by Paul Jordan
Another day, another dozen Terrence Jones rumors. And just to make sure that the BBN was thoroughly frantic for most of the day, there were a ton of John Calipari rumors to boot and what follwed were tweets of epic proportions that will help to put the Bluegrass’s mind at ease.
Simply put: John Calipari is not going anywhere, At least not until he has a NCAA championship ring on his finger. That’s my thought anyway. Others may beg to differ. But let’s recap today’s events, shall we?
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports started the latest Calipari-to-the-NBA-rumors du jour with his story that Calipari was “intrigued” and “interested” in the Chicago Bulls now vacant coaching job. Wojnarowski cited his “NBA and NCAA sources” to say that Calipari would listen to the Bulls offer and that Calipari’s failure to connect with UK’s athletic administration may be enough to send Calipari looking after just one year on the job.
Almost immediately after this news broke, there was a report on ESPN that Calipari had denied any interest in the Bulls job to Andy Katz. And then the endless stream of tweets began. Calipari, feeling compelled to calm the BBN, issued the following comments on twitter:
Throughout my career I’ve been mentioned for other jobs. Now that I’m here u won’t hear about other colleges because I’ve got the best job.
Every year you will hear my named mentioned for NBA jobs because I coached in the league before. I’m very happy at Kentucky
While not a flat out denial, those who have learned to understand “Calspeak” saw enough in it to feel relatively comfortable. Then the UK Media News Department tweeted out the following statement from UK AD Mitch Barnhart:
Mitch Barnhart on Calipari: I’m extremely proud of what Coach Calipari has done in just 1 year as the leader of our men’s basketball program 9 minutes ago via TweetDeck
..Cal has brought Kentucky men’s basketball back to its rightful place of national prominence and I’m excited about our future. 9 minutes ago via TweetDeck
…We have begun initial discussions on restructuring his contract so that he’s the coach at Kentucky until he retires. Go Big Blue! 8 minutes ago via TweetDeck
And that is where we are at now. It looks like UK is determined to stop these monthly Calipari to the NBA rumors and the offer to make him a Wildcat until he retires is interesting at best. Money and I am sure the allure of assembling without a doubt the greatest recruiting class ever in 2011 seems to be enough motivation to keep Calipari in Lexington.
But even with a “retirement contract”, I doubt that is enough to keep the NBA jobs rumor at bay forever. Craig Sager and his ridiculous tie on TNT just brought up the possibility of Phil Jackson examining his options at the end of the year and seeing if he wanted to return to the Lakers. Should we start a pool on how long it is before Cal’s name is mentioned with the Lakers?
Face it, Cat fans. No matter what kind of contract Calipari has, the NBA is going to come after him. It’s the price you pay for having a rock star coach that oozes charisma. Notice that Coach K, Bill Self, (any other up and coming NCAA coach) are not getting the same attention and speculation. It’s what comes with being the best. And while I don’t like reading these rumors, we have to believe it when Cal tells us he wants to stay at his “dream job” Kentucky. I know our friends from Memphis will take offense at that, but you have to consider that Cal gave them 9 good seasons. He’s not a carpet bagger like Larry Brown, even though the two are close and trade stories about JV basketball.
So relax Cat fans. Enjoy the ride. Cal is not going anywhere.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans