The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that John Calipari managed to find time to buy a new home between basketball tryouts practice and recruiting. The house is close to campus as he planned and not cheap by any means:

The University of Kentucky’s new high-profile men’s basketball coach probably will be living in an equally high-profile house.

Coach John Calipari has signed a contract for a mega mansion at 1732 Richmond Road, plus the vacant lot next door, according to owner Garry Milton.

Milton, a builder and real estate investor, declined to say what Calipari is paying, but the recent asking price was $2,295,000 for the home and $550,000 for the vacant lot. The house, which has been on the market for more than a year, was valued at $2.2 million in 2008 for tax purposes.

Also, in a story actually related to basketball, John Calipari has acknowledged that two former UK players (and national champions at that) who have been widely rumored to be joining his staff are in fact doing so:

Saying he wanted to help them launch coaching careers, new UK coach John Calipari on Thursday said he would hire former Wildcat players Tony Delk and Scott Padgett.

“I’ve done this many times. What happens is with guys like that, they’re in positions of assistant strength coach or assistant equipment manager,” Calipari said.

Delk is a former Wildcat All-American, who was a 1st-round draft pick of the Hornets in 1996. Delk was instrumental in helping the Wildcats to an NCAA championship in 1996.

Padgett was drafted in the 1st-round by the Utah Jazz in 1999, after leading Tubby Smith’s Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA title.

“This is not a money thing,” Calipari said. “If you want to get started in this profession, I will help you.”

The new coach also said he will have 4-5 guys around every year who want to get into the coaching profession.

It’s going to be fun seeing these guys in Rupp again, especially after the way that former players have felt ignored the last two years.