Zarzour: Today is the Day

This is a short one…so, while you are here take a look around and have some fun.

I don’t live in the Triangle anymore, so I don’t have the opportunity to listen to a lot of local sports radio. But, from what I can gather, Taylor Zarzour of 1090AM has done a very commendable job of covering the NC State coaching search.

Evidently, this morning Zarzour reported the following:

* Confirmed the obvious that Calipari was in Raleigh last night to visit facilities.

* Discussed Cal’s strained relations with Memphis’ AD and frustration with not being paid market value without so much prodding.

* Shared that NC State refused to offer Calipari a contract in Memphis. Told Cal that if he came to visit that he would be offered a contract.

* NC State offered the contract that pays $1.7 million a year with incentives that can get him to $2.0 million. The incentives were not ridiculous to achieve.

* I did not hear Zarzour, but my friend told me that Zarzour shared that he would guess/predict that Calipari would accept and be NC State’s next coach. That is not the same as the people on the idiot boards saying that Zarzour reported that Calipari was going to be our next coach.

* The answer will come today.

Hold on tight.

General NCS Basketball

255 Responses to Zarzour: Today is the Day

  1. BJD95 04/11/2006 at 9:09 AM #

    I heard him say something like “It’s getting close to time to walk down the aisle.” He clearly thinks that it will happen.

  2. coppertop 04/11/2006 at 9:12 AM #

    ah crap, where’s my tux! if we want cal and we’re state fans which side to we sit on?:)

  3. ltkurtz 04/11/2006 at 9:13 AM #

    Think Cal is just holding out for one more zamboni ride?

  4. Jacques_Strap 04/11/2006 at 9:14 AM #

    This is not the report I was hoping for.

    Shared that NC State refused to offer Calipari a contract in Memphis. Told Cal that if he came to visit that he would be offered a contract.

    NC State offered the contract that pays $1.7 million a year with incentives that can get him to $2.0 million. The incentives were not ridiculous to achieve.

    I was hoping the visit was the result of a verbal ok and was to cement the deal, not offer the deal. This sounds like it is still an open questions and we are not as far down the road as I hoped. My bad for reading too much into the visit.

    The rumor of a meeting with his team never seemed to pan out yesterday. Now this makes more sense. Cal did not meet to tell his team he was leaving because he did not actually have an offer yet.

    Let’s hope he actually accepted the offer last night and they just are not leaking it yet so he could tell his team in person.

  5. Micky McCarthy 04/11/2006 at 9:16 AM #

    This information is exactly what I posted on this board last night around 8:00 Central Time. It was a done deal once he touched down in Raleigh.

  6. DavidThompson 04/11/2006 at 9:19 AM #

    1.7 is cheap in my opinion. I think we have alot more to offer if needed. I think today is the day as well. I will be @ here all day checking anybody has any new rumors they find or hear, I would love to see them.

    Let keep our fingers crossed that today is the day.

  7. Jacques_Strap 04/11/2006 at 9:19 AM #

    This information is exactly what I posted on this board last night around 8:00 Central Time. It was a done deal once he touched down in

    It’s too early for a shot of liquid optimism, so I’ll just believe this. I feel better already.

  8. waxhaw 04/11/2006 at 9:20 AM #

    I like that strategy. It makes him come to Raleigh. When you see our facilities in person, you are more likely to say yes. Also, it proves a genuine interest if the answer is ultimately no.

    I think we’ve got him.

  9. PittsburghPackFan 04/11/2006 at 9:23 AM #

    ^ I hope you are right Micky!

    Someone ask ol’ Roy what having a strained relationship with your AD can do for your career. I hear that was a factor in him coming to Chapel Hill.

    MMMMMMMMMMM………Food for thought………….

  10. Tired in Florida 04/11/2006 at 9:23 AM #

    …agree waxhaw – I like it too for all thereasons you list…..and we still have powder if we need it…..and now that the conflict between Cal and the UM AD has started to surface the stars are lining up a bit more…..

