April 1, 2009. April Fool's Day... This is the day that all jokes and pranks are played on everybody, and is celebrated in this culture.
Location: Memphis, TN
One of the biggest pranks of all time was played in the sports world on Wednesday. University of Memphis Men's basketball coach John Calipari announced that he would be leaving the University to accept his dream position of coaching the Men's Basketball program at the University of Kentucky. Calipari stated, that this was not about money, but simply about him following his goal of becoming head coach at the distinguished university. Calipari has taken the last 9 years to not only elevate the University of Memphis Basketball program to an elite and respectable program within the national landscape of Division I collegiate basketball, but he has also been able to elevate himself to an upper level, respected coach, and recruiter within the realm of collegiate basketball coaches. Calipari did this in a manner that on the outside appeared to elevate the stature of the University of Memphis as not only a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court, but also as a nationally respected and top notch university for students of all kind to attend. In actuality the total opposite happened. Calipari used his time at The University of Memphis to set himself up for the position which he has now accepted. His experience prior to coming to the University of Memphis ( A Final Four Team as Head Coach at UMASS and a short tenure as Head Coach and Executive with the New Jersey Nets of The NBA) was a solid foundation which he used as a spring board at the University of Memphis. His abilities to recruit and sale ideas, dreams, goals, and hopes snowed an entire community over at its lowest period as a University. Prior to Calipari's hiring, Tic Price was handed the keys to the University of Memphis basketball vehicle, and seemed to be on his pathway to success with two productive seasons, a N.I.T. appearance and new following from the longtime supporters of the University. Price Resigned as head coach of the Tigers due to his admission of an affair with an undergraduate student at the University. Prior to Tic Price, the greatest name in the history of the University held the reigns as the Men's Basketball Coach; Larry O. Finch. As a homegrown player from Memphis,TN he single handedly influenced the city not only in the realm of athletics, but also racially bringing together a city that was adversely divided due to the turbeulent race relations, and the civil rights movemnt of the sixties. He led the University to its First Ever Final Four and NAtional Championship game as a player. He spurned offers to play in the NBA to remain home and play with the Local ABA team, and furthermore displayed his love for his Alma mater by becoming an assistant coach at then Memphis State University and eventually the head coach of Memphis State University and later the University of Memphis. His ability to recruit and relate with all of the players, especially local players was a gift that proved to be instrumental in his success within the University.
Coach Calipari had an agenda from day one. To make the University of Memphis a University that appealed to national prospects that could compete nationally. Calipari's ability to recruit and his experience on the professional level enabled him to gain the best prospects in the country, which in turn led to the development of a National Program that brought prestige and validity to John Calipari as a collegiate coach ; Not The University of Memphis. The greatest example of Coach John Calipari showing an interest in his personal career rather than the Univeristiy of Memphis as a university was when he rejected a bid for the University of Memphis to join the Big East. The Big East is widely regarded as the Premiere conference in college basketball. The joining of this conference would have solidified the University of Memphis's men's basketball program as one of the top programs in the nation. But the joining of this conference would have also caused for more competition for John Calipari, as he would have had to recruit with more proven coaches such as Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, and Bobby Huggins to name a few. This would have in turn led to more difficulties winning which would not have allowed Calipari to so easily claim the stake as a winner and great coach. He was somewhat exposed in every big game that he coached at The University of Memphis as a coach that could not win the big game ;2002 overtime loss to No. 4 Cincinatti 2005 N.I.T. Tip Off Championship Game Memphis Vs. Duke, 2006 Elite 8 UCLA Loss, 2007 Elite 8 Loss Ohio State, 2008 Home Loss to No. 2 Tennessee as Mephis was ranked No. 1, 2008 National Championship Games Loss in overtime after having a 9 point lead with 2 minutes to go in the game. These major losses have been covered by the fact that Coach Calipari has been able to win in a weak conference and get one-and-done players to the NBA. These things have done nothing to elevate the University or the overall basketball respectability of the University of Memphis. All of his actions have allowed him to look like a savior of a University, not a leader of a University.
After The loss of some of the top recruits in the city and a couple of sub par season the University of Memphis Fired Larry Finch; at a Concession stand in the Pyramid the home arena after a Tigers game. The firing was not the worse part, the manner in which the firing occurred was the most disrecptable manner in which a person that has been so loyal to a job can be dismissed, without the decency or privacy of a one on one termination.
Coach Calipari lost his last game as coach at the University in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Upon flying home, Calipari announced at the Airport that amid speculations about his Coaching Future, The University of Memphis is where he wanted to be. Fast forward a couple of days later, and the Great Calipari not only accepts the University of Kentucky's Men's Basketball Coach Position, but with it he will also possibly take some of the players from the University of Memphis as transfers, and the number one recruiting class which was to be enrolling at the university in the fall, putting the University of Memphis Men's basketball program in complete disarray as the summer approaches, and the uncertainty of a solid head coach looms over the program.
The same people that hailed Calipari as a genius and savior for the University are now calling him a traitor and in total disbelief as to not only the fact the he left the program, but the manner in which he left the program. Coach Calipari made his intentions known via a text message to an ESPN reporter while University of Memphis Supporters, Boosters, and Fans were in total darkness as to his intentions.
I GUESS THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW KARMA CAN COME BACK ON A PERSON, IN THIS CASE A UNIVERSITY !
