When John Calipari arrived in Lexington two-and-a-half years ago, he made it clear that adding walk-ons to the roster typically wasn’t a practice of his.

There have been exceptions to the rule, of course – West Jessamine’s Jarrod Polson and Louisville’s Twany Beckham, both now on scholarship, are prime examples – but Coach Cal broached the walk-on subject quickly and unequivocally when he took the job that dotting the roster with non-scholarhip athletes was something he generally didn’t do.

Until now.

With the addition of guard Sam Malone, a 5-foot-11 guard from Scituate, Mass., and Brian Long, a 5-9 guard out of Dumont, N.J., Calipari has added two hard-nosed players to the talented Kentucky roster.

Long, whose father is also named Brian, played for Eddie Sutton at Creighton and coached his son at River Dell High School (and has more than 600 high school coaching victories to his credit). When the elder Long met Calipari at the 5-star Coaching Camp years ago, the two coaches hit it off, and a long-time relationship was forged.

The younger Long attended Coach Cal’s camps for, by his estimation, “at least seven years,” which made his decision to walk-on at Kentucky a no-brainer decision.

“I’ve known Coach Cal pretty much my entire life,” Long said in a CoachCal.com exclusive interview. “My brother walked-on at Memphis, and Cal let me know in April (of 2011) that I could walk-on at Kentucky. I couldn’t pass up being a part of a program with the great tradition and history of Kentucky. I feel very fortunate to be in the position I’m in.”

Brian Long's family is no stranger to college basketball. His two brothers, Keith and Travis, played at UNLV and Memphis, respectively, and his father played at Creighton.

And as Long embarks upon his Big Blue journey, what better person to get the truth about what to expect than from someone who has played for Calipari. Sure enough, Brian said his brother, Travis, had sage words of advice for him.

“Yeah, he told me it wasn’t going to be easy, to work hard in practice every day and do all I could to make the other players better,” said Long, who averaged 9.6 points and 5.0 assists his senior season. “(He told me) to work hard every day, that’s how I can help the team.”

Like Brian, Sam Malone has a Cal connection through his father, Joe, who first met Calipari in the early 1990s. Their friendship, though, didn’t blossom until 1996.

It was then that the elder Malone sent Cal a note telling him how much he admired the words Calipari had for his Massachusetts team after they lost to UK in the 1996 Final Four (Calipari took responsibility for the loss after receiving a costly technical foul for leaving the coaching box).

A few days later, Calipari called Joe to express his appreciation for the note and invited him to a UMass game the next season. In the ensuing years, Calipari and Joe Malone have stayed close, with Sam and his two brothers attending Calipari’s basketball camp at Memphis.

Malone averaged 14 points, 9.0 assists, and 4.0 steals en route to 2011 League All-Star honors as a senior, but three knee surgeries, one to his left and two to his right, scared colleges from pursuing him. When Calipari ran into Malone’s father last spring and found out letters of interest weren’t coming in, he suggested to him that his son walk on at UK.

Like Long, it was an easy decision for Malone because of his long-standing relationship with Calipari.

“It really wasn’t a tough decision,” Malone said. “I mean, why wouldn’t you want to come to UK? It’s always been a dream of mine to play for Cal. It’s every kid’s dream. He left a very positive impression as far as basketball and as far as life.”

Malone said his knee injuries are a thing of the past and that he’s experienced no recent problems with either one.

“It’s definitely been tough having three in four years in high school,” Malone said. “It’s taught me a lot about how to work hard.”

Sam Malone averaged 14.0 points, 9.0 assists and 4.0 steals as a senior after going through three knee surgeries.

With a clean bill of health, Malone is looking forward to getting on the court and following in the footsteps of players like Polson and Beckhman. If nothing else, Malone is banking on the experience to pay dividends down the road.

“It’s really so enjoyable being here,” Malone said. “I love being at UK with all its tradition. Some day I’d like to be a coach, and just being around the program, with all its history and tradition, is great.”

Both players are winners, which is surely one of the reasons Cal offered Malone and Long a spot on the UK roster. In his junior year, playing alongside current Connecticut big man Alex Oriahki, Malone helped lead The Tilton School (N.H.) to a national prep title. Not to be outdone, Long played at one of the consistently good Northeast basketball powers in River Dell, a team he led to the New Jersey state playoffs.

Malone and Long understand, though, that a walk-on’s role isn’t often filled with glory and individual accolades. To these guys, it matters not.

“Individual recognition doesn’t matter,” Malone said. “I’m really grateful I’m in a position to do all I can to help the team win. It’s just the competition. I’m trying to compete as hard as I can to try and help out my teammates. I just compete every day in practice as hard as I can.”

No different than Malone, Logan, in a separate interview, repeated the same mantra. They’re both willing to run through a brick wall to make the team better and make the most out of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I understand the responsibility,” Long said. “I’m just very happy and fortunate to have this great opportunity. I’m not worried about individual glory; I just really want to make this team better.”

That attitude can often create a synergy of powerful proportions within the squad. When the stars of the team are pushed every day in practice and see the energy and hustle two walk-ons bring to the floor, it’s not unlikely to be contagious.

And that might be just what the 2011-12 Wildcats need to propel them into rarified air.