Calipari Playing the Media…again and again

General NCS Basketball66

If you’ve noticed, we’re not looking to marinade in misery today. The sun came up just like expected and it is time to be smart, be excited, and move on.

BUT, this little diddy from ESPN is too (insert adjective here) to ignore:

I’m kind of impressed with John Calipari’s loyalty to his Memphis assistants, which is reportedly the reason he turned down a sweet offer to jump to NC State, despite … well, let’s review:

• Better conference
• Better program “brand”
• Much more money

The fact is: Calipari will never have a better situation at Memphis than this past season — Top 5 team, conference champ, NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed. Yet he was still marginalized as managing a second-tier program.

(Curious why NC State got hung up on compensating Cal’s assistants. When you’re making a multimillion dollar play for a big-name coach, isn’t the rest just details?)

I’m ‘curious’ about it as well. Particularly curious because I don’t believe it in the slightest.

Calipari is now leaking this stuff to the media to make himself look good knowing that NC State doesn’t have the guts to call him a liar in public in the middle of a coaching search. (Not that State would ever engage in such a public feud, anyway).

I’m sure that if the good folks who run this website hear anything to back-up Cal’s story then they will let you know. I’m also sure that we won’t.

This one is so ridiculous that that I can’t even bring myself to comment on it. God knows that Andy Katz has got to be one of the biggest morons in the world. Do you think that he washes Cal’s feet for him when he snaps his fingers, too?

This will be the last comments regarding Calipari. Moving on!

General NCS Basketball

66 Responses to Calipari Playing the Media…again and again

  1. monte kiffin 04/12/2006 at 5:58 PM #

    I agree…lets kinda just sit back, let Lee do his job, and welcome the new coach…whoever he is

  2. JTO 04/12/2006 at 6:00 PM #

    all apologies to the site admin for changing for the off topic note….but Doyle’s at it again. I’ve never seen a journalist lack so much integrity……

  3. dantheman 04/12/2006 at 6:01 PM #

    cam-ron
    i’m starting to agree with you about Haith
    i think the only thing that will come from us pursuing wright is a raise for him at V.
    from this point on, whoever we get is going to be somewhat of a risk…
    my brain hurts

  4. monte kiffin 04/12/2006 at 6:01 PM #

    Decource on 850 the buzz thinks we should go after Haith…..your thoughts?, I’m just not sure about him.

  5. WestCoast 04/12/2006 at 6:06 PM #

    “Is Brady an upgrade over Sendek? Ask ACC coaches. First, though, make them stop laughing.”

    This is the last sentence of Doyle’s collum today. He’s a complete Jackass.

  6. KenMan 04/12/2006 at 6:06 PM #

    I know when to admit defeat, so I’ll stop trumpeting Majerus, but I do want to say that plenty of people with heart problems can live long and healthy lives if they straighten out their diets. I’m not sure why he has his weight problem, but the medical care in this area is top notch. And one of the reasons I thought he would fit in around here, besides being affable and a capable coach, would be BECAUSE of the other Triangle coaches, not in spite of them. I think RW and MK would both be his biggest supporters in a quest for a healthier lifestyle. I think it a bit unfair to write him off assuming he can’t lose weight. Any of you see Peter King lately? And we know he is interested in getting back into coaching because he interviewed for the job Herb ended up taking!

  7. WestCoast 04/12/2006 at 6:13 PM #

    If he only had one bad year out of seven, then why isn’t he still there? I see your point, but my feeling is we’re getting ourselves in the same situation with Lavin as we had with Herb.

  8. wolfpacker420 04/12/2006 at 6:15 PM #

    Lavin will get recruits with his tv exposure unlike herb so we should give him a shot!

  9. dantheman 04/12/2006 at 6:19 PM #

    you had it right before…it is haith

  10. WestCoast 04/12/2006 at 6:20 PM #

    wolfpacker420, yes he will get recruits. Hey, if it’s him and he wins and takes a few shots at our friends down the street…I think we’ll all be happy.

  11. SWEETS 04/12/2006 at 6:21 PM #

    Calapari is a chicken. He showed his true colors through this whole deal. I also beleive he wanted to take some of the heat off of his unablity to meet the challenge at NCSU. Therefore the next time a big job came up this issue would not be a question for him. There will be a next time. He is always CYA. This slime ball really needs a good whipping by John Cheany now! He can stay in CUSA and compete with the powerhouse ECU Pirates!

  12. wolfpacker420 04/12/2006 at 6:24 PM #

    our backtracking media from espn has made themselves more unbelievable: check out what andy katz has to say about cal and why he didn’t want to go to state.

  13. Woof Wolf 04/12/2006 at 6:26 PM #

    Lavin’s numbers look good, but he played in the PAC 12 and most of the times had favorable seeding in the NCAA’s.

    I don’t think he’s the guy. Let’s don’t get too antsy or too down.

    So far it’s been a good month. Herb IS in Arizona.

