LEX18: Joe B. Hall says Calipari “still deciding”

The Rick Bozich article that had Joe B. anointing Calipari as UK’s next coach apparently made Hall a little bit uneasy, because he has come out explicitly saying that no decision has been made. Hopefully he’s just trying to help UK keep as much under wraps until they want to make it official, but seriously, this needs to get done.

LEX18-Former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall says John Calipari is having “difficulty” making up his mind about accepting the Wildcats offer and is trying to get as much information as he can before deciding.

Hall says he and Calipari talked for about 15-20 minutes on Tuesday.

“He talked about the difficulty in making the decision and wanted to establish a relationship in case he came to Kentucky, somebody he could bounce things off of,” Hall said. “He had not made up his mind. He was trying to get all the info he could.”

Hall said the informal chat centered on what it takes to survive one of the college basketball’s most prestigious – and more scrutinized – jobs. Kentucky fired Billy Gillispie last Friday.

Hall’s comments come amid conflicting reports that say Calipari has already decided to make the jump to Kentucky, which was reported by both a Memphis television station and the Louisville Courier-Journal’s website Tuesday afternoon.

Calipari is considering an 8-year, $35 million deal, ESPN reported. It would make him the highest paid college basketball coach.