Calipari Reportedly Headed to Kentucky, Door Likely to Follow as Assistant

The Courier-Journal is reporting that John Calipari is still weighing the offer for the job at Kentucky and that he called ex-UK coach Joe B. Hall to discuss it. Reportedly, Calipari would earn somewhere in the range of $5 million a year if he goes to Kentucky. This would double his current salary, and put him firmly in orbit among college basketball's loftiest salaries, and gives me another salary number you can throw out there as "an amount of money I would be beaten on a daily basis for by trained professionals in order to take home as pay."
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↵This now sets off a trio of dramas. First, what will become of The Door? We, along with thousands of others, have spent hours staring at The Door of the Memphis athletic department on the local Fox affiliate’s website the past two days. In fact, a Facebook group aptly titled “I Watched ‘The Door’ For Hours” has been formed. There's also another group simply called "THE DOOR!!" "I heart Door" t-shirts have been created, too. The Door was even interviewed (seriously) by one of Fox's cameramen. It had no comment. The Door knows how to play hardball. Our guess is The Door will follow Calipari to Kentucky. It’s just too loyal. ↵

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↵Second, and obviously less important, Calipari will have to launch twin charm/recruiting offensives in order to offset the recruiting inroads Pitino has made at Louisville, and to simultaneously convince everyone in Lexington he's the schmoozing, PR-savvy ambassador the program wants in their basketball coach. (This is an element the admins all but accused Gillispie of failing to do at Kentucky in their press conference. A coachbot is something Calipari cannot be, and that seems fine with Kentucky.) ↵

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↵The final drama comes in finding Calipari's replacement in Memphis, a program that Calipari swelled to a national commodity. If The Door does stay behind, it would be the obvious front-runner. However, Dick Vitale might think you'll say he's crazy, but what about his colleague and good friend and coaching legend Robert Montgomery Knight? Wouldn't that be amazing? Especially because he'd be a terrible fit for the coaching staff, babee! ↵

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↵I haven't even turned on ESPN yet, but if Vitale doesn't mention Bob Knight for the job -- just as he's mentioned him for every other big opening in the past two years -- I'll be stunned. He thought Knight would make a fantastic Commerce Secretary. I'm pretty sure he'd nominate Knight to land a burning plane in a pinch, or to operate with a bottle of whisky, a rusty knife, and a few spare wet-naps on a man in desperate need of life-saving bypass surgery. If this man were a referee, I'm sure Knight would do it. ("Bobby, this man appears perfectly healthy, babee!" "Hand me the knife, Dick, and don't ask anymore questions.") ↵

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