John Calipari is staying at Kentucky. Even though the Los Angles Lakers job is open. The publicist who runs Coach Cal’s official Twitter account (Calipari has been very open with the media about the fact that he does not do his own tweeting) posted this:
“Before it starts, I’m totally committed to helping this group of young men reach their dreams. I wouldn’t & couldn’t leave this group!”
This is even better than the time Coach Cal skipped the postgame media session after the loss to South Carolina, and had his handler tweet for him instead.
John Calipari is pre-emptively shooting down the speculation that he would leave Lexington for La la land. So I guess Rex Chapman ‘s “big scoop” on the night of the national title game didn’t pan out. This Calipari news comes the very next day after Tom Izzo made public comments re-affirming that he is staying at Michigan State.
So Jalen Rose ‘s “big scoop” didn’t pan out either. If you’re looking for icons of journalistic standards, you can do a lot better than Turner Sports’s Chapman, or ESPN’s Rose. I’d say this “silly season” should put to bed the idea that it’s only “bloggers,” “who live in their mom’s basements,” who make up stories with no credibility in order to attract attention to themselves.
Clearly, television talking heads engage in the exact same type of behavior.
Pretty easy to see why John Calipari is staying.
It is a better gig than the Lakers right now. He’s got the Harrison twins, Dakari Johnson, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson all coming back. Plus the nation’s second ranked recruiting class, with four McDonald’s All-Americans (Devin Booker, Karl Towns, Trey Lyles and Tyler Ulis) coming in. In fact, next year’s roster will have nine former McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster. It’s basically a de facto NBDL team, with the #MCDAAG serving as the de facto NBDL for his franchise in Lexington. Even if it is, “the most overanalyzed team in history” to use his words.
Just like Izzo is better off staying in East Lansing. MSU may be rebuilding next year, but the Pistons are a complete mess from top to bottom right now.
Coach Cal is a polarizing figure, and this quote he made will make you love him or hate him more.
Cal can tell you all about the hate for Kentucky.
Now with the Lakers innuendo out of the way, Calipari can go back to his highly publicized book tour. Hopefully, avoiding any more interviews with racist television hosts.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)