Calipari: Following Tubby would have made the UK job much harder for me

KATZ: When the Kentucky job became open in 2007 after Tubby Smith resigned, how interested were you at that point?
CALIPARI: I was waiting on a phone call that never came. But as my wife has said many times, it was the best thing that could have happened for me and for the kids in the program at Memphis. The players at that time needed me there at Memphis. It ended up working out well for the team and for me -- and I ended up at Kentucky anyway.

KATZ: Why was the timing right in 2009?
CALIPARI: The timing was better because Tubby had won a national title [in 1998], and everybody in town still loved him. So following him would have made the job much harder for me. No disrespect to Billy Gillispie, but it didn't go well [during his two seasons at Kentucky]. If, following Tubby, we had a bunch of good players who left early, fans may have been up in arms. I tried to tell them that having five players taken in the first round of the NBA draft was the best thing to happen to our program, but there were people who fought me then, saying, "This isn't about the championship." Well, it is about championships. But the kids bring you championships, so at the end of the day, it's about the kids. The program is bigger than all of us. But you've gotta make this about the players, and that's what I do. They may not have accepted that in 2007.

http://m.espn.go.com/ncb/story?storyId=8676923&i=TWT&w=1cdio&wjb

Go Gophers!!

I suddenly gained a little respect for Slick Cal.

this guy left memphis in the dust... he was linked to some possible recruiting violations at umass, and the guy just seems fake. he is always on tv downplaying his team so if they do get spanked by better teams he has that cushion to fall back on, those are what we like to call excuses. he is the kind of coach who would shoo a kid out the door if he had a better player commited coming in.

gopherdiehard said:

this guy left memphis in the dust... he was linked to some possible recruiting violations at umass, and the guy just seems fake. he is always on tv downplaying his team so if they do get spanked by better teams he has that cushion to fall back on, those are what we like to call excuses. he is the kind of coach who would shoo a kid out the door if he had a better player commited coming in.

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A little jealous of Slick Cal are we?

gopherdiehard said:

this guy left memphis in the dust... he was linked to some possible recruiting violations at umass, and the guy just seems fake. he is always on tv downplaying his team so if they do get spanked by better teams he has that cushion to fall back on, those are what we like to call excuses. he is the kind of coach who would shoo a kid out the door if he had a better player commited coming in.

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Pretty much any top tier basketball program will do this and has every right to. That's what you're signing up for by going to a school like Kentucky. Expectations, fame, and the opportunity to go to the NBA. Produce, or you won't be around too much longer. Kind of like a real job.

gopherdiehard said:

this guy left memphis in the dust... he was linked to some possible recruiting violations at umass, and the guy just seems fake. he is always on tv downplaying his team so if they do get spanked by better teams he has that cushion to fall back on, those are what we like to call excuses. he is the kind of coach who would shoo a kid out the door if he had a better player commited coming in.

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Lets just say the Gophers were on limited scholarships and all of the sudden Tyus decommits from Duke, and wants to come here. Would you have an issue if Tubby took him over another kid?

Hahaha....i hope you are joking, otherwise sober up before you post.

Dr.Don said:

I suddenly gained a little respect for Slick Cal.

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Our new friend Coach Cal is getting scorched by Notre Dame.