Now that John Calipari is a Kentucky Wildcat, Lexington can actually breathe that long awaited sigh of relief that they have been searching for since the last Patino graduate left the cats and the Smith-Gillespie saga began. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Tubby and he is doing great things up in Minnesota, but the program is too high profile for him to run his style of play. And Billy, who didn't see this coming? You can't come into the most storied program and college basketball and expect your drill sergeant methods to work. Too many egos classing to hard in too many places. He will find a great job somewhere and tear it up with a lower profile team.
John Calipari is in a position that can go down one of two roads. First, he can do what he has done with UMass in the 90s and with Memphis as of late and flat out win games. And, with Meeks, Paterson and newcomer Daniel Orton coming in, the Cats put Calipari in the position to actually win some games and make a serious tournament push. He has the coaching skills and know-how to get the job done. And in terms of his ethical issues, Kentucky is a program that needs to win and they need to win now and John Calipari is the man to help them do that. Its what he does best.
But...he has a shaky history with how he gets these super successful teams. His ethical practices are not all that top notch, which is what drove him away from UMass after their final four appearances all those years ago. Also, he has been this dominating force with mid-major programs who already had solid histories as being successful in those lower caliber conferences (not to take anything away from the A10 or Conference USA, but lets be honest...they are no SEC) and that high profile nature of the job may end up catching up with him. And why leave Memphis after all those years of success and top 5 seeds in the tourney year after year after year? Oh right; the largest coaching contract in NCAA history. I think it's worth a shot trying to compete on the big stage.
I predict success for Calipari at UK because of his fast paced more laid back style of play then Gillespie. Laid back does not mean slower, it means it is less routed in a militant structure and allows form the talent of the players on the court to shine through, which is something that has never been a problem until recently with Kentucky basketball players. Now, I don't think they are quite ready to make a run a title just yet, but once he gets his wheels running, they will run, and the rest of the nation had better watch out. The man knows how to win, and a program like Kentucky is the place to do it.