Certain days just have a different, more exciting feel about them, and every year this is one of those days for me.
Another season of Hoosier hoops tips off tonight.
Tom Crean and his young, talented team take the Assembly Hall floor tonight against Howard. The Big Ten Network is carrying the game, which will tip off at 8:00 ET. (FYI, find out all IU basketball viewing info at our 2009-10 IU basketball TV schedule).
(Come on…you knew the headline had to have some kind of lame pun involving “grace”.)
Yes, it was only an exhibition game against Grace, but last night proved to be an encouraging and auspicious beginning to the 2009-10 basketball season for a program seeking redemption.
Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers did exactly what an IU team should do: impose their will on a far inferior opponent and cruise to an easy victory. Though reports of the game indicate that Grace played the Hoosiers tough for the first 24-25 minutes, IU won the game 96-73.
Coming off of a season that saw the Hoosiers lose home games to Northeastern and Lipscomb, any win — even an exhibition win that doesn’t count — is a welcome event.
And for anyone who took IU’s opponent last night for granted, just ask Syracuse fans how that worked out for them.
The last time Michigan State won a national championship was the 2000 season…in Indianapolis.
Nearly a decade later, the Final Four returns to Indianapolis and the Spartans are hoping for a case of dèjà vu.
Last season the Spartans almost fulfilled a dream season but fell just short of winning a national championship in Detroit. Unfortunately for MSU, the North Carolina team they faced was truly the better team.
Now the Spartans are a much different team from a year ago.
State comes into the season with a #2 national ranking and is favored to be Big-10 champions for the second year in a row. Center Goran Suton and point guard Travis Walton may have both graduated, but new players are ready to step into their roles.
Indiana native John R. Wooden, a legendary Purdue guard in the 30s, World War 2 Vet in the 40s, coach and teacher through the 50s, 60s and 70s, author, mentor, Presidential Medal of Freedom winner and genuine American icon since, turns 99 on Wednesday.
You can read more here, wish him a happy birthday here, or see the outpouring of love for Coach Wooden by doing a simple google search here.
From our friends at The World According to MoonDog:
In what could be called the John Calipari Rule, the Collegiate Commissioners Association issued a memo last week that immediately prohibits National Letters of Intent from being modified.
The CCAs action comes about as more highly rated prep basketball recruits had increasingly asked for amendments to the letters of intent.
While the amendments varied, most centered on a recruits ability to be let out of his commitment without penalty if the coach leaves the school for any reason.
Follow the link to read more about the “John Calipari Rule” that will now be in effect for national letters of intent…and why MoonDog is suggesting it be named after Mr. Ethics himself.
[Editor's Note: I am proud to introduce MSF's newest writer, Kimberly Westphall.
Kimberly is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where she studied journalism and strategic communication. Among her many experiences at KU, Kimberly worked for KAKE TV (ABC) and also traveled to London, England to write about hotel and tourist venues for Adjourn Magazine.
Here at MSF, Kimberly will be covering sports stories from her alma mater and will also be debuting a health & fitness column in the coming months. We are very happy to have her as part of the writing staff and think that you'll enjoy her first offering, a timely piece about the inability of the KU basketball and football teams to just get along.]
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The University of Kansas Jayhawks have been making the headlines, but not for touchdowns or three-pointers.
Instead, they have found opponents in one another.
In case you have not noticed the stories being splashed about on various sports Web sites and publications, members of the KU football and basketball teams could not cage the rage…against each other. Now, typically you would imagine two high profile KU teams supporting one another, perhaps even cheering one another on in stands. This is not the happy picture painted during the last couple days.
KU basketball player Tyshawn Taylor was recently checked into Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kansas due to a dislocated finger, according to a KU Police incident report. There were reportedly dozens of individuals outside the Burge Union on KU’s campus who witnessed the altercation between the football and basketball players. Taylor took to his Facebook page to share the news about his dislocated digit.
The KU Police received another call the next morning regarding another incident apparently involving football and basketball players, this one taking place near Wescoe Hall on KU’s campus. Occurring a little before 10 a.m. on September 23, several eyewitness reports indicate the gentlemen found themselves in another conflict. Eyewitnesses claim they saw one of the basketball players exchange some words with an unidentified football player and “throw” him down a flight of stairs.
KU’s school newspaper’s Web site, The University Daily Kansan, is exploding with uproars from the student body regarding the brawl among fellow athletes. Comments range from believing the involved athletes should be kicked off their respective teams to not believing it is a big deal whatsoever.
After all, fights occur among college guys (and gals) every weekend. How many bar fights occur on a Saturday night because someone’s had a little too much to drink?
However, this is different.
The fights happened on school property.
Collegiate athletes are young adults, just like everyone else attending the university. There is of course a slight difference: they are under constant surveillance from the student body and community members.
Whenever one of the basketball or football players walks by you on campus, you suddenly become very aware of their presence. They are, after all, mini-celebrities lurking the streets of Lawrence. As this imaginary spotlight is blazing on them, their every move is going to be scrutinized.
Now throw in two major KU sports and a couple fists thrown and you’ve got yourself front page news. The media attention is what is upsetting KU sports fans and fellow athletes.
“They are all extremely admired by the student body here and I feel like they do a really great job of upholding a good reputation for KU athletics,” KU golfer, Alyssa Rainbolt said. “I think this is just a slip up on their end; they’re young boys and are immature. I think they realize now they made a mistake and understand the consequences in letting this thing happen.”
As a former KU student, I have witnessed the close-knit ties of the Jayhawk athletic community. You can spot a KU athlete a mile away, as they are decked out in their Adidas gear. Taking Communications and Journalism classes with several of these athletes, I noticed a strong bond among sports. The football players made it a point to attend the volleyball games and cheer on their fellow athletes and friends.
One has to wonder how the behavior of several athletes will reflect on the entire Jayhawk athletic community as a whole.
“It’s a shame this has to be so public just because it is kind of a reflection of the athletic department,” Rainbolt said. “I also know some of those guys personally and I know that it’s not a reflection on the character of those teams.”
There is no doubt these athletes are under a microscope, but is it fair they are placed under one? Or does it simply go with the territory? There is a line of sensitivity when it comes to athletes getting preferential treatment. We won’t get into the issues that tick people off about athletes and special privileges. The root of the question being: is it fair to hold athletes to a higher standard?
“I think that they put themselves in that position and coming into this kind of university setting, they’re going to expect the kind of publicity they get,” Rainbolt said. “Along with playing big-time college basketball and football, they know what comes with it.”
