Reading the Kentucky Boards

Isn't this the same guy who said Gillespie was a home-run and the Tubby hire sucked?


Gregg Doyle on Omaha Radio... Reply

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Just said Calapari would make "Kentucky like Duke, UNC, and Kansas rolled into one." Said if this happens, "its over" for everyone else in college basketball.

Boy Kentucky is cocky thinking/knowing they are getting Calipari. I wonder what happens when they don't make the final four every year?

97alumni said:

Boy Kentucky is cocky thinking/knowing they are getting Calipari. I wonder what happens when they don't make the final four every year?

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I wonder what happens when they uncover dirty recruiting by Calipari (so that he can get those very top recruits the fan base demands, as Eddie Sutton learned) and the NCAA responds by banning Cleveland State again.

What has Calipari done that strikes you as dirty? I've heard no such reports, though i would be interested in hearing it if you have some actual information instead of just jealousy over him getting seemingly every player he wants year in and year out.

JDGopher said:

What has Calipari done that strikes you as dirty? I've heard no such reports, though i would be interested in hearing it if you have some actual information instead of just jealousy over him getting seemingly every player he wants year in and year out.

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UMass had to go through some pretty nasty NCAA stuff after he bolted for the NBA. Then he went to Memphis, which before he got there had one of the lowest graduation rates in the country amongst their basketball players.

To his credit, he has improved this by leaps and bounds. But the guy has one of those personalities where if you listen too long, you're kind of tempted to sock him in the eye. No one is a bigger fan of himself than Calipari, which probably doesn't help either.

Other than that, all I've heard are nasty rumors.

I've never minded Kentucky because I liked Pitino and Tubby and never had an opinion on Billy G, but Calipari is a complete sleazeball and I will now root against them always. I used to be OK with Kansas too but Self is another sleazeball. Never trust a coach with slick hair

MRJ said:

UMass had to go through some pretty nasty NCAA stuff after he bolted for the NBA. Then he went to Memphis, which before he got there had one of the lowest graduation rates in the country amongst their basketball players.

To his credit, he has improved this by leaps and bounds. But the guy has one of those personalities where if you listen too long, you're kind of tempted to sock him in the eye. No one is a bigger fan of himself than Calipari, which probably doesn't help either.

Other than that, all I've heard are nasty rumors.

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I will always be a fan of the old Temple coach Jon Chaney who busted into Calipari's post game press conference at UMass and yelled that he was going to kick Calipari's ass. The old man would have handled Calipari no problem.

Correction Gopher God

Chaney threatened to kill him, not kick his ass. I don't like Calipari and I did like some of Chaneys teams but that was waaaay over the top.

MRJ said:

UMass had to go through some pretty nasty NCAA stuff after he bolted for the NBA. Then he went to Memphis, which before he got there had one of the lowest graduation rates in the country amongst their basketball players.

To his credit, he has improved this by leaps and bounds. But the guy has one of those personalities where if you listen too long, you're kind of tempted to sock him in the eye. No one is a bigger fan of himself than Calipari, which probably doesn't help either.

Other than that, all I've heard are nasty rumors.

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spot on and know one knows this better than rick pitino. if calipari does end up at kentucky don't expect too much "love" between those two in the state of kentucky. word is that they can't stand each other. could make for some very good theater in the years to come!

He threatend to kick his ass and kill him, you can watch the press confrence on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-4sJTf7iQ

Jim V2 said:

I wonder what happens when they uncover dirty recruiting by Calipari (so that he can get those very top recruits the fan base demands, as Eddie Sutton learned) and the NCAA responds by banning Cleveland State again.

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Nah, the UConn mess will hit Cleveland St. The NCAA might have to hit Portland St.

MRJ said:

UMass had to go through some pretty nasty NCAA stuff after he bolted for the NBA. Then he went to Memphis, which before he got there had one of the lowest graduation rates in the country amongst their basketball players.

To his credit, he has improved this by leaps and bounds. But the guy has one of those personalities where if you listen too long, you're kind of tempted to sock him in the eye. No one is a bigger fan of himself than Calipari, which probably doesn't help either.

Other than that, all I've heard are nasty rumors.

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Yes, UMass had to vacate its Final Four due to the NCAA violations that happened under his watch.

If Calipari goes to Kentucky, and brings his top 3 recruits, in Xavier Henry, DeMarcus Cousins, and possibly John Wall, with him to Kentucky, I think they will instantly be the most hated team in the country. Everyone else will be rooting against them, like the Yankees, etc.

Let me just say a few things


1. The UK administration was in contact with the NCAA all weekend and went through a much deeper vetting process than last time. They EMPHATICALLY cleared Calipari and his coaching staff. Rick Pitino had multiple recruiting violations on his resume and been disassociated with a program per the NCAA. He was clean. Sandy Bell is on top of things. She blocked the recruitment of Kevin Durant allegedly because of grade issues.


