John Clay's Sidelines

Gregg Doyel

In case you missed it, CBS Sportsline’s Gregg Doyel doesn’t just like the John Calipari hire for Kentucky.

He loves it.

An excerpt:

College basketball as you know it? It’s over. That sport doesn’t exist anymore, because that sport had a semblance of parity. One year North Carolina is the dominant program. One year it’s UConn. One year it’s Duke or UCLA or Florida. Maybe those teams don’t win the national title the year they’re dominant, or maybe they do. Either way, every year there is a team that, on paper, is the dominant program in college basketball. And every year it’s a different team.

Until now. Until John Calipari merges with Kentucky.

Here is my column for tomorrow’s paper.

And:

• UK has confirmed that Calipari has signed an 8-year contract.

• There is a 9:30 a.m. press conference on Wednesday, but no pep rally is scheduled.

Kentucky has just announced a 9:30 a.m. press conference for Wednesday.

Update: Story by H-L.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that John Calipari is indeed leaving Memphis to become the head coach at Kentucky.

Lead:

After nearly a full day of reflection and struggle, John Calipari decided today to accept the head coaching job at Kentucky and leave the University of Memphis after nine seasons, according to a source close to Calipari.
University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari resigned and will take the head coaching position at the University of Kentucky.

A news conference to introduce Calipari as the new Kentucky coach will take place Wednesday in Lexington, Ky.

Memphis Commerical Appeal reporting that the Caliparis have left their house and believed to be on way to airport to board a 6:15 p.m. flight to Lexington.

Here’s believed to be the flightplan.

After posting that a source had said John Calipari is leaving Memphis for Kentucky, WREG in Memphis is now couching its report. The new headline says: “Calipari Reportedly Wavering on Decision.”

Excerpt:

HOWEVER, we have been told by someone close to the Calipari family that John Calipari keeps changing his mind and nothing is definite.

CBS Sportsline’s Gary Parrish, who lives in Memphis, reports that Calipari is meeting with his staff, and that news could be coming shortly.

Excerpt:

According to the source, Calipari still hasn’t given the power-brokers at Memphis or Kentucky a definite answer to the question of whether he’s staying or going, but multiple sources around both programs believe this is merely a matter of Calipari “pulling the trigger” and informing his players that he will be the next coach at Kentucky.

A decision should come within hours, if not minutes.

Seth Davis

Seth Davis writes for SI.com that Calipari is the perfect fit for Kentucky.

An excerpt:

To state the obvious, Calipari has a huge ego — and I mean that as a compliment. While some coaches may shudder at the attention and expectations lavished on the Kentucky coach, Calipari will bask in it. Whereas Billy Gillispie was the first Kentucky coach in history to turn down an invitation to speak at the local Gridiron Club, Calipari would love nothing more than to walk into a room full of several thousand people who are hanging on his every word. This is his chance to be the knight in shining armor who rides into town, leads the Cats back to glory and gets elementary schools named after him. Kentucky is making him feel wanted, it’s offering to make him the highest-paid coach in the country, and dangling the extra sweetener that Cal will get to go head to head every year with his longtime nemesis, Rick Pitino.