All opinions aside, I think we can all agree that these Big 12 sports teams have a lot to focus on right now. Let’s put the fists down and take that testosterone out onto the field and court.
I mean come on; this only makes us look unstable and weak to our competitors.
I am sure Mizzou fans are just eating this debacle up. What kind of t-shirt will they make out of this?
Anyway, let’s focus on the positives. The Jayhawk basketball team is consistently ranked number one in pre-season polls. KU fans should look to the season ahead and all the treasured memories they will spend in Allen Fieldhouse. And of course the football team has been on a roll for the past couple years with Orange Bowl and Insight Bowl championships. Not to mention that the past two home games have been sold out. This upcoming Saturday, the stadium is sold out again as KU faces Southern Mississippi.
Let’s hope the events of yesterday do not repeat themselves in the future. You would think with the athletic department and KU Police getting involved that the boys will put down their fists.
If not, I am afraid KU will be a laughingstock and our confidence will be shaken. I hope KU fans will just get over it. We all make mistakes and perhaps we should attribute this scuffle to the saying “boys will be boys.”
The football and basketball programs are both staples of the Lawrence community and culture. The last thing Lawrence needs is a line divided between the two.
Let’s see if these boys can channel their rage into winning seasons.
Author’s Note: At the time of publication of this article, nothing has been released about filing legal charges regarding the brawls.
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* – Tyshawn Taylor / Bill Self photo credit: Bring on the Cats
[Editor's Note: I am happy to welcome Joe O to the writing crew here at MSF. Joe is a native of Greenwood, Indiana and a devote Hoosier fan and grad just like me. Â Not surprisingly, his first effort here at MSF deals with man that all of us from southern Indiana grew up worshipping admiring: Bob Knight.
Enjoy, and welcome aboard Joe!]
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Bob Knight. The General.
Three national championships. Eleven Big Ten Championships. Olympic Championship.
Four-time National Coach-of-the-Year. Six time Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year. All-time winningest coach in college basketball history.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee.
This is an unbelievable compilation of accomplishments, but one is still missing: an induction into Indiana’s Athletics Hall of Fame. This seems like a no-brainer for the Indiana coach of 29 years, but if you’ve been alive the last couple decades you know about the “departure†of Bob Knight from Indiana and why it’s taken so long for this day to come.
On November 6th of this year, Bob Knight’s name will finally be added to the list.
Now that Coach Knight will finally be inducted, the next question is whether or not he will attend. This question has loomed around the sports world for a few weeks now and one thing is for certain: no one but maybe Coach Knight himself knows the answer to that question.
I can only imagine all the thoughts and questions that must be going through his head.
On one side, the administration that fired him is basically gone, but on the other hand it was a ridiculous timeline of events and sets of egos that got him canned. It’s been almost a full decade and I wouldn’t blame him for still feeling uneasy and not wanting to make the trip.
It must be like that girlfriend that got away; the one that dumped you after a couple years. There were many great moments shared and memories had, but you’ve been trying to close that chapter. Now you have that wedding or event you know she’s going to be at and you’re struggling with whether or not to go.
This is how I envision Coach Knight feeling, with so many great times and memories, but with that sour note at the end. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment and envision that car ride into campus and seeing the first couple glances of Assembly Hall. If he’s as hesitant as he seems, this would be a tough ride to make.
However, Coach Knight may also be taking the opposite approach. If there is one thing we’ve learned from Coach, it’s to expect the unexpected.
This is an enormous honor at any university and especially one with the athletic, most notably basketball, history of Indiana. Even though one of the many things that made him a great coach is he always put the students first and made coaching all about his students and not his individual accomplishments, there must still be some hidden pride in being included in the HOF. He might even see this as “getting the last word in†with those that fired him. Maybe he sees this as an opportunity to close one more door before leaving the game entirely.
Whatever Coach Knight chooses, show or don’t show, I certainly hope that he does. It’s long overdue and as a lifelong Indiana fan, I’d like to be there to honor him as he so rightfully deserves to be honored at the place where he built his legacy.
As with anything Bob Knight though, he’s his own man and he’ll do what he wants to do. Let’s all just hope we see an unbuttoned dress shirt and sweater come November 6th.
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In what is becoming a daily tradition here at MSF, we link you over to Sports By Brooks for (finally!) and uplifting story about college basketball. And this one involves a guy with (no surprise) Midwest roots: Kevin Stallings, currently the head coach at Vanderbilt:
Vanderbilt head basketball coach Kevin Stallings had been planning a 10-day trip for his basketball team to Australia for well over a year when he learned that school wide budget cuts threatened to nix the trip. So what did Stallings do? He decided to decline the $100,000 raise he was owed by the school in order to pay for the journey.
To juxtapose one of my favorite lines from Dumb & Dumber: Just when you think integrity is completely gone from college basketball, someone goes and does something like this…and TOTALLY redeems the much-maligned sport.
Okay, not totally (Rick Pitino and John Calipari), but still.
Kudos to Kevin Stallings. Perhaps this will spur more college coaches — like the ones dropping deuces in brand new $70,000 bathrooms — to actually show their players what leadership and sacrifice is all about.
First off, as I periodically like to do, I just want to say thank you to everyone who visits and reads this site. The favorite part of my day is waking up each morning with the challenge of writing of something compelling, and our loyal readers are what make that endeavor worthwhile. Â
Hopefully I, and the other writers who contribute to MSF, make it worth your while by producing compelling and/or informative piece of content.Â
With that said, I am looking to expand our writing crew and the teams we cover. I can think of no better time to do this than right now, with the MLB playoffs fast approaching, college football and the NFL getting ready to kick off, and with college basketball set to be here faster than we realize.
The following are teams that I really would like to get more coverage of ASAP. Â Thus, if you are interested in covering these teams, now is the time to let me know:
MLB
NFL
College Football
College Basketball
For the record, I’m also looking for people to cover teams like the Royals and Brewers, but MLB teams that are out of the playoff hunt can wait until next year.
Also, while we have writers who cover the White Sox and Browns, for example, we can always use more. Â Same thing with fantasy football. Â MSF will bring more value to its readers by offering more and better content. Â If you’re interested in that challenge, I’d love to hear from you.
Here are the criteria for writing:
So if you are interested in joining the writing team at MSF, shoot me an email or use our contact form. I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able, probably ask for a writing sample or two, and then hopefully get you going ASAP if everything checks out.
