O Captain! My Captain!

Big Blue Nation is currently rejoicing amidst widespread speculation that John Calipari will soon be named UK’s head coach. You can’t underscore the enormity of this hire. This instantly makes UK more dynamic, gives them a chance of landing the best recruiting class in the country, and teaming a host of talented freshmen with potentially the best shooting guard and best post man in the country. In the realm of UK basketball hyperbole runs rampant, but that last sentence was no exaggeration. For those of you who are not aware, Memphis already has locked up the top wing player, top post player, and is considered the leader for the top point guard in the class of 2009 (Xavier Henry, Demarcus Cousins, and John Wall, respectively). Think Fab Five except Jodie Meeks as a senior and Patrick Patterson as a junior instead of freshman versions of Ray Jackson and Jimmy King (I’ll await my correction on that analogy from the Admiral). UK could go from NIT doormat this season to a pre-season dark horse for the Final Four.

Calipari meets all the criteria for a UK coach. He’s charismatic, doesn’t shy from the spotlight, brings an exciting brand of basketball, recruits unbelievable talent, and has proven he can get teams to the Final Four. He welcomes a challenging non-conference schedule and he’s as hungry for domination as the UK fan base. Despite twenty-one years of head coaching experience, he’s still only 50, which means he could be at the helm for as long as fifteen years. Who could blame him for taking the job? People always point out that you don’t mess with happiness, and I think that’s definitely true, but how happy is Coach Cal knowing that his daughters are driving around downtown Memphis during the weekends? He also learned this year that no matter how well he coaches his team or how much talent he has on the roster, it's very difficult to win in the tourney when your boys haven't played a close game against a decent team since Christmas. Every season Calipari has to do the ESPN circuit to try to convince people that his team really is good. That won't be the case at UK. He can recruit, coach, and make appearances on ESPN just to have national praise lavished upon him. It's the job he's earned and he's the candidate UK needs.

The instant excitement he could bring to the state will take the UK-UofL rivalry to another level. UofL fans are grimacing at the fact that UK is in the process of legitimizing its program, but the Calipari hiring would really only hurt UofL one day a year. The rivalry will generate more national buzz and get more attention from recruits, which will lead to more talented rosters for each school. In three years it may supplant the UNC-Duke rivalry (don’t tell Mike Patrick or Chris from Duke that or they will literally smash in your face). But that’s not a reach right now. Pitino and Calipari can rival any coaching tandem in the country for drama and national attention, and they do a decent job of putting talented squads on the floor, too.

As a parting shot, this hiring could operate as a true “screw you” (I gave up the F-bomb for Lent, or else I would definitely use it for emphasis) to the national media pundits. People start making statements about the UK job, stating that it’s not that great of a job anymore; that there is too much pressure and it’s not worth it. That’s fine coming from analysts, but I’d like to see an anonymous poll of college head coaches. Head coaches are ambitious, power-hungry, and crave success. Nobody likes working his ass off and then realizing that nobody really cares how much blood, sweat, and tears he put into that job. At UK, people recognize that work. They expect success, but they don’t take it for granted. They respect the game and UK's proud history. You can tell they respect it by the internet message boards, the radio call in shows, the infinite sell-outs in Rupp Arena, and also by the fact that their boosters will open their wallets to assure the future of the program. Maybe Jay Wright is happier at Villanova than he could be at Kentucky, and that’s fine. He has deep roots there, and is enjoying plenty of success, but I’d love to get an honest answer from him if someone asks what he thinks about the fact that John Calipari is going to get paid three times as much money as him to do the same job. The UK job will always be one of the best jobs because there is too much fan support (read: money) to ever let it slip into obscurity. And if you're one of those types who says when you're making $2 Million a year, does it really make a difference to make more, then I kind of think you're an idiot (and yes that means there is a difference, and it's called a helicopter). Apparently Calipari compared it to Notre Dame football, but I think the accurate comparison is Alabama football. Amazingly proud history, championships, and known more for its culture of team success than specific individuals who go on to dominate at the professional level. It took Nick Saban to get Alabama’s football team from also-ran to national championship contender. Kentucky might have just locked up its Nick Saban.