CALIPARI WOULD BE PERFECT FIT FOR UK

Unless John Calipari has a last second change of heart and returns to the University of Memphis, he should be named the new coach of the men's basketball program at the University of Kentucky within hours. He would be paid $35 million over 8-years to attempt to fix a historic program that has been reduced to rubble in recent years.

First off, this is an absolute no-brainer for Kentucky. Calipari should have been given a chance to coach a big-time institution for years now. He is one of the best recruiters in all of college hoops. Look at the rosters he compiled at Memphis! If he can get the players he did at a non-big six conference program in Memphis, just imagine who he can bring in at Kentucky. He has always been a tremendous salesman for the programs he represents. Not only can he recruit, he is a master motivator. His players buy in and always play hard. There's no doubt he'll do big things at Kentucky.

Just as this is a no-brainer for Kentucky, it is also a no-brainer for Calipari. This is his chance to join the main stream and stand along side the likes of Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, and even his clone, Rick Pitino, as the elite coaches in college basketball. Calipari has been forced to wait for the big job, because his candid, egoistic personality has always rubbed some people the wrong way.

I have always found Calipari to be tied at the hip with Pitino. Their careers are so similar it's scary. The one difference is that Pitino is the country-club version of Calipari. Pitino has won at big time institutions, while Calipari has won with the little guy. While Pitino was at Kentucky, Calipari was at UMass, and while Pitino was with the Celtics, Calipari was with the Nets. Pitino then trumped him again by taking the Louisville job a year after Calipari took the Memphis job. This is Calipari's chance to put his career on the same level as Pitino. He has an opportunity to equal or even better the job Pitino did at Kentucky. He will be hard pressed to do that, but I believe he can. In my opinion, Calipari is already among the top 10 coaches in college basketball.

This is the perfect time for a Kentucky/Calipari marriage. Kentucky is desperately seeking someone who can rebuild their program to prominence, and I believe Calipari, who is looking to make a big splash with a main stream program, will do just that. If this marriage happens, Calipari will bring a National Championship (or more) to Kentucky. MARK IT DOWN!

Pat Morgan

Note: How about this Pitino/Calipari comparsion. When, not if, Calipari goes to a Final Four with Kentucky, he will join Pitino as the only coaches to take three different programs to the Final Four.