So I’ve been away for a little while, but luckily guys like Matt and AJ have been coming through with solid new content. As things settle down in my world outside MSF I should be able to settle back into my twice or thrice daily posting — at least, that’s the hope.
Anyway, as I sat down today to figure out what to write about, I realized there were tons of stories that have happened recently that I haven’t been able to cover. So instead of picking one or two for the day, I just decided to start a new regular feature
on MSF: Sports World Roundup. Basically it’ll be like Link of the Day, but with me offering a few thoughts about the link and story.
So there you go, as many as I can get to before I have to hop on a conference call.
Onto the news:
Ryan Zimmerman has a 30-game hit streak — (SI.com)
It would be great to see someone actually make a legit run at DiMaggio’s 56, but the media scrutiny and all around pressure probably makes it next to impossible. He’s barely halfway there and MLB Network and ESPN will probably already be breaking to cover his ABs live.
Good point on the radio this morning though: Zimmerman is the guy to make a run, if anybody will. He’s a free-swinger who doesn’t strike out much and walks rarely. If he can get extraordinarily lucky, I suppose he has a chance. I’d just like to see him take into the high 30s or 40s to add a little excitement to a pretty slow part of the baseball season.
USC Head Coach Tim Floyd Paid $1K to Handler for OJ Mayo — (Yahoo! Sports)
Please, please, please tell me you are not surprised by this.
First off, this story has been percolating for a while, so this is just the next big headline in its natural progression. Second, it’s college basketball, where no amount of sleaziness or rule-breaking should ever 
surprise you. Third, it’s Tim Floyd, who looks a hell of a lot like Nick Nolte’s Pete Bell in the picture included in the Yahoo! article (and spliced to the right). And if Pete Bell taught us one thing in Blue Chips it is this: college basketball is all about MONEY….GODDAMN MONEY!
But, if you are somehow surprised by this story, I’ve got excellent oceanfront property in Bloomington to show you…
David Ortiz Distances Himself from Manny – (Rumors and Rants)
I’m not a Red Sox fan — in fact, far from it — but I’ve always like David Ortiz. He’s been a complete badass for a long time, the anti-ARod in the clutch, and his personality is engaging, energetic, and great for the game. I also think he was a steroid user and that his incredible ascent to superstardom and quick regression can, in some way, be attributed to the use of PEDs. Let me be clear: I have ZERO proof of this, nor does anyone else. But even baseball players I really like get no benefit of the doubt from me anymore. It is what it is.
That’s why the R&R take on Ortiz’s recent comments was something I found interesting and that I agree with. Ortiz has been trying to distance himself from PED talk for a while; and who knows, maybe he really is clean. But it just seems disingenuous to me, and I’m sick of baseball players continuing to think they should just lie, lie, lie and deny, deny, deny. Maybe Papi is legit…and if so, you can add my refusal to believe him to the list of reasons why I’m pissed off about steroids in baseball.
MoonDog has a good idea: let Jack Bauer take care of the steroid offenders.
Random thought: Peter Angelos, the inept owner of the Orioles, is really weird looking. He was also named the worst owner in baseball by SI.com. Read more.
And I just saw that Derek Jeter is day-to-day, meaning I need to go make a last minute adjustment to my (first place!) fantasy baseball roster. Have a great day everyone. Be back later.
The initial rumors about Billy Donovan going to Kentucky proved terribly wrong, but the rumors about John Calipari did not. After taking a night to sleep on Kentucky’s gargantuan offer, Coach Cal has accepted the head coaching position at Kentucky.
The coach sent a text message to ESPN.com’s Andy Katz on Tuesday evening saying, “I am accepting the UK job! Go Big Blue, coach Cal.”
A source told Katz that Calipari will receive an eight-year, $35 million deal. He gets a $2.5 million signing bonus and $3 million per year for the first four years. In years five, six, seven and eight, Calipari will get an additional $1.5 million per year, so for the last four years of the contract his salary would be $4.5 million. Incentives push the deal up a few more million to get to the $35 million mark.
The contract is the richest in college basketball.
As I’ve said, I think this is a great move for Kentucky all things considered. And now that he has accepted the job and obviously is looking forward to the challenge, it is a great move for John Calipari.
Don’t have a lot of time right now, but here are some relevant links, including my thoughts on this issue over the past week:
This post will analyze the Villanova-North Carolina Final Four game using a statistical analysis provided by the Game Predictor at ESPN.com, which is powered by TeamRankings.com. For an analysis of how this program works, hop over to the first individual game Sweet 16 preview I put out for UConn-Purdue. The methodology is all explained there.
Let’s make one thing clear right off the bat, just so there is no confusion: I want Villanova to win Saturday night.
In my original bracket I picked the Wildcats to lose in the Elite 8 to Pittsburgh (although I correctly reversed that in my preview last week) and picked North Carolina to make it to the title game before falling to UConn. Yet, while North Carolina is certainly fun to watch and I greatly respect their overall talents and abilities, there is just something special about how this emerging Villanova team is playing during the tournament.
They took UCLA behind the woodshed in round two and announced themselves as a tournament force to be reckoned with. Then, in the Sweet 16, they did college basketball fans everywhere a favor by kicking the snot out of Duke. And last week, Villanova and Pittsburgh treated us to the best game of the tournament, with Nova’s Scottie Reynolds providing the tournament’s most enduring moment thus far: his game-winner in the final seconds that propelled Villanova to Detroit and sent Pittsburgh home.
North Carolina has operated its way through the 2009 NCAA Tournament with surgical precision. After a close 25 or so minutes, they pulled away from LSU in Ty Lawson’s triumphant return from the toe injury that had led many people to question North Carolina coming into the tournament. Then they destroyed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 and laid the hammer down on Oklahoma in the Elite 8.
Now these two teams, with their combined tournament margin of victory of 18.5 points, meet to decide who plays the winner of Michigan State-UConn for the NCAA title. A lot of people are expecting an easy North Carolina victory, and the Tar Heels are favored by 7.5; but Villanova has taught us during this postseason run that you underestimate the boys from Philly at your own risk.
Unfortunately for Villanova, North Carolina underestimated their Final Four opponent last year and got smoked in the process. With almost the exact same team back again this year, I do not think the Tar Heels will be taking anyone lightly.
Let’s take a quick look at the particulars for the Nova-UNC game on Saturday night and then proceed with the analysis and prediction.
