Recapping a busy week for UK: Part 1-John Calipari and Memphis

I have to say, it’s been nice to have a quiet couple days in the world of UK Basketball. Things have been beyond crazy pretty much since the middle of March, and this may be the longest amount of time we have gone without big time news in the world of UK.

This quiet period does NOT mean that we as UK fans don’t have stuff on our mind about the program we obsess about so much. We are always thinking about something, whether the calendar reads March, November, or June. Besides, this past week has given us more than enough things to keep our minds racing. These are the four main things on my mind:

John Calipari and the Memphis allegations – This situation is not nearly as bad as it looked like it could be when the Memphis Commercial Appeal first broke news of possible major violations that occurred on John Calipari’s watch.

The UK coach is almost assuredly safe from any NCAA penalties in the wake of these investigations. His reputation, on the other hand, is not. No matter how uninvolved and innocent Calipari is in relation to these allegations regarding SAT fraud and free family member travel, the fact of the matter is that John Calipari’s name simply appearing in such reports has turned what so many think about Calipari (straddling the line between fair and unfair, cheater, etc.) into self-fulfilling prophecies.

John Clay wrote an article this weekend on this very subject. You likely have already read it, but if not, it’s worth your time.  Clay correctly points out that this investigation is mostly about Derrick Rose, not John Calpari.  Whether it is right or wrong, people are looking to nail John Calipari.  When this news first broke, many thought this was their chance to do so:

“There may come a day when John Calipari’s detractors will finally catch the coach red-handed at something other than guilt by association.

But this isn’t that day.

Here’s why: The NCAA allegations against the Memphis basketball program aren’t a John Calipari issue.

They’re a Derrick Rose issue.”

In all likelihood, the only tangible thing that this investigation will cost Calipari is a few hours calling into the hearings this week while he’s in China.

Hopefully, though, this will act as a reminder (hopefully not a wake up call, because they already should have known this) for Calipari and UK that the college basketball world is going to be watching, especially if Calipari does as well on the court as he has on the recruiting trail. UK will have to keep its noses cleaner than clean.

It’s been written before, but this situation is also further proof of how badly Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd needed to make a hire that would turn around UK basketball. John Calipari was not a candidate two years ago for the UK job, and back then his program was not in danger of having a championship game appearance taken away due to violations by a former player. Barnhart and Todd managed to look past this because they knew Calipari was not in danger, but more importantly because they had to have a coach like Calipari.