I read in the LexH story that Memphis was notified January 16. Remember all the comments on hiring that Calapri had been totally vetted with NCAA and Memphis. Interesting. Wow…we had three headlines tonight…BCG, Wall and this. I think all of us will benefit from more reading and not too much judging at this time. Those “agin” us will not change their minds in any way. Those of us who support our school and our team will keep our focus. .

Coach Cal is a great recruiter and a pipeline to the NBA. Other great coaches (Roy Williams, Bill Self, etc) are great recruiters with the same NBA pipeline, but they don’t have the stink around them that Coach Cal does. Coach Cal’s recruiting success is surrounded by a cloud of handlers, runners and questionable characters. It isn’t long before someone blows the cover on this guy. There’s a bunch of smoke and the fire’s not far behind.

But, not in this case.

You can question whether he should have been more in touch with his 15-member squad to know if something like this was going on. Goodness knows, if he gets to know his recruits as intimately as he does by talking to them daily as he sells them on the program, he ought to suspect when a kid is dirty (e.g. surprisingly good test score when the kid can’t …). But that’s about all we can say in this case “maybe he shoulda known”.

I’ll save my powder for when the real violations are exposed that directly relate to dirty recruiting.

 As a diehard Kentucky fan who has followed the program since 1973, I am disgusted by the allegations against Memphis. Under Calipari, UMass went to the Final Four and that had to be vacated after UMass went on probation and Calipari left. Cal was not “named” in the UMass mess. Now Memphis likely go on probation, if found guilty, and will have to vacate its Final Four and 38 victories, after Calipari left. Cal was not "named in the Memphis mess. Can anyone say PATTERN? I mean one time I can understand and maybe see. But the second time, I do not accept. This is a Pattern that will continue. I do not want to read someday that Kentucky is on probation, but Cal is not “named” in the Kentucky mess and Cal is gone somewhere else. Coaches are rarely named in probation cases and they hardly ever punished like the schools are.
 I do not know about other Kentucky fans, but my love and dedication is to the school, not the coach. The school is the only thing that does not change.
 I remember the Mark Story open letter to the UK administration regarding Calipari “past” BEFORE he was hired. He was blasted by many fans and even had calls for the Herald to fire him. Why cant Calipari be questioned? It reminds me of a recent presidential campaign where one candidate could never be questioned.
 I know that Calipari has not been “named” by the NCAA. Hell, he was not at UMass either. But the facts show that the last two programs Cal has coached, one has gone on probation and the other has 4 major violations under review- after he LEFT.
 If this came out on January 16, 2009, why did this not come to the public until May 27, 2009? Why did Barnhart not mention it before now? The Mitch Barnhart mess continues.
 Sure I want to win and win bad. But for those UK fans who do not remember the 1980s when Sports Illustrated cover page had a basketball player and “Kentucky Shame”, I want to win with class. Whatever you think, noone ever questioned the integrity of Pitino or Tubby Smith when they were the coaches at Kentucky. That is not only what I want from the coach at Kentucky, it is what I EXPECT from the coach at Kentucky.
 Coach Cal, if you want to cheat, please do us a favor and quit and go somewhere else. I do not want a repeat of that 1989 Sports Illustrated. Winning a basketball game merely is not that important.

Let’s face it. If a Kentucky coach drops a quarter because he has a hole in his pocket and a recruit finds it, it’s the most horrible thing a coach could ever do. But if an ACC school or Notre Dame holds a press conferences to announce that they are giving a player an new Range Rover, the NCAA turns a blind eye. Obviously, this is an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Hoze, you may recall that your beloved Cardinals avoided the death penalty because the NCAA forgot to read them their rights. (Or did the check clear? I’ve forgotten which.)

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson said the Tigers have no reason to believe a former player — identified by sources as Derrick Rose — took a fraudulent standardized test prior to enrolling at the university.

Rose’s HS coach says he doesn’t believe Rose cheated and was smart enough to pass test.