(FYI…the above spread and over-under are from BetUs on 3/31 at 7:30 am, so you may want to check there for the most up-to-date info if you see this later in the week. And I realize that this number is probably different from what Game Predictor shows below. I don’t know where ESPN gets that spread info.)
Now, as we always do in this spot, let’s take a look at the matchup between these two teams based on their season averages in the five statistical categories we have used to analyze every game thus far since the Sweet 16:
North Carolina’s numbers are pretty impressive aren’t they? One thing is for sure: this is the best matchup since the Sweet 16 in terms of free throw shooting.
Well we know from experience that Game Predictor will spit out North Carolina as a heavy favorite. The question is by how much. Let’s look:
So Game Predictor basically believes that if North Carolina and Villanova took the court to play their Final Four matchup ten times, that North Carolina would win seven or eight of them. And I do not disagree with that at all. However, as we know, they only play once. And there are two important reasons why Villanova absolutely has hope heading into Saturday:
The first reason, of course, refers to the legendary upset victory by Villanova over Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA Championship game. The Wildcats were seeded 8th and somehow found a way to overcome Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas. The second reason refers to last year’s Final Four, when North Carolina was absolutely demolished by Kansas 84-66. That North Carolina team was led by Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, and Wayne
Ellington. This year’s North Carolina team is led by Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, and Wayne Ellington. If they are capable of throwing up that kind of egg in the Final Four once, does it not stand to reason that they are capable of doing it again?
And does Roy Williams really – I mean really — have your complete trust in the NCAA Tournament? How many times has this guy fallen below expectations in March? I understand that the expectations and the bar he set at Kansas and North Carolina have been ridiculously high, and Roy Williams has certainly compiled an impressive record and list of accomplishments, including Final Fours and Elite 8s and even one title. But If this North Carolina team, favored by most to win the title, falls just short of that goal, they will only be carrying on the postseason legacy of Roy Williams: close, but rarely (just once) a cigar.
Starting to feel good Villanova fans!?!
Well, calm down. The odds of winning are still not even close to being stacked in your favor.
But let’s look a little deeper and see if we can’t find some reasons why Villanova will win this game. Carolina is the prohibitive favorite, but nothing is guaranteed in sports, which is what makes them so great. So as we did with Michigan State-UConn, let’s look at three reasons why Villanova will win and then three reasons why they will not.
1 — All you have to do is stop Ty Lawson
Take a look at the four losses North Carolina suffered this year and you begin to understand why so many people in Chapel Hill were worried about Ty Lawson’s toe heading into the tournament.
In North Carolina’s ACC Tournament loss to Florida State, Lawson did not play. Bobby Frasor did a wonderful job of filling in by going 0-1 from the field, scoring 2 points, grabbing 2 rebounds, and dishing out 1 assist…in 33 minutes, which surprisingly was not enough.
In North Carolina’s three regular season losses, all ACC contests to Boston College, Wake Forest, and Maryland, Lawson was not his usual all-around great self. In UNC’s loss to Maryland, Lawson did score 24 points, but had only two assists against four turnovers in 41 minutes of play. Against Wake Forest, a 92-89 loss for the Tar Heels, Lawson played 34 minutes and only scored 9 points on 4-12 from the field with 5 assists and 4 turnovers. And in North Carolina’s 85-78 loss to Boston College, Ty Lawson scored 10 points on 3-13 shooting with 4 assists and 4 turnovers.
The key to beating North Carolina is pretty simple: shut down Ty Lawson; and Villanova has very good guards, with experience playing against very good guards in the Big East. (More on this to come later.)
2 — Villanova has momentum and confidence
Villanova has beaten two good teams (UCLA and Duke) into submission and then pulled out a gritty, exciting win in the final seconds over one of the four or five best teams in the last country last weekend. Plus, Villanova has the Big East arrogance that they are well within their right to have, knowing that they duked it out in one of the best conferences ever this season. The Wildcats will not be intimidated by the mystique and 2009 reputation of mighty North Carolina.
To contrast, look at North Carolina’s last two opponents.
Sure, Oklahoma played a great game against Syracuse in the Elite 8, but that was just a week after they endured a knock-down, drag-out fight against a Michigan team that — I’m sorry Wolverine fans — just is not that good. And this came on the heels of a poor performance in the Big 12 Tournament and over the last few weeks of the season as the Sooners struggled to return to form after Blake Griffin’s injury. Plus, the Sooners relied a freshman guard in Willie Warren to help shoulder the scoring load, and he just was not up to the task.
In the Sweet 16, North Carolina took on a Gonzaga team that had been taken to the final seconds by Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are a good team, but by no means great. It had to be in the back of the Zags’ collective mind that they were within a hair of losing to Western Kentucky; how in the hell could they compete with one of the most talented teams in America?
Villanova will have no such self-doubt and will not be intimidated. And say what you will, but North Carolina dominated Oklahoma and Gonzaga as much mentally as they did physically and from an execution standpoint.
Villanova has an experienced backcourt led by a guy in Scottie Reynolds who is proving himself to be a player who comes through in big March moments. He is that one guy that every championship team needs who will come through in big situations, regardless of how well he is playing that night. Case in point: the Pitt game. Reynolds was 4-11 from the field and 0-3 from downtown. He had 1 assist and 4 turnovers. Yet he came through with the game-winning play.
Plus, Villanova is one of the few schools in America that can legitimately lay claim to a pedigree that includes one of the five or ten biggest upsets in the history of sports. The underdog role suits this school just fine. I think that matters. A lot.
Combine all of these individual components and Villanova can look North Carolina in the eye and not blink, and that is huge.
3 — If you are going to beat North Carolina, you better have a guy who can deliver an incredible individual performance.
Look at the evidence:
The purported Achilles’ Heel for North Carolina all season long has been their defense. They are prone to lapses every now and then, and on those nights individual players who are ready to step up 
can lead their team to victory. Does Villanova have a player capable of such a transcendent individual performance on a big stage?
We already mentioned him: Scottie Reynolds.
Reynolds popped for 40 points once already this season, in a road victory over Seton Hall. He scored 31 in a road win over Providence. He scored 27 in a dominating win for Villanova over a good Marquette team.
And if Reynolds is not completely on his game, or if Villanova needs two outstanding performances like Boston College had against UNC, the Wildcats have Dante Cunningham. Cunningham scored 31 points in a win over Syracuse this year and has numerous big games in big spots like his double-doubles against UCLA and Duke in the tournament.
Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham are good enough to carry Villanova for a night and lead a victory, even over a team as good as North Carolina.
