Well, State swung for the fence, and now the Pack has appeared to strike out again. It looks like Memphis Coach John Calipari will stay at Memphis and turn down a reported State contract that offered between $1.7-$2 million.
Memphis had counter offered with a contract believed to be worth $1.5-$1.7 million, plus there was a $2.5 million annuity involved which Calipari will collect if he stays through the 2010 season. Nothing has been signed and right now the agreement is tentative, but the direction of this process is going the way of Memphis. Memphis hopes to make the official announcement Wednesday or possibly Thursday that Calipari is staying.
N.C. State felt like they had a great chance of luring Calipari to Raleigh. Chancellor James Oblinger and Athletic Director Lee Fowler had led a contingent to Memphis on Sunday and Calipari had returned the favor on Monday coming to Raleigh to tour the campus and facilities. He was impressed with State’s offer, and Wolfpack officials were cautiously optimistic they had their coach.
Memphis, meanwhile, was scrambling. Calipari was miffed that only two weeks earlier Memphis had offered him what he felt was just a token raise. But the big offer from State finally spurred Memphis to action and it looks like the Tigers have come up with enough to make Calipari happy.
This is not good news for State. Rick Barnes of Texas had turned down a $2 million deal late last week, and now John Calipari may follow suit. Just like with Barnes, State made the decision tough for Calipari; but in the end, if Memphis comes through with what they say, John Calipari will remain the Memphis coach.
N.C. State badly wants to make a big splash with their next coach, but obviously the big money they’re throwing out is not enough. Where do they turn now? That answer is certainly not a slam dunk. Maybe they’ll look to LSU Coach John Brady or maybe they have to go to the B-List which they were hoping to avoid. Why not at least give Villanova’s Jay Wright a call? We keep hearing how happy he is at Villanova, but who knows unless you ask, and maybe they have.
But the Pack may have to think young and energetic as they did in 1980 when they hired Jim Valvano from Iona. And Duke did quite well that same year with the hiring of that unknown coach from Army named Mike Krzyzewski.
Right now, the search is into the second week and it appears State is no closer to finding a successor than they were the day Herb Sendek left.
