Mark Pope was left with three walk-ons, and one recruit (who hadn’t played basketball in two years because he was on Mormon mission) who followed him to UK. Ended up with the 28th overall ranked recruiting class. Yet he’s currently heading a top 10 team with four top 15 wins. 

John Calipari took six players who already played for/committed to him (including three 5 stars and three 4 stars). Paired that with the number 1 overall ranked transfer class, and the 3rd overall ranked recruiting class. Yet he’s currently heading an 11-5 team who is 0-3 in conference and has the third worse net ranking of any team in the SEC. 

So no, he didn’t build a roster from scratch. And his replacement is clear evidence that your excuses for Cal are bullshit.