1 — Both Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham, as good as they are, have blemishes on their big game resume this year
As good as Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham have proven themselves to be in some big spots this year, they have also played poorly in some of Villanova’s losses to good teams.
Cunningham had just 7 points and 6 rebounds in a 93-72 loss to West Virgnia earlier this year. He also was held to just 6 points and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes of play before fouling out against UConn. Granted, North Carolina does not have anyone like Hasheem Thabeet, but this is still a red flag.
For Reynolds’ part, he also also proven that he can shrink against good teams in big spots. In the Big East Tournament loss to Louisville, Reynolds scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting. In a loss to Texas early in the year he had 10 points on 2-7 shooting. And as well as he played in the clutch moments last weekend, Reynolds has not made more than 5 shots, or shot better than 50% from the field, in any NCAA Tournament game this year.
So while Reynolds and Cunningham are very good, sometimes great players, and are good more often than they are not, there is no margin for error on the part of either Saturday night. Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham need to be Oustanding (yes, with a capital “O”) on for Villanova to have a chance against North Carolina. They have proven to be capable of such performances in big spots, but have also shown the capability to shrink in big moments as well.
Which Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham will show up? The answer to that question will determine whether or not Villanova can compete.
2 — Shutting down Ty Lawson is no easy task
Yet another paradoxical dichotomy in this list of reasons. While it is true that the Tar Heels become a much more beatable team if Ty Lawson is having an off night, he very rarely has them. Look at Lawson’s game log 
for this season. He had terrible numbers against Georgia Tech and the Tar Heels still won by 30, but for the most part, Lawson has been very consistent outside of the four losses cited above.
And have you seen him play in the tournament? Is there anything that leads you to believe he won’t have a great game on Saturday?
In three tournament games, Lawson is 20-35 from the field, 14-16 from the line, and 7-11 from downtown. He has scored 23, 19, and 19 points in the three games he has played and has dished out 20 assists against 2 turnovers. And the final rankings of the last three Carolina opponents have been #20, #10, and #8. So he is doing this against solid competition, regardless of how intimidated they may have looked.
Simply put, Ty Lawson has been the best and most important player in the NCAA Tournament thus far.
Villanova has shown the ability to shut down good point guards. Just last weekend they held Levance Fields to only 10 points on 2-8 shooting, although he did have a 6/0 assist/turnover line. Against Syracuse earlier this year, they held Jonny Flynn to 5-17 shooting and only 12 points. Conversely, in a loss to UConn, AJ Price scored 29 points on 10-13 shooting and had 5 assists.
It is hard to predict Ty Lawson doing anything but having a stellar night. Villanova is capable of frustrating him and forcing Lawson to struggle, but it’s more of an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it type proposition as far as I’m concerned. Ty Lawson has earned that trust with his play this season.
3 — There is a reason Villanova was a #3 seed: inconsistency
When Villanova is on their game, the Wildcats can obviously play with anybody in the country. However, they are also prone to having that game every now and then where they inexplicably play poorly and struggle.
For instance, after knocking off then-#20 Syracuse and then-#12 Marquette in back-to-back games in February, ‘Nova lost 93-72 to West Virginia. Furthermore, to begin December after a 12-1 start to the year, Villanova dropped 3 out of 5 games, losing to top-25 teams Marquette, Louisville, and UConn during the stretch while beating only 
Seton Hall and St. John’s. And after a thrilling win over Marquette in the Big East Tournament, the Wildcats were shellacked 69-55 by a Louisville team that was on an absolute roll.
I hate to say it, but I see some parallels between what happened in the Big East Tournament and what could happen on Saturday night.
The last four games of the season for Villanova:
The last four games of the tournament for Villanova:
Substitute the ?’s with the same result from the Louisville game and you being to understand my trepidation. And while I realize that UCLA and Duke are much better than Notre Dame and Providence, the fact remains that this is a troubling pattern for Villanova that I cannot get past when analyzing this game — no matter how much I want to pick the Wildcats.
So it should come as no surprise to you that I begrudgingly pick North Carolina to not just win the game Saturday night, but to cover the spread. And it should also come as no surprise that, just as I said after picking UConn to beat Michigan State, I hope I am wrong.
In both games Saturday night I will be cheering against my own picks. I want the underdogs Mic
higan State and Villanova to win, and I correctly picked them both to triumph as underdogs in the Elite 8. I just do not see in the stats, season history, or matchups, legitimate reasons to believe that they will be able to capture the magic for one more weekend.
Please Villanova fans, as I implored the Spartans fans to do, use the comment section to tell me why I am wrong and to give me hope heading into Saturday. I will be firmly in your corner, cheering loudly and hoping for a ‘Nova upset over the Tar Heels — I will just be very, very surprised if that hope turns into reality.
Of course, there was even less belief in 1985 and we all know how that turned out…
What do you think?
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ESPN.com is reporting tonight that John Calipari and the University of Kentucky are “inching closer” to a deal and that something could even be ironed out as soon as late tonight. (Coincidentally, the picture to the left is reporting that John Calipari likes to spontaneously air-ride motorcycles in the middle of basketball games.)
It’s 11:00 CT as I write this, and I have seen no announcement yet.
According to the ESPN report, the deal being negotiated between John Calipari and Kentucky is for 8 years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million. Such a deal would make Calipari the highest paid coach in America, despite the fact that he has never won a national title nor coached in a conference other than the Atlantic 10 or Conference USA. Hmm…
For more on the bio and career of John Calipari, we traced his successes (at UMass and Memphis) and failures (the NBA, his reputation with the public and some peers) over what has certainly been a distinguished and somewhat controversial career.
Currently, Calipari has four years left on his Memphis deal, which pays him $2.35 million annually. The AP reported that Memphis 
AD R.C. Johnson said that Memphis will do whatever it can to keep Calipari with the Tigers. Something tells me that 8 years and $35 million may be a bit out of their price range; but, the Tigers are the only game in town, so perhaps they can dig deep and keep their coach around.
Also of interest to Kentucky and Memphis fans: recent Memphis commit DeMarcus Cousins has not signed a letter of intent with Kentucky, and could follow Calipari to Lexington and play next year. Memphis is also supposedly a finalist for the top unsigned player remaining in the class of ‘09: John Wall.
Thus, If Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson stay in school and Calipari comes galloping into town (or air-riding a Harley) with Cousins and Wall, the fortunes of the Wildcats could turn around pretty quickly.
