Apr 01 2009
Being Bipolar: Who will replace Calipari at U of M?
I am getting a lot of traffic from people Googling “who will replace Coach Calipari”. The University of Memphis had considered Missouri coach, Mike Anderson. However, Anderson signed a new seven year contract with Missouri after passing on a sizable raise offered by Georgia. Now that he is officially out of the running, who else is Memphis considering?
I would like to throw out a few potential prospects – Xavier coach, Sean Miller and USC Trojans coach, Tim Floyd. Miller is a skilled recruiter, which may come in handy if some of the recruits decide to leave Memphis and/or follow Calipari to UK. Floyd has ties to the Mid-South region and has experience coaching in the NBA. I wouldn’t be surprised if Memphis begins actively courting one of these two coaches.
Of course, I didn’t come to this conclusion on my own. My uncle is a die-hard Memphis Tigers fan and has been for over 20 years. He owns quite a bit of Memphis State memorabilia from way back when the University still went by that name. He is, obviously, following the situation very closely and feels like Miller and Floyd would be obvious choices for a quick replacement of Calipari for the reasons I have stated above. Think about that for a bit.
Former University of Memphis coach, John Calipari, is scheduled to appear at a press conference in Memphis, TN at Noon Central Time today. I am uncertain as to what type of reception he will receive because if you happen to live close enough to the Memphis area and are able to hear their radio stations then you have probably heard some of the nasty comments made about Coach Cal’s sudden departure. It ranges from outright anger to “good riddance, traitor”. Local fans were on the edge of their seats awaiting Calipari’s decision and then crushed by Calipari’s departure of Memphis on a plane to appear at a press conference in Kentucky this morning to make the formal announcement.
Summing it all up, don’t be surprised if Sean Miller and/or Tim Floyd soon appear in the University of Memphis’ prospects for their head basketball coach.
Just remember though of the disaster that occured after the demise of the Dana Kirk era and Memphis’ decision to look to the bench for its coach and the years and years of disappointments that followed…nothing personal toward Larry Finch, but a great player does not maketh a great coach, and Finch proved that many times over. Now that Memphis very publicly offered Calipari nearly 40 million to stay, the clerk working at the local convienience store is going to demand millions as well if he’s offered the job. Poor poor Memphis, in one moment’s time, (thanks to Coach Cal), this basketball program went from the penthouse to the outhouse….and boy does the outhouse stink! Just remember Coach, you have about 600,00 rabid Tiger fans hoping you fall flat on your face in Lexington, and being a die hard Tiger fan living in South Carolina, I now will root for those Gamecocks to put a major league SEC whooping on you next year both in Columbia and Lexington….welcome to the SEC!