2. Greg Doyle is an a-hole and a bad writer. He has also been quoted as saying "Why is he screwing this up!" in regards to Billy Gillispie's tenure at UK

3. John Chaney and Calipari are actually friends now. Have been for awhile.

4. A lot of people want this to happen in the college basketball world. Why is it you think the media has been saying "This is awesome" Bilas, Vitale, Katz, Gottlieb, Seth Davis, Digger Phelps..all have stated this a perfect fit. ESPN and the SEC want this. Nike wants this to happen really, really bad. IMG wants this to happen really, really bad. There's reasons for that and frankly I don't care if everyone "hates" us. We've always been hated. Why? Because we win and others don't.

5. If Coach Smith had taken Jodie Meeks (like some of you who were hoping he'd transfer to Minnesota at one point on this board) and Patrick Patterson I'm SURE you would have felt bad about it. I don't want to see the Memphis program hurt in all this. I don't want any current Memphis players transferring to UK.

But John Wall is uncommitted and has signed nothing. He's made it clear he wants to play for Calipari. He was already being recruited by Kentucky. I don't see the issue. Henry will not be coming to UK if he gets out of his LOI. He's going to Kansas (and the Jayhawks will thank us everyday of the week and twice on Sunday) and guys like Cousins will have some hard choices. We have one of the top big men in this class coming in. It's going to be a numbers game..it was going to be that before the coaching change.

The Truth said:

Let me just say a few things


1. The UK administration was in contact with the NCAA all weekend and went through a much deeper vetting process than last time. They EMPHATICALLY cleared Calipari and his coaching staff. Rick Pitino had multiple recruiting violations on his resume and been disassociated with a program per the NCAA. He was clean. Sandy Bell is on top of things. She blocked the recruitment of Kevin Durant allegedly because of grade issues.


2. Greg Doyle is an a-hole and a bad writer. He has also been quoted as saying "Why is he screwing this up!" in regards to Billy Gillispie's tenure at UK

3. John Chaney and Calipari are actually friends now. Have been for awhile.

4. A lot of people want this to happen in the college basketball world. Why is it you think the media has been saying "This is awesome" Bilas, Vitale, Katz, Gottlieb, Seth Davis, Digger Phelps..all have stated this a perfect fit. ESPN and the SEC want this. Nike wants this to happen really, really bad. IMG wants this to happen really, really bad. There's reasons for that and frankly I don't care if everyone "hates" us. We've always been hated. Why? Because we win and others don't.

5. If Coach Smith had taken Jodie Meeks (like some of you who were hoping he'd transfer to Minnesota at one point on this board) and Patrick Patterson I'm SURE you would have felt bad about it. I don't want to see the Memphis program hurt in all this. I don't want any current Memphis players transferring to UK.

But John Wall is uncommitted and has signed nothing. He's made it clear he wants to play for Calipari. He was already being recruited by Kentucky. I don't see the issue. Henry will not be coming to UK if he gets out of his LOI. He's going to Kansas (and the Jayhawks will thank us everyday of the week and twice on Sunday) and guys like Cousins will have some hard choices. We have one of the top big men in this class coming in. It's going to be a numbers game..it was going to be that before the coaching change.

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to respond:

1. Is this common in coaching searches?? I would think that most, if not all NCAA member schools, should have to clear things with the NCAA before proceeding. I admit, I don't know all the ins and outs of this kind of scenario, but it seems to me that this would be required by all NCAA scholarship schools seeking a new coach

2. completely agree. Doyel also ripped us for hiring Smith and proclaimed him an epic failure before he had even coached one game for us. That's all you need to know about his credibility.

3. Didn't know that. Interesting.

4. Makes sense. Especially for ESPN, which loves all things ACC, Big East and SEC. This will give them extra made-up storylines to follow for the better part of the next eight years or however long Calipari's contract runs. Plus, they get to talk about Kentucky being relevant in college basketball again on a national stage, which all talking heads at big networks love.

5. That's a fair position and while I wouldn't mind having had Meeks on our team this year , I wouldn't have wanted an exodus of players coming with Tubby to Minnesota either. Having said that, wouldn't be surprised if Cousins follows. He's only verbally committed, which as we all know, is about as loosey-goosey as you can get. No problem with Wall going to Kentucky at all. Forgot that Henry had Kansas as his other final choice (oops!!!). Could definitely see him being a Jayhawk next Fall.

The vetting process usually brings up things to the surface. Our AD ignored some things in Brooks' (our football coach who has been great for us. Love that man) past that were minor in regards to NCAA violations when he was hired and the local media crucified him and there were rumors it almost cost Mitch his job and he'd only been around a year or so.


The UK people aren't stupid. They've heard the stories and they wanted to make sure there wasn't fire to the smoke. They were speaking to the head of the infractions committee and people like that...not some intern who did a background check on a computer for 50 bucks.