  14. 74Pack 04/12/2006 at 6:47 PM #

    Tell me more about Haith.
    Looks to me like he’s a mediocre recruiter based on 2005 & 2006 classes (of course, that may actually be pretty GOOD since he’s trying to recruit to a football school). His 2 leading scorers this year were somebody else’s recruits. Would give us an “in” in Florida and Puerto Rico recruiting vs Billy Donavan.
    Has a pretty nice pedigree as an assistant.
    I don’t know…

  15. Dan 04/12/2006 at 7:05 PM #

    Haith, a mediocre recruiter?

    He’s only been down there a couple years. Last year he tagged 3 top 100 guys. This year he has two. He already has a top PG for 2007 in Edwin Rios. One that is rated higher on Scout.com than Chris Wright.

    He’s connected in NYC. He’s done all that at Miami.

    He recruited LaMarcus Aldridge and PJ Tucker at Texas.

    He can recruit.

  16. bohnman009 04/12/2006 at 7:14 PM #

    The more I think about it, the more I like Frank Haith. Where was he born again?

  17. Dan 04/12/2006 at 7:19 PM #

    I believe he is born in NYC, but spent a lot of time in NC. Either that or vice versa.

  18. dabigdog 04/12/2006 at 7:20 PM #

    Majerus would be a dream candidate. But let’s be realistic. He did color for the NC State-Iowa game earlier this season and totally hated on the pack. It was a pretty lopsided job. I don’t think he’d come to NC and I don’t think he’d last long either due to health reasons.

    McKillop actually turned down St. Johns a few years ago when Carneseca retired. That job was his on a silver platter. As for his US recruiting abilities? Give him the power of an ACC school behind him and he’ll do just fine. He has a knack for finding crafty 6-7 kids who no one else knows about that can shoot the hell out of the three. He’ll find better three point shooters than Sendek ever thought of finding. Plus, his guys will actually drive to the basket from time to time.

    Haith? Don’t know much about him, but from looking at the athletes he recruited at Miami, I think he’d do a decent job. Nothing to get excited about though, not at this point.

    Cremmins is a retread. He’s burnt out and is one of those weird south carolina guys…

    Lavin? I don’t think we really know the complete story on him. He was a leftover from Harrick’s time at UCLA and the chancellor at UCLA really hated Harrick there at the end and may have wanted to clean house. I think it hurts a coach when there’s whispers that the administration doesn’t fully support him. I’m not high on this guy, but I don’t think he’s as bad as some folks think he is.

    As for the state coaches, whit, lowe, etc… I think the only coach out there with the pedigree to handle the pressure and actually recruit on a national level is either whit or mcmillan. McMillan I know would get the job done, but with whit, I think the pressure would eventually get to him…

    About cal, lets face it, the guy is a great recruiter, but there’s been questions about his overall coaching ability. I think the tough competition scared him and the fact that state actually expects kids to graduate also scared him. At memphis, he’s able to recruit players that would be ‘problematic’ at other schools and no one there is worried about seeing players graduate. What are going to do with a memphis degree anyway?

    just my thoughts.

  19. Winston Wolf 04/12/2006 at 7:22 PM #

    He’s a Burlington native.

  20. Winston Wolf 04/12/2006 at 7:26 PM #

    Cal gets his kids from the Memphis area, Laurinburg Inst., and Mt Zion. State would never admit kids from Laurinburg or Mt Zion, so I don’t know if he could recruit at State.

    Last night, I felt terrible. This morning, I was very glad we did not get Cal. He’s still Memphis’ problem.

  21. Packof82Cards 04/12/2006 at 7:30 PM #

    The more I hear about Cal the better I feel as well Winston.

  22. Packattack 04/12/2006 at 7:31 PM #

    http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9373572

    The national media for some reason is against us.

    The two blunders coupled with these articles really make us look laughable

  23. 74Pack 04/12/2006 at 7:33 PM #

    Arnie Spanier (spelling) is on his show as I write this and is coming down hard on Calipari for avoiding ACC competition. Refreshing to finally hear it from somebody in the media.

  24. Scott 04/12/2006 at 7:36 PM #

    First time poster on this blog, so please take it easy on me. I’ve shared everyone’s anguish on this and every Wolfpack faithful site over the last few days and I appreciate the fresh perspectives here without rampant expletives. As a fellow alumni and current employee, it’s tough not to be in the thick of conversations in every nook and corner of the campus.

    That being said, I wanted to impart my two cents, here’s the guy that I’d drop my dime on: http://uconnhuskies.com/sports/MBasketball/Coaching/Moore_bio.html

    Has the head coaching experience, works for a great coach in a good power conference and will probably be a shoo-in someday for Calhoun. In the meantime, it would be nice for him to put the scare back into UNX and Duke.

  25. monte kiffin 04/12/2006 at 7:41 PM #

    Nice pedigree to me Scott….nice…

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