President welcomes Cats to White House,
applauds them for putting egos aside to win

Staff report

The president of the United States has officially been added to the list of luminaries to congratulate the 2011-12 UK men’s basketball team on its national championship.

On Friday, President Barack Obama welcomed UK head coach John Calipari and his team to the White House to be honored for their title.

President Obama joked with the team about not picking them to win it all in his bracket, but said he learned his lesson for doubting them because of inexperience.

“Let’s face it, sometimes talent trumps experience,” President Obama said. “And sometimes, a bunch of young players, even if they’re used to being big fishes in their ponds, even if they’ve never played together before, they can buy into a system, they understand the concept of team, and they do something special right away. And that’s exactly what happened in Kentucky.”

You can see video of the ceremony from www.whitehouse.gov below.