Quite a bit of legit speculation heating up that Calipari may be bolting to the NBA. And he hasn't exactly come out and denied it publicly. The Bulls and Cavs have close ties with Calipari. The lure of coaching a great player like Lebron or the Bulls Rose could be enough to get Cal, along with some major $$$. Saying no to Lebron, with a chance to win an NBA championship would be difficult .

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebroncalipari051410

"Together, they’re going to hold the NBA hostage. They’re going to flush out a thousand scenarios, manipulate front-office decisions in Cleveland, New York, Chicago and beyond. Kentucky’s John Calipari is along for the ride, working with agent Leon Rose and middleman William Wesley, and all hell promises to break out now.

The plan they’re talking about includes Calipari coming to Cleveland as James’ hand-picked coach. “He’s got to listen if they come calling,” a source close to Calipari told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night. He was talking about the Cavaliers and Bulls, and Calipari’s camp is determined to open bidding to multiple teams."

IF Cal leaves, it'll be interesting to see what the Kentucky commits for the next two years decide to do. If they stay, they'll be one of the best teams in 2011-12. We all know Cal was a big reason for them picking UK though.

Cal's tweet from today:

I want to address this with the Big Blue Nation one last time, I will be coaching at Kentucky next year. Now let's finish what we started!

http://twitter.com/UKCOACHCALIPARI

Great news for UK fans if Cal tweeted he is staying! He has a great record of keeping his word in this area.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/27/john-calipari-insists-memphis-where-i-want-coach/

Crazy.

If you're looking for some entertaining read, head over to Catspause and read the boards.

Lots and lots of speculation.

RiverRat13 wrote: Great news for UK fans if Cal tweeted he is staying! He has a great record of keeping his word in this area.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/27/john-calipari-insists-memphis-where-i-want-coach/

Haha.

cbus4life wrote: Crazy.

If you're looking for some entertaining read, head over to Catspause and read the boards.

Lots and lots of speculation.

There's crazy, there's insanely crazy, then there's Catspause crazy.

RiverRat13 wrote:

cbus4life wrote: Crazy.

If you're looking for some entertaining read, head over to Catspause and read the boards.

Lots and lots of speculation.

There's crazy, there's insanely crazy, then there's Catspause crazy.

Agreed.

But, i'm a little bit crazy myself for finding so much entertainment in reading a random fanbases message board.

A year after Cal left Memphis, Memphis still pulled in the #1 recruiting class. It can still happen with or without him. I hope he stays, but I dont take his word seriously at all. As cbf said, it would be hard to turn Lebron (his buddy) down.

What goes on at Cats Pause is about as meaningful as this.

RiverRat13 wrote: Great news for UK fans if Cal tweeted he is staying! He has a great record of keeping his word in this area.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/27/john-calipari-insists-memphis-where-i-want-coach/

I am obviously not a Cal fan, but he is one of MANY who have said they were staying some place, then days later are off to another job. Its pretty common place to do so as not to get fans/recruits in an uproar.
I think Cal will stay at UK....but it wouldnt' surprise me if he did bolt. And I couldn't blame him. How often would you get the chance to coach one of the greatest of all time, at the highest level with a chance at a title.
Even his top recruit(Knight) thinks there is a chance he could leave. Thus not signing a scholarship.

centralbucksfan wrote:

RiverRat13 wrote: Great news for UK fans if Cal tweeted he is staying! He has a great record of keeping his word in this area.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/27/john-calipari-insists-memphis-where-i-want-coach/

I am obviously not a Cal fan, but he is one of MANY who have said they were staying some place, then days later are off to another job. Its pretty common place to do so as not to get fans/recruits in an uproar.
I think Cal will stay at UK....but it wouldnt' surprise me if he did bolt. And I couldn't blame him. How often would you get the chance to coach one of the greatest of all time, at the highest level with a chance at a title.
Even his top recruit(Knight) thinks there is a chance he could leave. Thus not signing a scholarship.

First off, he was completely upfront regarding the Kentucky situation, so there's no reason to say it's pretty common place.

Secondly, I'm shocked that he came out and was so blatant in his denial. He should have at least waited until he heard from the NBA, because who is to say someone doesn't offer him $8-$10 million per year? But he said he's staying, and I believe him.

thedynasty1998 wrote:

centralbucksfan wrote:

RiverRat13 wrote: Great news for UK fans if Cal tweeted he is staying! He has a great record of keeping his word in this area.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/27/john-calipari-insists-memphis-where-i-want-coach/

I am obviously not a Cal fan, but he is one of MANY who have said they were staying some place, then days later are off to another job. Its pretty common place to do so as not to get fans/recruits in an uproar.
I think Cal will stay at UK....but it wouldnt' surprise me if he did bolt. And I couldn't blame him. How often would you get the chance to coach one of the greatest of all time, at the highest level with a chance at a title.
Even his top recruit(Knight) thinks there is a chance he could leave. Thus not signing a scholarship.

First off, he was completely upfront regarding the Kentucky situation, so there's no reason to say it's pretty common place.

Secondly, I'm shocked that he came out and was so blatant in his denial. He should have at least waited until he heard from the NBA, because who is to say someone doesn't offer him $8-$10 million per year? But he said he's staying, and I believe him.

NO reason to say its common when MANY coaches, yearly, who have stated the same, end up leaving? What cave do you live in?
Did you believe every other coach, the MANY who have said they were staying? Wake up, its nothing by PR BS to keep things calm. So YES, it is VERY common. Again, I think Cal will stay. But from what I have read...it wouldn't shock me in the least if he did leave. Of course, if he cant' figure out a 1-3-1 defense...I sure don't know how the hell someone thinks he can outcoach experienced coaches in the NBA.

Well in regards to Calipari, he's always been pretty upfront, so there's no reason to not think he won't be now.

But you make a great point about his coaching. I don't think he's as bad of a coach as some make him out to be, but it's obvious his biggest strength is recruiting. What GM in their right mind pays him $8-$10 million per year (that's probably what it takes) to an unproven coach? Just doesn't really make much sense to me.

I don't think Calipari stays at UK forever, and ultimately he will end up back in the NBA, but I don't think it's for another 5 years or so.

thedynasty1998 wrote: Well in regards to Calipari, he's always been pretty upfront, so there's no reason to not think he won't be now.

But you make a great point about his coaching. I don't think he's as bad of a coach as some make him out to be, but it's obvious his biggest strength is recruiting. What GM in their right mind pays him $8-$10 million per year (that's probably what it takes) to an unproven coach? Just doesn't really make much sense to me.

I don't think Calipari stays at UK forever, and ultimately he will end up back in the NBA, but I don't think it's for another 5 years or so.

Always up front? Believe him? Did you read this?

". I’m happy, happy with the program, happy with the people. I love Memphis. And like I said, I just need to kick back and hide from everybody for a couple days.”
“I want to be here,” Calipari said today. “This is where I want to coach, and my name will be tied to every job that’s open, and our fans I think have gotten used to it.”

What GM would pay him? The GM that works for Lebron.

I mean, two of his recruits are not even sure he will be there...thus they didn't sign LOI. Knight and Jones.

Again, I'd guess he will be back at UK. But the Lebron thing hasn't even begun to heat up yet. Once the Cavs fire Brown, and they will...things will get interesting.