With Calipari signed, what’s next?

Things move rather quickly in the life of a UK basketball fan. John Calipari signed his contract to become Kentucky’s head basketball coach at a little past 9:00 PM tonight and although people are still ecstatic, many fans want to know about the future.

The first item on the new agenda is the recruiting situation. Many people in the media and in the fan base are wondering which, if any, of the sparkling recruits leaning, committed, or signed to Memphis will join Coach Cal at Kentucky.

John Wall

John Wall, the #1 high school player in the nation, has stated in an interview with Rivals.com’s Jerry Meyer today that he would replace Memphis with Kentucky on his short list of schools and would seriously consider the Cats. With Calipari moving on to UK the speculation is that he would narrow his college choice down to Duke or Kentucky. One has to wonder why Duke would get the nod over the Cats; UK has the better tradition, the better system to prepare him for the next level, potentially the most attention on one program in the nation this upcoming season, and the coach who Wall likes best. If I had to bet I would say Wall will commit to the Cats within the next two weeks, maybe at the Jordan Brand Classic.

DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Cousins is rated as the #2 high school player in the nation and has verbally committed to play for the Memphis Tigers next season. But unlike some of the commitments he has yet to actually sign his Letter of Intent, meaning he can still visit any school and commit to any other school in the nation. Cousins has publicly stated that he loves Coach Cal and loves the NBA system that he ran while at Memphis. There is no doubt that Calipari will implement the exact same system in Lexington, leading one to believe that Cousins too may join Cal at UK. This would give the Cats the top two players in the nation to go along with two First team All-SEC performers from this season in Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson.

Xavier Henry

Xavier Henry, the #3 rated high school player in the country, is the most intriguing player in the conversation at Memphis and Kentucky. Unlike Wall and Cousins, Henry has indeed signed his LOI to Memphis, meaning he would have to go through the process of backing out in order to consider other schools. Usually a prospect must first get the school to sign off on the backing out of a LOI, but in the case of this Memphis Tigers recruiting class each and every member has a clause in their LOI stating that they may get a free and unconditional release without question and may commit to any other school without exception. This means that technically Henry could also join Calipari at Kentucky. The difference between the previous two players and Henry though is that Henry made a tough choice choosing Memphis over Kansas for his recruitment. Both of Henry’s parents played sports at KU and are graduates of the university. Kansas is very close to their Oklahoma home as well, which is another selling point. Many believe that Henry will indeed back out of his LOI to Memphis, but will sign with Kansas instead of the Cats.

Nolan Dennis

Nolan Dennis is rated the #47 high school player in the nation and has already stated that he would like to join Calipari at UK. The only thing in his way is the fact that Calipari and the Cats would be running very thin on open scholarships and there may just not be enough room for him. Dennis would be fourth in line behind the three players mentioned above.

Currently signed Cats

All three of the players already signed in the 2009 class for Kentucky, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, and GJ Vilarino, have stated that they will remain committed and will not ask for their release until they meet with the new coach. Actually the Orton family was the only family that said that they would be backing out under any circumstances. Both the Hood and Vilarino families have stated that they love the program and will remain committed.

Press Conference

A press conference has been confirmed to be taking place tomorrow at 9:30 AM ET at the Joe Craft Center to introduce John Calipari as the new Head Coach at Kentucky. The press conference will air live on ESPN News.

UK lands their man

John Calipari has officially accepted the head coaching job at Kentucky according to ESPN. A press conference should come tonight or tomorrow, we will keep you posted on that.

Coaching View: Day Four

News about John Calipari seems to be changing by the minute. One minute he is informing his assistants that he is leaving and the other he is talking to boosters at Memphis about a potential contract from them. Although there are many conflicting stories, word is that Coach Cal IS going to take the UK job and a press conference is set for today or tomorrow. That is all we have so far

Coaching View: Day Three

 

John Calipari

 

 

The previous two days on Coaching View we have listed four or five different coaches who could be getting the job, and stories surrounding them. But today there is one. It appears that John Calipari WILL indeed become the next coach at Kentucky. Although it is not official, many different outlets are reporting that he has met with his players this morning and is meeting with his assistants as I write. Although no one is certain he discussed leaving with his players, it is confirmed that he talked about his interest in the UK job.