(Excuse me for a moment while the Cream & Crimson blood pumping through my veins induces me to vomit. And while I realize that statement does not make physiological sense, all IU fans know what I’m talking about.)
I’ll keep you posted on what happens, but let’s be honest: you’ll probably find out about a final deal between Calipari and Kentucky before I get it posted here. However, if you want funny John Calipari pics to go along with your Calipari-Kentucky updates, we’re your source!
And, as always, we can’t post about John Calipari without also embedding this video:
If Calipari ups and leaves Memphis for the bluer pastures of Lexington, John Chaney might not be the only 
person who wants a piece of Coach Cal.
But seriously, he’s a college basketball coach, with a rep as being one of the sleazier ones in the business, and Kentucky is going to pay him more than any other coach in America. Can you honestly say that you’d be surprised, or begrudge him, for leaving?
I can’t. And the truth is, it’s probably a hell of a move for Kentucky if it happens.
Plus, we’ll all get a chance to see if Calipari can only dominate as a big fish in a small pond, or if he can truly build a winner in a legitimately competitive conference.
I just hope that if Calipari is at Kentucky that Tom Crean and the Hoosiers give him a proper ass-whooping welcome in the IU-Kentucky game next year. Losing to Kentucky would be bad enough. Losing to Kentucky with John Calipari on the sidelines…well that would just be…dirty.
And it would make me feel like this:
Good luck Kentucky. Calipari will win games, and all things considered I like this hire for the Wildcats if it comes to fruition, if for no other reason than Kentucky fans and their administration have proven that all they care about is winning.
But all I will say is this: Indiana once made a desperate deal with the devil not too long ago during a moment of weakness when winning was the only thought on our minds. We hired a coach that had been
to the Final Four but had never won a title, who was dogged by a less-than-sterling reputation among his peers, and whose huge ego drove him to chase a bigger contract and a higher prestige job right after signing a great recruiting class at his old school.
Sound familiar?
It all started out great — or so we thought — and then a couple of years later we won 7 games.
Look, I don’t know if John Calipari’s reputation is spot-on, or more fact than fiction, or vice versa, and I’m not saying John Calipari will be anything like Coach Snake (nor do I wish that kind of malfeasance on anyone). I’m just saying be careful. When winning is the only consideration, sometimes you end up getting exactly what you wish for…right before getting kicked in the groin with a steel-toed boot that you never see coming.
Just saying…
What do you think?
This post will analyze the Michigan State-Connecticut Final Four game using a statistical analysis provided by the Game Predictor at ESPN.com, which is powered by TeamRankings.com. For an analysis of how this program works, hop over to the first individual game Sweet 16 preview I put out for UConn-Purdue. The methodology is all explained there.
This is the Final Four matchup, Michigan State versus UConn, that I picked from the very start. I have to admit that I became less and less confident that it would actually happen as the tournament unfolded, but it has proven a few tournament cliches true:
Michigan State and UConn have not been perfect in these areas through four games, but they have been better and more consistent in these areas than any other team on their side of the bracket. And the reason is the two incredible coaches that are on the sideline: Tom Izzo and Jim Calhoun.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun started his career at Northeastern University in 1972. He remained their coach until 1986 and compiled a 248-137 record. In five out of his last six seasons there, they made the NCAA Tournament, three times advancing to the second round. In 1986, Calhoun took over a struggling Connecticut program and went a combined 13-35 in the Big East during his first three seasons in Storrs. Since then, he has won two national championships, reached the Final Four this year, made five other Elite 8 appearances, four additional Sweet 16 appearances, and earned 556 victories against only 204 losses. Without question, Jim Calhoun is among the top handful of coaches in America today.
Also with him in the handful of top coaches is Tom Izzo of Michigan State. I have made no secret of my basketball-man-crush on Tom Izzo, and the Spartans’ tournament run this season is only reinforcing what I’ve already thought: Tom Izzo is one of the best coaches in America, period. You can debate who is the best, but you better include Izzo in the debate. (And I hope that someday his protege Tom Crean is in the debate as well, but that remains to be seen.)
Just look at the resume Tom Izzo has compiled in East Lansing since taking over for Jud Heathcote in 1995. Izzo is 335-136 and has tied or won the Big Ten conference five times. His true greatness, however, can be seen in the NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans made the NIT during Izzo’s first two years in town, but have made the NCAA Tournament every season since 1997-98. During that span, Izzo and the Spartans have won a national championship (2000), reached the Final Four four other tmes (1999, 2001, 2005, 2009), reached the Elite 8 in 2003, and have been to the Sweet 16 two other times (1998, 2008). The Spartans’ masterful upset stomping of Louisville yesterday in Indianapolis was a microcosm of the tournament greatness that Izzo has consistently displayed at Michigan State.
This Saturday in Detroit, Izzo and the Spartans battle Calhoun and the Huskies for the chance to play for all the marbles on Monday night. UConn and its Big East pedigree are favored, but if we learned anything from this weekend, it is this: don’t count the Spartans out. They knocked off the Big East champions in impressive fashion and will no doubt give UConn all it can handle.
Let’s take a look at the particulars and then break down the game itself.
(FYI…the above spread and over-under are from BetUs on 3/30 at 7:45 am, so you may want to check there for the most up-to-date info if you see this later in the week. I don’t know where ESPN gets the spread info listed below that is used on the Game Predictor.)
And now, it’s time to analyze this matchup.
As you know, I have been using the ESPN Game Predictor to analyze every game since the Sweet 16 started. Based on the output from the Game Predictor, plus my own intuition, I have correctly picked 11 out of the last 12 games (missing only on Syracuse-Oklahoma). And that’s straight up, I don’t know what the record is against the spread, but it’s probably 9 or 10 out of 12. (I don’t gamble, so I don’t pay attention to how the spread picks do.)
Either way, I have become significantly more accurate forecasting games with some actual data as opposed to just going on gut feeling and my limited experience watching all of these teams play.
With all that said, let’s see how these two teams stack up with respect to the same five statistical categories I have used to predict every game thus far:
UConn holds advantages in four of the five statistical categories, although not significant advantages. Still, I expect a pretty strong pick by Game Predictor in the direction of UConn because of how the stats came out and by virtue of their seeding of their strength of schedule. Let’s see:
Now, before I get into my thoughts on this game, I want to say a few very important things to all of the Spartans fans out there:
However — and it pains me to say this — I do not have the same gut feeling about Michigan State beating UConn as I did about the Spartans defying the odds to beat Louisville.
