With five of his players headed to the NBA, could Kentucky coach John Calipari be following suit?
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Calipari has interest in the Chicago Bulls vacancy created by Monday’s firing of Vinny Del Negro.
ESPNChicago.com also listed a slew of potential replacements for Del Negro, including Doug Collins, Maurice Cheeks, Eric Musselman, Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott, Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau, Lawrence Frank, Dwane Casey, Avery Johnson and Calipari,
Yet Calipari denied interest, posting on his Facebook page: “Every year you will hear my named mentioned for NBA jobs because I coached in the league before. I’m very happy at Kentucky.”
He also told ESPN’s Andy Katz that he had no interest in the job.
Calipari’s eight-year, $31.65 million deal is already the richest in men’s college basketball. Yet Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart said he is working on a contract extension for Calipari.
“We have begun initial discussions on restructuring his contract so that he’s the coach at Kentucky until he retires,” Barnhart said in a statement.
Calipari went 72-112 in two-plus seasons with the Nets in the late 1990s. He spent the 1999-2000 season as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers before returning to college at Memphis, which he coached for nine seasons.
In his first year at Kentucky, the Wildcats reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, falling to West Virginia at the Carrier Dome. Five players from that team, including four freshmen, and junior Patrick Patterson have declared for the NBA Draft. Freshman point guard John Wall is likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in next month’s Draft.
If Calipari were to land in Chicago, he would be reunited with Derrick Rose, his former point guard at Memphis and the NBA Rookie of the Year last season.
Calipari is also close with NBA MVP LeBron James, who is likely to be pursued in free agency by the Bulls, who are under the salary cap and have money to spend.
Calipari also shares the same representation firm as high-profile free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Despite losing four freshmen and missing out on prep forwards Terrence Jones (Washington) and C.J. Leslie (N.C. State), Kentucky is bringing in a strong class that includes forward Enes Kanter and guards Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. Knight hasn’t signed a National Letter of Intent, opting to sign scholarship players instead.
(The AP contributed)
RELATED CONTENT
**John Wall signs with agent Dan Fegan
**Kentucky hoops post worst grades at school
Let it be noted that Kentucky has NOT OFFICIALLY missed out on Terrence Jones. Terrence Jones is not committed to any school currently and is attempting to decide between UW and UK. Let it also be known, that the pieces to the puzzle would all have to come together in order for Cal to leave. If Lebron went to the Bulls, then I think he’d think about it, who in their right mind wouldn’t, but I doubt the Bulls will pay him more than what his new contract will and he likely wants to establish himself somewhat as a solidified college coach and then he’ll go back to the NBA to “bounce back”
Let it be noted that Kentucky has NOT OFFICIALLY landed Brandon Knight.
Let it also be noted that Kentucky has OFFICIALLY the dirtiest coaching staff in all of College Basketball, yet are willing to extend a contract for a guy that’s never even made it to the final four – making them OFFICIALLY the dumbest program in College Basketball history.
I doubt Coach Cal will go to the NBA, but I don’t understand your argument about “wants to establish himself somewhat as a solidified college coach.” Is that a slap at UMASS and Memphis, or is that a slap at Kentucky, or is that a slap at Coach Cal himself? He took UMASS to the Final 4 and Memphis to the national title game, which both seem like harder things to accomplish at smaller schools in smaller conferences. Is your point that Coach Cal didn’t meet expectations this year specifically? Please explain.
No way will Calipari make it in the NBA. He’s tested those waters and fell flat on his face. It’s blatantly obvious he isn’t an x’s and o’s type of coach, he is a great recruiter but not a great in game decision maker. He’s had the success he’s had based on the talent he’s had on his teams.
And like I said; TJ isn’t leaving the Pac10. You can cream your pants over the idea that he’s going to UK all you want but at the end of the day he’s going to sign with Washington.
Mann, all this controversy going on in only 1 year at UK. Yeah you guys picked a winner. And let it be known, that money talks. If the Bulls offer him a good chunk of change he will leave UK without even thinking twice about it.
And don’t say, well Calipari already said he’s not interested in going to the Bulls, he also said that about UK when he was still at Memphis than he threw them to the side like a piece of garbage the next day. So don’t be surprised if he does the same to you guys.
He took them to the final 4, really? Cause I don’t see it on the record books. As far as history is concerned he’s never been to the final 4.
nah…that title goes to IU for extending crean for the renaming part of the century even though he cant win ten games for them.
keep bringing up the final four thing like it matters. it really doesnt.
Kentucky’s staff is no dirtier than Duke/Kansas/UNC or any other for that matter….(Coach K can go after committed players and everyone turns the other way)..
Why not extend his contract if the University is happy with what they have,seems like the smart move to make.
Being the Coach at UK is so much more than just being a coach and it’s not made to suit many candidates.Cal is the perfect Coach that fits…
As far as B.Knight goes that is the smart move on his part to just sign the financial Aid papers,instead of a LOI after all the kid does carry a 4.3 gpa…
Just keep on being a hater,that’s what fans from irrelevant teams do and I most certainly can tell by your comments that you are most diffidently one….
no controversy really. just crap haters bring up all the time to make themselves feel better. what you fail to realize is that hating on cal wont make you feel better. it wont make miller a good coach and it wont help him land better recruits. but i get why you dont want to look in the mirror and accept the reality of current state of the program. its too difficult to face. while its cheap and easy to bash cal and uk.
but i’m sure you are right about everything. cal sucks. he sucks so bad that NBA teams are interested in him. i should take your word for it after all. its not like you are biased or have an agenda. miller is so amazing that NBA teams are afraid to bring him in for an interview for fear he will win too many games with his superior X’s and O’s mind.
