wasn't being immature. He cared. Maybe too much, but Calipari would take that passion in a second.
"I'm really competitive. If people say I can't shoot, then in a drill I'll try to outshoot them. I just hate losing. No matter what it is, I'll do it to win. Winning is the goal for me,” said Rose.
Reggie Rose said of Derrick's crying. "He hates to lose."
Calipari doesn't mince words about how much of a difference Rose's winning mentality changed the culture of the Tigers' program. Memphis went to two straight Elite Eights prior to Rose's arrival. Memphis went to the national title game with him, and the Tigers were potentially 17 feet -- a missed two-footer against Tennessee and a missed 15-foot free throw against Kansas in the title game -- from a perfect 40-0 season.
"What I like most about Derrick Rose is that when the lights are on, he takes his game to a different level," said UCLA coach Ben Howland. "The significance of the game raises his game to a higher level. He's a big-game, big-time, lights-on guy. That's when he shines best. Those guys are few and far between. Every big game he played, our game, Texas, he was phenomenal."
“Roses winning mentality is what makes him a special prospect,” Calipari said.
"Barring injury, he's your point guard the next 15 years," Calipari said. "If you can get one like him, you do it."
Calipari said Rose came to an established team, but after a month or two, he didn't just run the Tigers, he dragged them along.
"He's a guy who chases greatness," Calipari said. "You have to have the habits and the work ethic to truly chase it. He does."
Rose proved his maturity and leadership abilities after Memphis' regular-season loss to Tennessee, the team's only regular-season loss of the season. The freshman was one of only a few Tigers who talked to the media after the game. While veterans Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey hid their faces in the locker room, Rose faced the defeat head-on.
He also averaged 20.8 points, 6.0 assists and 6.5 rebounds in six NCAA tournament games. He dominated head-to-head matchups against top point guards like Texas' D.J. Augustin, Kansas’ Mario Chalmers, and UCLA's Darren Collison.
"It was win, win, win, win, during the NCAA tournament, that’s what he does," Reggie Rose said.
"I just knew that I had to put the team on my shoulders," Rose said. "I had to run the team."
The one blemish that Rose can't forget came against Kansas in the title game. He missed a free throw with 10 seconds left in regulation. If he made the free throw, Memphis would have had a four-point lead. Instead, with a three-point lead, Kansas' Mario Chalmers hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left.
Following the title game, Rose was crying and hugging his brother Reggie.
"He's his own worst critic and he internalizes his game, and if he makes a mistake, it takes a while for him to get over it," Calipari said.
“Rose is driven like Tiger Woods. He's got it. He's unique like that,” said Calipari.