Seeing as how this is a Midwest sports blog, and the Spartans have become my adopted team during this year’s tournament, let’s take a look at this game from an MSU perspective. Three reasons why they will win, and three reasons why they won’t.
1 — Goran Suton is playing out of his mind right now
Goran Suton, as he was against Kansas and Louisville, will be the key for Michigan State. In both of my previous Michigan State previews I’ve discussed the importance of Raymar Morgan, but the reality has been that Goran Suton has been the perfect Robin to Kalin Lucas’ Batman. Suton scored 19 points and had 10 boards against Louisville after going for 20-9 against Kansas. The Spartans need similar production from him on Saturday, and there is no reason to believe he can’t provide it.
Here is what else he needs to do: draw Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket at times, but also get the ball in the post and be savvy enough to draw fouls on the UConn big man. Connecticut only lost three games this year, two of them to Pitt and one to Georgetown. In one of the Pitt losses by UConn, Thabeet only played 23 minutes before fouling out with 5 points, 2 blocks and 4 rebounds. Against Georgetown, Thabeet played 34 minutes but only scored 4 points and had 7 rebounds to go along with 7 blocks. If Michigan State can get Thabeet in foul trouble and/or force him to struggle on the offensive end, it will greatly improve their chances. Goran Suton has to play a key role in any Thabeet neutralization strategy, and he certainly appears up to the task right now.
2 — Michigan State will be playing before a home-court crowd in Detroit
East Lansing is only a 90 minute from drive Detroit, and obviously there are lots of Spartan fans in the city already. Not since Duke played in the Final Four in Charlotte (eventually losing the title game to Arkansas) has a team enjoyed this kind of Final Four home court advantage. And it’s the best of both worlds for the Spartans: they were great away from home this year, but now get to play away from home in an environment that will still be hostile for their opponent. As an underdog, the home crowd can help to give the Spartans momentum. If Michigan State can keep the game close, the crowd will be their best friend.
3 — Kalin Lucas is one of the most underrated great players in America
I realize that Kalin Lucas was named Big Ten Player of the Year, but I still do not think he gets the recognition he deserves. I’m a Big Ten fan, and I did not truly come to appreciate Lucas until this tourney run. All he has done in the last two games is outduel Kansas’ scintillating point guard Sherron Collins, and then completely control the pace and tempo of the Louisville game against physical guys that were bigger than him. Lucas is a great ball-handler, an excellent passer, and an outstanding shooter. He is great spotting up or off the drive looking to score or to dish. He is slight of frame, and will be going up against a tremendously large and physical defense in UConn, but his quickness can help him overcome this disadvantage. If he can get into the lane, draw Hasheem Thabeet, and find open cutters or spot-up shooters, Michigan State can get open looks. If the Spartans knock them down, they will stay right with the Huskies.
3a — Depending on if there are any more revelations in the UConn recruiting controversy, the Huskies could be distracted
I don’t think this will be an issue, and it won’t e if nothing new develops with this story. I think Jim Calhoun is perfectly adept at dealing with the inevitable questions he will get about this story, and UConn did not seem the least bit distracted by it in disposing of Purdue and Missouri. I throw this out only as a caveat, since I am making this prediction on Monday. There are plenty of 24-hour news cycles between now and Saturday for the dust to be kicked up and distractions to take hold; but in the end, I don’t think the potential recruiting scandal at UConn will influence this game one way or the other.
1 — Hasheem Thabeet is a presence unlike any Michigan State has dealt with this year.
Let’s be honest: Hasheem Thabeet is unlike any presence any opposing team has dealt with this year in college basketball. 13.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per game are the numbers, but Thabeet obviously affects a basketball game in multiple ways. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he will turn Michigan State into a jump shooting team, while offering UConn the ability to score down low on the other end.
Michigan State will undoubtedly try to draw Thabeet away from the basket by putting Suton out high like they did against Louisville. When this happens, I would not be surprised to see the Huskies let someone like Jeff Adrien or Stanley Robinson match up against him. Adrien is 6′7 with a big body and Robinson is 6′9 with 
a long wingspan. They can take turns bodying Suton up and making it hard for him to shoot his jumper, while simultaneously allowing Thabeet to roam the paint and take away the drive.
Either way, one of UConn’s great strengths is their ability to match up defensively with anyone they play. Tom Izzo will have to be ready to adjust and Kalin Lucas will need to penetrate into the teeth of the defense to create havoc.
2 — AJ Price is every bit as good as Kalin Lucas
Price is one of my favorite players in the country, and another guy that I think is underappreciated. he averages 14.7 points and 4.8 assists per game and is the Huskies’ most consistent shooter from three-point range. You need excellent guard play to win in the Final Four, especially against a team with a player as good as Kalin Lucas, and AJ Price gives UConn that dimension. And as Kemba Walker showed against Missouri, he can step in and provide clutch plays as well.
I like Price’s confidence and his calm demeanor and he will not get rattled even if Ford Field sounds like the Breslin Center. He has gone toe-to-toe with the best point guards in the Big East, playing in some of the most hostile environments, and has proven that he is one of the best in the country.
3 — Michigan State is a better free throw shooting team, but UConn gets to the line more often
As you can see above, the Spartans hold a 69.8% to 67.9% advantage over UConn in free throw shooting. However, for the season, Connecticut made 641 free throws out of 943 attempts, while Michigan State made 577 free throws on 828 attempts. The Huskies are big and physical at every position and the Spartans have to be careful not to foul too often. As we saw during the Elite 8 (especially in the Louisville-MSU and Pitt-Villanova games) the refs are calling things tight in the tournament. Against Louisville, Michigan State was whistled for 22 fouls and the Cardinals shot 18 free throws to the Spartans’ 7. Yet, Louisville only shot 55.6% from the line.
I don’t think the Spartans will be so fortunate if there is nearly a 2:1 ratio in free throw attempts and the ratio favors UConn.
The Huskies hit 26-32 from the line against Missouri, and 19-30 from the line against Purdue. In both games they dominated in free throws made and attempted, and the disparity in free throws made was larger than the final margin of victory. This is a huge part of the winning formula for UConn and the Spartans must be mindful of limiting the Huskies’ free attempts at the line.
With the way the tournament is being called this year, and UConn’s size and style of play, I think this could ultimately be the Spartans undoing.