I believe If they offer him enough money and a chance to coach Lebron, calipari will accept the job. He wants to coach lebron, and the NBA is the only place he could go that is a “upgrade” because UK is one of the top college basketball jobs.
WIth Lebron, Rose, Noah and the rest of that team, the Bulls would be pretty good. He would be able to step right in and win games.
having said that, i doubt he will go because i don’t think chicago will get lebron.
hahaha who said anything about Miller? Miller has a long way to go as a coach. And I’ve said MANY times that Arizona is rebuilding and it’s going to take some time, but do I think we are in good hands? Absolutely! We have a coach with morals and values, that goes a long way!
And maybe the Bulls are interested in Calipari because of the LeBron ties, have you ever thought of that?
I think you are right about the Bulls not being able to land LeBron. He wants to go somewhere he can win a championship and I’m sorry but the Bulls ain’t it.
If LeBron wants to go to a team and have a chance to win a title right away or even in the first couple years he is going to have to go to a team like the Lakers, or the Celtics, the Spurs, or even the Suns. Hell the suns just can’t get over that hump in the playoffs and a star like LeBron could get them over it.
Now will he go to any of those teams? Probably not. Too many stars already on those teams and not sure how he would fit in. But there are other teams that are a better fit than the Bulls. Hell he has a better chance of winning a title by staying with the Cavs than going to the Bulls. So with that being said I don’t think Chicago will get either LeBron or Calipari.
jhawk4, that is a reasonable opinion.
My fellow UK fans, I love having Calipari as our coach but please don’t believe he will never leave UK for an NBA job. Lucky for us, it would have to be a very good NBA job like the Celtics/Lakers/Knicks/Bulls or an NBA team with a insanely wealthy owner like Dallas or NJ. He will not leave for another college team. A perfect example is Pitino back in 1997, or Pete Carrol just this year.
I would remind our Kansas friends that Bill Self is in the same boat. Pitino, Self and Cal are much more concerned about their legacy (and their income) than they are about Louisville, KU or UK. It so happens that their interests align with that of their school right now.
It hurts me to admit this, but Duke and UNC do not have this problem (as far as I can tell). If Coach K turned down the Lakers and Kobe, I doubt he will go anywhere until he retires. Roy is at his alma mater, and I think he genuinely cares about UNC.
Finally, all this UK national news is exhausting. First off, the Calapri hiring. Then the John Wall/Cousins/Bledsoe recruitment. Then the season. Then the recruiting of Knight, Lamb, Kanter, Jones, Leslie. Then the Terrence Jones stuff. Now Cal and the NBA. I could use some peace and quiet.
Finally, I think Terrence Jones to UK is a possibility, but Washington is more likely.
By the way, Boogie Cousins is working out at UW this week to prepare for the draft (his agent is from Seattle). Talk about irony.
people though tiger woods had morals and values. might want to be carefully with that kind of rhetoric.
the bulls would be stupid not to consider cal because of his lebron ties.
Just amazing that the only articles that get most comments are the articles about UK, its players/recruits or Coach Cal. Everyone should just join our great Big Blue Nation. We feel the love. It’s great having the best coach, the best recruits and the best program that everyone takes time out to talk about. Go Big Blue!
What will happen if Coach Cal goes to the NBA? I’m not saying he’s goes, I just what IF he goes to NBA. Will Terrence Jones still go to Washington? Will he still consider Kentucky ? or will he go to another college that was on his list?
If Cal goes to the NBA this summer, it will put UK in a tremendous bind because only four players are returning. Forget about Terrence Jones – we’ll need a superstar coach to keep Brandon Knight, Enes Kanter, Doron Lamb, Marquis Teague and Mike Gilchrist committed.
However, I am in Chicago and I can tell you everyone here cannot believe the Cal to Bulls fiasco. The Sun Times had the odds of Cal coaching the Bulls at 1,000,000 to 1 this morning. But the highest paid coach in the land is still going to get a raise out of it from our state school. I wish I could do that at my job!
If that happens than TJ will sign on the dotted line with Washington and not even think twice about it. In fact, I still think he will sign with Washington whether or not Cal stays or goes.
Than you might even lose out on a couple of those high profile recruits you just signed. Branden Knight will almost defiantly be gone, than Lamb and Kanter may even try to opt out of their letter of intent because there was a change in the coaching staff.
Bottom line; it won’t look good for Kentucky if Cal does take off to the NBA, but I really don’t see that happening.
Well said DocBean.
Make it to a Final Four, then talk contracts.
I don’t think for one minute that Cal will leave UK and go to the Bulls this year, but the rumors are only helping him get an even bigger paycheck from UK. Unfortunately they think it will keep him there, well according to an ESPN insider article that is very unlikely.
Here is what Eamonn Brennan from ESPN had to say…
“There’s no guarantee a new contract would bind Calipari to the Wildcats for life. A new deal could make it more prohibitive to leave — Barnhart could tie in a buyout clause stating Calipari would have to pay back a certain percentage of his deal if he left for the NBA, and in return Calipari gets another record-breaking paycheck — but there’s still the chance that Calipari could be interested in leaving. … The bottom line is that even with a new contract, there will always be that worry in Barnhart and UK fans’ mind. The best thing Big Blue Nation can do is enjoy him while he lasts.”