Monday, April 10, 2006

Act 2: NC State

I am not going to set here and say that NC State is being a bit underhanded in thier pursuit of John Calipari. I will say this that NC State AD will no longer be welcome back here in Memphis. the good will that he built by be an assitant coach, under Dana Kirk, is over. So what do we know? Not much but rumors, such as the erroneous info Andy Katz was peddling today on ESPN.com. Cal did not fly to Raliegh today but then this is a minute detail. What the real issue is where are we going to get another high profile coach that can generate the brand awareness that Cal has done. I said, a couple of weeks ago, that Nolan Richardson would be a good choice but after thinking about it I was wrong. He is too old and doesn't bring the energy that Cal has. A good example of this is that Cal was a co host of the Best Damn Sports Show on Fox Sports. Nolan could never do this. We have crossed that line in which we can no longer look back. Memphis fans have always wanted respect and to truly be a national program. Cal has begun to take us there and we can't go back. If Cal leaves we have to find someone with as big a persona that he has created. Today there have been names thrown about that would be an insane choice suchh as Steve Lavin or Rick Majerus. Now if either one of these guys is hired I promise you that heads will roll. A.D. R.C. Johnson will lose his job and the program will take ten steps backward. The problem that we face is that it is a little late in the year to find a coach willing to leave thier program. If Cal leaves expect some of our recruits to decommit and for Darius and Shawne to goo pro. We won't be able to recover from this for a couple of years. I hope that the meeting that was held today, with the boosters, generated enough money to keep him here. The sad thing is that this could have all been avoided if R.C. didn't try and play hard ball. Thanks R.C. I hope that the coaching search goes smoothly because your every move will be under the microscope. I hope that you get it right because your job is truly on the line. Next time you want to play hard ball go to the batting cages.

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