Posted: Monday, March 30, 2009, 4:39 PM | 4 comments |
 

Dominoes falling at Kentucky, Memphis
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Hello, goodbye. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

We've barely just finished the regional finals and already the coaching carousel is spinning at top speed.

The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that Kentucky is on the verge of hiring John Calipari to replace Billy Gillispie as its basketball coach. At the same time, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Calipari has met with his players, and WMC TV in Memphis reports that Calipari rejected a counter-offer to stay with the Tigers.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz reports Kentucky's offer is for eight years and $35 million, while the Herald-Leader story linked above says it is for six years and $40 million. That story's author, Jerry Tipton, notes on his blog that Calipari is currently making $3 million a year at Memphis

As for Calipari's replacement, the Commercial Appeal story linked above reports that Calipari is lobbying for former Memphis assistant and current UTEP coach Tony Barbee to get the job.

But a more intriguing name has come from WEHT TV in Evansville, Indiana. The station reports (as have others) that Memphis requested and received permission to speak with Missouri's Mike Anderson.

Nothing like trying to steal the coach of a team that beat you. Though I'm sure the Memphis fans would love to see their team play the 40 Minutes of Hell system, and Anderson has previous Conference USA experience with Alabama-Birmingham.

You might wonder what Drexel coach Bruiser Flint thinks of all this, given how close he is to Calipari. I wondered the same thing as soon as the news broke and am trying to get a hold of him. I'll let you know when I do.

Until then, Herald-Leader columnist John Clay IV is doing a great job of rounding up all the Calipari news on his blog and Twitter feed.

There's more Twitter chatter in the widget below, which updates in something close to real time. If you like it, I'll try to find other uses for it down the road.
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 4:39 PM  Permalink | File Under: Drexel | | National | 4 comments
4
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:21 PM, 03/30/2009
    what a great idea for a state institution to spend that type of money. what do you expect from kentucky hillbillies
    — mcdowelltaylor
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:04 PM, 03/30/2009
    I agree it is a waste of money, but colleges and universities (state and private) seem to do it all the time... No reason to single out KY. At least they gave us excellent finger lickin' fried chicken!
    — jnixon05
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4 comments
About Jonathan Tannenwald
I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

I write primarily about the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League, but I also cover the other basketball and football teams across the city from time to time. In the spring, you'll find coverage of the Penn Relays here.

In addition to all of that, I write Philly.com's soccer blog, The Goalkeeper.

You can contact me by email by clicking here.

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