Well, I suppose nobody should be surprised. Why wait until after the Final Four, and why not throw Rick Pitino in for good measure? The New York Post today:
It’s a long shot, but a shot nonetheless. The possibility exists that two of the premier programs in college basketball — both in Kentucky — could be looking for new coaches.
This stuff is shameless non-reporting. Just raise up a flag somewhere and hope somebody, anybody, salutes.
Naturally, there are always plenty of people in the media who do. After all, Calipari abandoning Kentucky for the big-money NBA fits the perception that the media, as a whole, has always had of Calipari -- it's all about the money and never about the job.
Who knows, perhaps they will turn out to be right at some point, but I personally think that Calipari is more complex than that.There is also the fact that Calipari's contract at Kentucky is competitive with all but the most obscene pro contracts. There is also Coach Cal's earlier less-than-completely-successful stint with the Nets, so there is a history to consider.
But no doubt about it, this is going to be rumored again and again, particularly out of the New York city area where it always gets the most play, likely because of Calipari's past connection to the New Jersey Nets. It is what it is, and we'll dutifully note it and I, for one, will scoff. There may be a time when Calipari decides to do this, but I rather doubt it will be after finally winning one NCAA Tournament, if that does eventually happen this year.
Times have changed from the Rick Pitino days. Boston, a legendary program, is not going to go out and pay Coach Cal or Slick Rick a king's ransom again, that has been tried with something less than total success. I suppose someone will trot out the LeBron James angle again -- after all, why not, it got plenty of buyers the first time around -- but I have become convinced that there is more to Calipari than just money, even if most in the media have not.
Time will tell if I'm right, but for now, I am laughing at all this without the least reservation.