• Jerry Tipton is reporting Calipari to UK is nearing completion.
• According to Commercial Appeal and Sporting News Calipari has indeed already met with his players.
• It is also being reported that many of the Memphis players have changed their Facebook status’ to something along the lines of “Cal is going to UK…”

These are just a couple of the outlets reporting Calipari is leaving for UK, many Memphis message boards are beginning to confirm it now as well.

Calipari to UK picking up steam?

 

John Calipari

 

 

With the list of coaches being courted by UK, or supposedly being courted, growing by the day it still appears that John Calipari has the job if he wants it. The fans obviously want him, there are already websites devoted to bringing him to Lexington and a Facebook group started this morning already has nearly 5,000 members including Calipari’s own daughters and #1 center in the nation DeMarcus Cousins. According to a message board (Obviously some issues on validity) there is supposed to be a meeting between Calipari and UK this wednesday in Lexington. Word is that Calipari would want to be the highest paid coach in America which would be asking around $4.5 million per year.

It also appears that, if Calipari were to accept the job, that the #1 player in the nation, 6′4 PG John Wall, would join him at UK because he loves Calipari and has already named Memphis his leader. Cousins appears to be possible as well; He has committed to Memphis because of the NBA-type program Calipari runs and because of his relationship with the coach. But unlike most players in America, Cousins has yet to sign his Letter of Intent, meaning he could easily de-commit and join Calipari in Lexington. That would mean two of the top three players in the nation wearing Blue and White. One question that would arise out of this whole situation is which of the recruits currently signed would back out and look around? If Cousins were to come it appears likely that 5-star center Daniel Orton would shop around and probably end up in the Big 12. Jon Hood appears likely to stay because of the still thin line at small forward and because of his public love for the Wildcat program. GJ Vilarino would probably leave along with JUCO PG Konner Tucker.

If the following above were to happen – cross your fingers! – then this would be a realistic look at our lineup for next season:

PG John Wall. Fr.
SG Jodie Meeks. Sr.
SF Darius Miller. So.
PF Patrick Patterson. Jr.
C   DeMarcus Cousins. Fr.

BENCH

PF Matt Pilgrim. So. (RS)
SF Jon Hood. Fr.
SF Ramon Harris. Sr.
PG DeAndre Liggins. So.
PG Kevin Galloway. Sr.
PF Perry Stevenson. Sr.
PF Josh Harrellson. Jr.
PG Michael Porter. Sr.

To me that looks like a Final Four lineup.

Coaching View: Day Two

Some new updates have been circulating the media as many coaches have been getting asked of their interest in the UK job.

1) John Calipari

• According to Steven A. Smith, Calipari will be the next coach at Kentucky. He did not say that it has already happened but stated that he is hearing from a lot of people that this is going to happen
• Rick Bozich hearing Calipari is getting more involved

2) Travis Ford

• Examiner gives ten reasons why Travis Ford is better than Billy Donovan
• Pitino thinks UK should hire Ford or Pelphrey

3) Tom Izzo

• Per Indianapolis Star, Izzo to UK seems pretty realistic.
• In response to being asked about the UK job Izzo responded:

“I don’t think there’s a guy on this planet that would ever say he’s not going anywhere, not doing anything,” Izzo said in response to a question about the Kentucky opening. “I don’t think there’s anybody on this planet that would ever say, ‘I’m here to stay. I’m this. I’m that.’ I don’t think me, you or anyone else. So I would never do that because I think it would be insulting to you and me.”

• Another interesting note is that Izzo is going up against Rick Pitino this afternoon. Remember Billy Gillispie’s final win before being hired at UK was against Rick Pitino in the NCAA Tournament, coincidence?

