Calipari leaves Memphis....but should he have?

[Sports Guy]

What do you guys think?

Mike and Mike were having a good discussion about this this morning.

Do you think he should have left Memphis for Kentucky? Take money out of the equation for the purpose of the discussion.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Yes.

-History

-Prestigue

-SEC vs. Conf. USA

-Chance to have a past team regain its glory

-Ashley Judd

[Pedro Cerrano]

You could argue, btw, this is similar to when Roy Williams left Kansas for UNC. UNC was coming off of a few terrible seasons and Kansas was obviously a top program (having just reached a National Championship game).

[Fairfax Bird]

I think he should have gone. Once in a lifetime opportunity. If it doesn't work he can always go coach UNLV and make them a top 10 team in a mid-major conference.

[PrivateO]

He made Memphis into a great program. Final Four last year, and Sweet 16 this year. The program is looking up for Memphis. And (what I have heard) has some great recruits coming in.

So no, I think he should have stayed with Memphis.

[mweb]

You could argue, btw, this is similar to when Roy Williams left Kansas for UNC. UNC was coming off of a few terrible seasons and Kansas was obviously a top program (having just reached a National Championship game).

Kind of although Kansas is up there in big time programs as well and UNC had always been #1 in Roy's heart.

I could go either way on this, Kentucky is obviously in the better conference and has the better history, but Cal has built Memphis into a power house who is basically guaranteed to easily make the tourney year in year out.

Plus, it's not like going to the bigger name school can really help his recruiting much if at all, his recruiting is already tremendous. On that note, he's walking away from a class that could possibly have 3 of the top 6 players in the country, that's hard to do.

Much more pressure at UK as well.

I'd lean towards Memphis being the better of two great situations for him.

[Sports Guy]

Kind of although Kansas is up there in big time programs as well and UNC had always been #1 in Roy's heart.

I could go either way on this, Kentucky is obviously in the better conference and has the better history, but Cal has built Memphis into a power house who is basically guaranteed to easily make the tourney year in year out.

Plus, it's not like going to the bigger name school can really help his recruiting much if at all, his recruiting is already tremendous. On that note, he's walking away from a class that could possibly have 3 of the top 6 players in the country, that's hard to do.

Much more pressure at UK as well.

I'd lean towards Memphis being the better of two great situations for him.

Yea..What more could he do at Kentucky?

Who is to say he doesn't turn Memphis into the new UCONN?

The conference hurts but it also helps..Basically guarantees him 25+ wins a year...A top 3 seed in the tourney, etc...

He has been deep into the tourney as well, so he doesn't need to be at Kentucky to do that either.

[beaner]

I have my personal opinions on Calipari as a man and as a coach, and I don't think he's particularly good at either.

He loves being that "big fish in a small pond" type. Goes to a smaller conference, "recruits" big time players, and yes, he wins. He left UMASS knowing probation was coming and bolted to the NBA, where he was a total disaster.

He's gotten big names to Memphis, of course it helped that he hired Milt Wagner as an assistant while his #1 recruit son was in High School. Ok, I'm clearly not able to be unbiased when it comes to this clown, so I'll stop.

Good luck to the Kentucky Fans. Enjoy probation in 10 years.

[Sports Guy]

BTW, Duke says thank you to Calipari if Wall goes to Duke now.

[KansasO'sFan]

He made Memphis into a great program. Final Four last year, and Sweet 16 this year. The program is looking up for Memphis. And (what I have heard) has some great recruits coming in.

So no, I think he should have stayed with Memphis.

For now, they do. Something like 2 of the top 3 recruits, and 3 in the top 10. But......DeMarcus Cousins (#3 I believe) hasn't officially signed, and it sounds like he may open up his recruitment again (I can only hope....K-State was #2 on his list). And it sounds like Henry and Wall may be able to get out of their LOI's too.

[glenn__davis]

I absolutely think he should've went to Kentucky. But I think Kentucky made a mistake in hiring him. Beaner's post pretty much echoes my feelings.

[geschinger]

Yea..What more could he do at Kentucky?

Who is to say he doesn't turn Memphis into the new UCONN?

The conference hurts but it also helps..Basically guarantees him 25+ wins a year...A top 3 seed in the tourney, etc...

He has been deep into the tourney as well, so he doesn't need to be at Kentucky to do that either.

The conference is the key... Memphis has had incredible success but they aren't going to ever get the kind of exposure during the regular season that a team from a big conference will. Memphis and UConn are not analogous due to the conference affiliations. If Memphis had what UConn has - membership in the greatest conference in the land then I doubt Calipari even considers leaving.

[Mackus]

Absolutely he should take the job.

Memphis has no chance of being the new UConn. Because Memphis isn't in a real conference.

Memphis was basically a slightly better Gonzaga. That was all they would ever be.

Kentucky is one of the 5 or so most storied programs in college basketball history.

The only reason to stay at Memphis would be cowardice. For someone with Calipari's ego, I don't think that would be an issue.

[beaner]

Absolutely he should take the job.

Memphis has no chance of being the new UConn. Because Memphis isn't in a real conference.

Memphis was basically a slightly better Gonzaga. That was all they would ever be.

Kentucky is one of the 5 or so most storied programs in college basketball history.

The only reason to stay at Memphis would be cowardice. For someone with Calipari's ego, I don't think that would be an issue.

That's the thing, he's a phony. He always wanted to dominate in a place where he knew he could. When he went to the NBA, he left pretty fast because, well, frankly, he was terrible. He couldn't do his usual slimy stuff to get players to buy into him.

To me the jury is still out on whether he can win on this stage. Winning at Mass and Memphis proves nothing to me. And all of the Memphis/UCONN talk is nonsense, UCONN had zero Hoops tradition before Calhoun got there. Memphis had been to a Final Four in the 70s and 80s, long before Calipari got there.

[hoosiers]

Can't stand Calipari and have always considered him overrated and his reputation undeserved. His UMass teams had one strong tournament run behind a tremendous college center for a program he left behind that should have been on probation.

He basically turned on phony tournament run into a big time NBA gig where he failed miserably.

Why top prospects follow this guy is a mystery to me.

That said, I'd like to see Calipari stop dominating small conferences and mix it up with the big boys.