As I said above, I picked UConn to win it all before the tournament started, but I have thrown my full fan support behind Michigan State. I love Tom Izzo, I love the way Kalin Lucas, Travis Walton, and Goran Suton are playing, and I love the fact that the city of Detroit gets to cheer on the home state team as we culminate another thrilling NCAA Tournament.
I just don’t think Michigan State will get by UConn.
I think they will keep it close and beat the 4-point spread, and I certainly think that they can win — in fact, I will never again be surprised by a Tom Izzo team winning a game it is not “supposed” to win in the tournament. And while I think that the Spartans’ chances are better than 40% to win, as predicted by Game Predictor, I think the chances are only about 46-47%. So if you ask me who I think will win, I have to answer UConn.
I hope I’m wrong, and I’ll be cheering hard that I am. But I do think that the most fitting way for this season to end is with an all Big East championship game. I don’t know yet whether or not I am predicting Villanova to upset North Carolina, but I am predicting Connecticut to hold up their end of the bargain.
What do you think?
Now that I’ve given you my keys to the UConn-MSU game, and my prediction, feel free to use the comment section for yours. I only chose three on each side, but there are plenty of other important storylines and matchups that will help determine this game. Spartan fans, your job is to please convince me why I’m wrong and give me more hope heading into Saturday.
FYI — There have been plenty of updates on this story since I first posted it late last night. Scroll down to view the latest reports or click through to our latest post on Monday night, which discusses the ongoing contract negotiations between Calipari and Kentucky.
Now that the hype of Billy Donovan-to-Kentucky rumor mill has died down a bit, the question becomes what big name coach or up-and-coming former Wildcat will eventually take the job?
Earlier this past week, immediately after Billy Gillispie was fired, John Calipari’s name was apparently not one that was on the list. But according to a report at ESPN.com tonight, Calipari is very much on the list — most likely right at the top.
From the ESPN.com report by Pat Forde and Dana O’Neil about the possibility of John Calipari-to-Kentucky becoming a reality:
Memphis coach John Calipari has taken a place on Kentucky’s radar in its search to replace Billy Gillispie, multiple sources told ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil and Pat Forde.
On Friday, a source told O’Neil that Calipari ‘likely would not be interested’ in the job but on Sunday, multiple sources said Calipari is indeed interested. A source also said Kentucky was gathering information on Calipari over the weekend.
According to Memphis sports information director Lamar Chance, Kentucky officials have not contacted Memphis for permission to speak to Calipari.
Other names tossed out in the ESPN report are former Wildcat players including current Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford and current Arkansas coach John Pelphry. Non-Kentucky guys Sean Miller (Xavier) and Thad Matta (Ohio State) are also mentioned. Tom Izzo is discussed, but more in terms of why he is not a candidate than why he would be.
Two quick words on Izzo going to Kentucky: no way.
But let’s circle back and discuss John Calipari. My knee jerk reaction to John Calipari-to-Kentucky rumors is that he would not be a good choice for Kentucky, but a great choice. Say what you will about Calipari’s recruiting tactics or his academic standards or his less than sterling reputation with some of his peers, but the guy knows how to build a winning college basketball program (at least on the floor).
Oh, but don’t ask John Chaney for a recommendation:
John Calipari took over UMass in 1988 and they went 10-18 in his first season. By 1992 the Minutemen were an NCAA Tournament fixture, advancing to at least the second round every season from 1992-1996, with an Elite 8 and Final Four sprinkled in. He left UMass to coach the Nets in the NBA, and we all know how that turned out. But then he triumphantly returned to college coaching in 2000 at Memphis, and over the last four years, the Tigers have gone 61-1 in Conference USA and made two Elite 8s plus a trip to the title game last year.
Calipari’s 446-140 record proves that he can coach and that he can lead a big time basketball program. He is also calm and cool when dealing with the media (for the most part) and slimy and dishonest gritty and resourceful enough to do what is necessary to compete in the oft-sleazy world of college basketball recruiting.
Now, critics will say that Calipari has never coached at a place as rabid as Lexington, nor in a conference as competitive and balanced as the SEC. And they would be right on both counts. But name a candidate who has experience coaching in a place like Lexington? Other than Rick Pitino, there aren’t many — and he isn’t a candidate. And while I’m sure Calipari enjoys being the alpha dog in Conference USA, his Tigers would still be an annual competitor for the title in any conference except maybe the Big East.
So is Calipari-to-Kentucky really a possibility? I don’t know. John Martin wrote a nice piece over at the Bleacher Report earlier today that offers some pretty compelling reasons why John Calipari will not be going to Kentucky. Chief among the reasons:
Our buddy MoonDog also offers up some similarly solid reasoning for why Calipari will not be going to Kentucky, including the killer recruiting class he has coming into Memphis next year.
Update 3/30 7:05 AM: Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com is reporting that there is the possibility of a Calipari-Kentucky meeting this week. He also says that Calipari could potentially bring top recruits DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall with him to Lexington.
Update 3/30 10:00 AM: Andy Katz from ESPN.com is now reporting that John Calipari met with Kentucky officials at an “undisclosed location” on Sunday as is spending Monday meeting with Memphis officials discussing “what is expected to be a multiyear, multimillion offer to coach Kentucky.”
Update 3/30 11:30 AM: Thanks to Sparty and Friends for the tip, as it looks like John Calipari is not only interested in leaving Memphis for Kentucky, but at least one of his Memphis players reportedly says that Calipari “was talking like he was going to leave” during a team meeting. Sparty also reported that a Memphis radio station is saying the Kentucky offer to Calipari is $7 million per year.
All in all, it sounds like at least the possibility of Calipari-to-Kentucky is real. At the very least, Calipari will likely milk the interest into a new deal and more money with Memphis, or perhaps some kind of program/facilities upgrade if any area could use it. I don’t know Memphis basketball well enough to know if it could.
If I were Kentucky, I’d go after Calipari hard. Fans in Lexington care about one thing: winning. I don’t think John Calipari would be a good fit in a place like Bloomington, where academics, character, and program reputation are so highly valued (especially after the debacle with Coach Snake), but I think fans in Lexington are so desperate to be back on the national radar screen that the baggage and reputation that follows Calipari would be just fine.
(By the way, feel free to flame me for the last paragraph, as I am a biased IU fan, but that’s how I see it.)
One way or another, Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart knows that he has to make a big splash with this hire, and no one would make a bigger splash and restore optimism quicker than John Calipari. It would be a perfect marriage of a program with a gigantic ego and a coach with a gigantic ego, and with those two mutual interests intertwined, it just might be a perfect recipe for success on the court.
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