4) Sean Miller

• This is a new name, but up in Cincinnati word is that Sean Miller was going to be in Lexington to interview for the job
• Andy Katz think Miller has no reason to leave Xavier

5) Thad Matta

• Matta among the leaders for the job according to C-J

Coaching View: Day One

Today begins the Coaching View series, which will be brought to you each and every day until UK finds their next coach. We will post links to articles saying yes and no from certain coaches and we will post what we have been hearing about the issue.

1) Billy Donovan

• It looks like Donavan will not be the next coach at Kentucky according to USA Today. 
• International Herald-Tribune think Donavan is committed to the program at Florida.

2) John Calipari

• Calipari insists Memphis is where he wants to coach, per Commercial Appeal.
• Is Calipari next at UK? Sporting News says maybe.

3) Travis Ford

• OSU A.D. says UK has not asked to contact Ford, do they want him?
• OSU’s Ford among Kentucky’s targets, per Tulsa World.

4) Tom Izzo

• Job offers flatter Izzo, but he has goals at MSU.
• Bleacher Report says Izzo in final five four coaching vacancy.

5) Jay Wright

• Per phillyBurbs: Wright to UK is wrong.

With Gillispie gone who will take over?

With Billy Gillispie officially being fired today, the focus quickly switches to who will his replacement be as head coach of the University of Kentucky basketball team. Many believed Billy Donovan, current coach of the Florida Gators, would step in and take over but a press release from Donovan late this afternoon killed all rumors of him leaving for another school. There are many men rumored to have been asked about the job. Here are our top candidates:

John Calipari

 

John Calipari

Calipari would be the perfect fit in my opinion. He understands how to work the media and how to keep his program and his name in the news in a positive way, the major fault of former coach Gillispie. Calipari is perhaps the best recruiter in the nation as well, landing countless top 10 recruiting classes including the #1 class for next season which includes the #2 and #3 players in the nation already, with a possibility for John Wall, the #1 player in the nation. Calipari is a terrific motivator as well; he lets his players play their game, which gives his teams the most chance to win. Calipari plays a very fun system that prepares players for the next level, which feeds right into the recruiting aspect. You may even see Calipari congratulate players when they come out of a game, something Gillispie rarely did. The only knock on Calipari is his involvement with a recruiting scandal in his days at UMass. He was accused of paying players and having agents talk to players such as future NBA star Marcus Camby.
 

Travis Ford

 

Travis Ford

The second viable candidate for the UK coaching position is current Oklahoma State head coach, and former UK player, Travis Ford. Ford, although he has been coaching for a short period of time, has accomplished quite a lot at his destinations. He is currently 210-156 (.574) in his coaching career and has guided two different programs to the NCAA Tournament. Ford runs a very fast paced system, though seems to preach little defensively. Oklahoma State ranked near the bottom of major conference teams in defense, something UK is not accustomed to seeing. There are a couple knocks on Ford. One is that he has the reputation of being rude to the media and unapproachable, similar to Billy Gillispie, and he does not have any prior success at a major university, unlike John Calipari. Travis Ford also has not proved he can recruit top talent, failing to land a five-star player in his career.

Jay Wright

 

 

 

Jay Wright

The third and final man that I have put on the short list is Villanova coach Jay Wright. Wright is a young, energetic coach who seems to get the most out of his players every year. Wright has a great personality and is great with the media, something UK has not seen in over 15 years. Jay Wright has had major success in a very difficult conference so lack of success is not an issue. He has made the NCAA Tournament five straight seasons, including four times to at least the sweet sixteen and two Elite Eight appearances. Wright also made the tournament twice as the coach of Hofstra, giving him seven in his career. Wright is also a great recruiter, already landing countless five-star prospects in his time at Nova. Wright has the #3 recruiting class for next year lined up as well and knows how to recruit in his region. There are no major knocks on Wright at this point other than can he handle the program and all it takes to run it, and I think he can.