With Calipari on the verge of leaving Memphis for the Mecca of Kentucky, I am sure he is resting comfortably as he counts the millions of dollars he is about to make, and enjoys the last night of peaceful sleep for as long as he remains in Lexington.  On the day March leaves like a lion, Calipari will enter like a savior for the bluegrass state.  Wait; wasn’t the last guy heralded the same way?

First things first.  Let’s have a moment of silence for Billy Gillispie, who despite his outstanding work habit couldn’t bring Kentucky back after Tubby Smith drove the program into the ground. 

Numbers Check:

Billy G – 1 NCAA Birth (lost first round), 1 NIT Birth (lost first round), Total Record: 40-27, Conference Record: 20-12

Tubby – 10 NCAA Births (every year, never lost in first round, 1 Championship), 0 NIT Birth, 5 Conference Championships, Total Record: 263-83, Conference Record: 120-40

Where should Gillispie take his unbelievable work habits?  If I am at the athletic director at University of Iowa or a Hawkeye fan, I am begging for them to at least give him a call.  However, Gillispie will most likely end up crawling back to a Texas school with his tail between his legs and dreaming of Ashley Judd.

Now on to the Calipari.  There are six schools in college basketball that if they call, you drop everything and go-even if Michael-freakin’-Jordan has committed to your school for next year.  Those schools are the following:

UCLA – Hello, John Wooden sitting courtside in Pauley Pavilion.  Westwood.  California girls.  The only drawback would be if Bill Walton frequently came back for visits.

Duke – Cameron Crazies.  Rivalries. 

North Carolina – Powder Blue everything.  Rivalries.

Kansas – The chant at the end of a game.  Fogg Allen.  That bird thing. 

Indiana – Though it is down now, still the place to be.  Hoosier basketball.  And you can choke a player, throw a chair and make racial slurs and not be fired. 

And Kentucky.

Three reasons why you go to Kentucky:

1.     Rupp Arena.  Capacity 23,500 people.  All in blue.  All screaming at the top of their lungs.  All with an ingrained knowledge of basketball, the ins-and outs.  They know when to cheer, why to cheer and what to cheer.  They come to the game because the game.  And when they see the humongous “K” flag waiving without regard for anything or anyone, they know what is important.

2.     Kids still want to don the blue and white wildcat jersey.  It is on the top 3 list of most 5-star hoop prodigies, because its tradition and what it could be.  They are always a class away from making another championship run.

3.     Ashley Judd.  Enough said.

Three reasons why you go with Calipari:

1.     He is a master recruiter.  If he could bring players to Amherst (don’t pronounce the “h” – it is a Massachusetts thing … I think it is called “ignorance”) and take the Minutemen to the Final Four, he is doing something right (paying them!).  Marcus Camby.  Dejuan Wagner.  Chris Douglas-Roberts.  Derrick Rose.  Joey Dorsey.  Tyreke Evans.  The list goes on and continues to a top recruiting class next year for the Memphis Tigers … maybe.

2.     The attack brand of basketball he plays is fun to watch and fun to play.  To succeed at the college level, you must have a style that is centered on defense, but not so offensively stale that you lose the best athletes to the teams that run up and down the court.  Calipari brings a balance of defensive tenacity and offensive recklessness that left them 2.1 seconds from a national championship.  But that brings me to my final point,

3.     He just simply wins even when he loses.  With the loss this year of Douglas-Roberts, Dorsey and Rose to the NBA, Memphis was entering that rebuilding year.  However, Calipari coached the Tigers to the fourth 30-win season.  His reloaded team exceeded expectations and made their way to the Sweet 16 but lost to the Big-12 Tigers from Missouri.

The bottom line is that John Calipari has to head to Kentucky and become the highest paid coach in college basketball, surpassing Billy Donovan from Florida.  He will then bring his recruits, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall-both top five recruits in the country-to join Patrick Patterson and Jody Meeks in Lexington and vault the Wildcats to contenders in the span of one twenty-four hour period.

But we all win in this scenario because a great Kentucky team means more nationally televised games for the blue and white, which means more Ashley Judd sightings to bring smiles to our faces.

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