The administration has been split. Calipari would have been offered the job last time (and he would have accepted from what I hear) but there was a group inside UK Athletics that didn't want that to happen for whatever reason. What really got this started was Rick Pitino.

Do not believe Donovan turned this job down twice without hesitation or discussion. He agreed to do it at least 1 time (maybe both times) and the UK people damn well thought he was going to sign. That coupled with Pitino's comments (not to mention the far worse stuff he's done behind the scenes) before his tournament game with MSU about who UK should hire pissed a lot of important people off. They didn't like being dictated to, lied to and manipulated by a man who has done nothing but privately sabotage UK basketball (and that includes his friend Tubby.) since the day he came back from Boston. So the thought process turned to "Who is going to piss off Rick and kick the blankity blank out of him" "Whose going to own this state and not be concerned with what their old boss/friend/coach is doing down the road?"

The answer was pretty clear after that.

"The administration has been split. Calipari would have been offered the job last time (and he would have accepted from what I hear) but there was a group inside UK Athletics that didn't want that to happen for whatever reason. What really got this started was Rick Pitino."

It was plain and simple why he wasn't hired....Rupp Arena has a strict fire code for flammable materials that would have to be significantly altered due to the amount of product Calipari requires for that slick...

Couple questions, Truth:

* If Cal's in the fold, do you think Pitino takes off for Arizona? Or would he not make that move because he'd be regarded as a coward, leaving when Cal arrives?

* You mentioned the bad things Pitino has done to sabatoge Kentucky. . .such as?

* Is there anything this potential hire that concerns you? The connections with WW Wes? Questions about Coach Cal's coaching acumen? The one and done nature of his recruits? The reputation, deserved or not, that he brings to Lexington?

Reports are in and seem official - Calapari is the new Head Coach at Kentucky.

Good hire for them.

I wouldn't want WWW though. He seems very questionable. Amazing reads about him through Google searches.

coolhandgopher said:

Couple questions, Truth:

* If Cal's in the fold, do you think Pitino takes off for Arizona? Or would he not make that move because he'd be regarded as a coward, leaving when Cal arrives?

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No, I don't see him going to Arizona. But with Pitino never say never but I do think he's at a point in his life and with his relationship with Jurich + his family commitments he'll retire at UofL. I also believe he is grooming Rick Jr. for the job. I don't buy the "he's going to turn it over to Donovan when he goes and that's why he was pushing Billy not to take the UK job" scuttlebutt at all.

I will say I think he squandered his last, best chance at a title this season. I could be wrong but I really think he would have walked away if they had won it this year.

* You mentioned the bad things Pitino has done to sabatoge Kentucky. . .such as?

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Telling recruits that if they don't commit to UofL they would find better coaching at Florida (a slap in the face of a "friend" who is your current coach), taking meetings with UK boosters hinting at interest in coming back to UK, meeting with Larry Ivy to say if he can get Tubby out he'll return post-Boston (which almost happened. Tubby was really, really close to taking the South Carolina job before Odom was hired), dicking around with Freedom Hall scheduling to make it hard for UK to get a "name opponent" and a set date early for the annual UK game there, making it a point for UofL not to place bids to host NCAA tourney games at Freedom Hall so UK wouldn't be given an advantage despite the economic benefits it would bring to the city and some other stuff I can't confirm and dismiss as rumors that's worse.

* Is there anything this potential hire that concerns you? The connections with WW Wes? Questions about Coach Cal's coaching acumen? The one and done nature of his recruits? The reputation, deserved or not, that he brings to Lexington?

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Yes but the NCAA clearing him has done a bit to extinguish those. The connections to Wes aren't any different from a lot of guys. He's like Sonny Vaccaro in that respect. He's close to Nike and a lot of NBA front offices and NBA players.

Cal has done some good things improving Memphis' grad rates and I know APR stuff and incentives will be built into his contract. One and done doesn't bother me that much (and Stern is going to get his two year limit soon) and I think Cal knows there's a different expectation at Kentucky than at Memphis. Nobody gives Roy junk for his recruitment of one and done guys at Carolina.

He can coach. Two Final Fours prove that and his willingness to take chances and be an innovator (like with the DDM) appeal to the coach in me. He's not afraid to step outside of the box and re-evaluate what he's doing and he's committed to his players having fun. If there is something UK needs right after the last 4 seasons..it's fun.

The Truth said:

He can coach. Two Final Fours prove that and his willingness to take chances and be an innovator (like with the DDM) appeal to the coach in me. He's not afraid to step outside of the box and re-evaluate what he's doing and he's committed to his players having fun. If there is something UK needs right after the last 4 seasons..it's fun.

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Correction - one Final Four. The 1996 UMass Final Four trip has been vacated.