  11. DavidThompson 04/11/2006 at 9:25 AM #

    Just found this ….. if you have not seen it yet

    http://sportsblog.abc11tv.com/

  12. Tau837 04/11/2006 at 9:25 AM #

    Good strategy on not offering in Memphis. To me this makes his intentions fairly clear. If he was just using us to get a better deal at Memphis, there would be no need to make the trip to get the actual offer. This tells me he is coming.

    As for the poster who implied this isn’t good because now he has to think about it, you can be sure he already had a clear idea of what the terms would be before he set foot in Raleigh yesterday. Which says to me that the terms were acceptable to him.

  13. NCSU4LIFE 04/11/2006 at 9:26 AM #

    “1.7 is cheap in my opinion.”

    I am sure that is the starting point. They will wait to see what Memphis offers and then proceed to increase the salary from there. You would not wanna offer him 2.2 if Memphis won’t even match the offer that is on the table now. I strongly believe we can match anything Elvis Presley Univeristy can offer.

  14. BladenWolf 04/11/2006 at 9:27 AM #

    Ol’ Jed has come through this time. I had my doubts at first, but it seems that the mechanics of getting Calipari to Raleigh worked like a charm. It forced John to show how interested he is (unlike RB) by jumping on a plane and visiting the RBC.
    With that manuver accomplished, we should all relax and wait for the Press Conference this afternoon.

    Who am I kidding… I’m still anxious as hell.

  15. WilmingtonWolf05 04/11/2006 at 9:27 AM #

    Royboy actually got his AD fired, then left after the new one was hired. At least that’s what I remember about that sad story.

  16. BigBad 04/11/2006 at 9:27 AM #

    >>>another day of following the web…and not getting a lot of WORK done…LOL…hope I still have a job tomorrow

  17. monte kiffin 04/11/2006 at 9:30 AM #

    what a ride!!!!

  18. CaptainCraptacular 04/11/2006 at 9:32 AM #

    Wonder how much his assistants would be getting in the terms of deal. I thought I read somewhere early in the process that he was seeking raises for them (as well as himself) from Memphis.

  19. class of 74 04/11/2006 at 9:32 AM #

    I email Taylor just about everyday and yesterday at 3:05pm he told me things we as positive as they could be and he expected Coach Cal to be our next coach. His sources are the inner circle of NCSU. If you want to know what is going on in NCSU athletics his program which is streamed live and archived daily is pretty darn good.

  20. class of 74 04/11/2006 at 9:33 AM #

    ^should have been “things were as positive”

  21. tvp 04/11/2006 at 9:34 AM #

    I’m really surprised we didn’t offer in Memphis, but it looks like it worked out!

    It’s Christmas everyone!!!!

  22. CaptainCraptacular 04/11/2006 at 9:35 AM #

    Wonder how much sleep Cal got last night? If there’s a press conference today in Raleigh to announce, he’s going to be dragging arse.

  23. PittsburghPackFan 04/11/2006 at 9:36 AM #

    I will say this…I see Fowler in a whole new light. He has a done a great job with this…so far.

    As far as his unquestioned support of Herb and Amato, what else is he supposed to say? ” I think they can do better “? His support of the coaches just shows that he won’t penalize them if the going gets rough for a little while, a la UNC vs. Matt Doherty. He has proven that the Front Offices are behind them, no matter what.

  24. BigBad 04/11/2006 at 9:36 AM #

    not offering in Memphis put the ball in OUR court…if he was REALLY interested…he had to come here…where we could put the FULL COURT PRESS on him…on our own home soil

  25. WolfInVolCountry 04/11/2006 at 9:37 AM #

    Water cooler talk here in East TN has Vol fans ecstatic that Calipari may be leaving. It gives Pearl so much more leverage to recruit the Memphis area. There is some real animosity between Memphis and Knoxville, and with what Bruce did this year, Tiger fans now hate UT even more. (It is kinda too bad that we missed Pearl last year, but if it means getting Cal, then WOOOOHOOOO!)

    Go Pack… get Cal!

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