Auburn Hires, what else has opened up that wasn't earlier?

[1972Shocker]

Gee, wouldn't Doug Gottlieb be the frontrunner for the UK job if Calipari leaves?

[shock]

Agree.

I just don't think KY is a fit for several reasons.
1. Money. Marshall is not motivated by it, although it helps. He is more motivated by the community. Right now he can make $2+ million per year, which is on pace for every man in the NCAA (Coach K is paid like a titan, therefore he is no mere man.) If Marshall was motivated by mere money, he would have been gone long ago.
2. Support. If WSU went 7-24 next season, very few would call for his head, and the ones that would reside here, as characters. Marshall is beloved by the community. He has rock star status. His kids love Wichita. Kellen loves the school. HCGM would not leave all that behind for a bunch of 5 star recruits that need their butts wiped and a steamed towel whenever they poop. He would rather have types like Ron, Fred and Tekele.
3. Is KY that much better of a job? Jets? Check. Money? Check Greggs personal bank account. Recruits? I think we had some sophomores that turned out just fine.
4. The state of the team. Marshall returns a top 5 backcourt this year, will have the best backcourt next year, and can recruit the type of player that fits his personality. Ron eats nails for breakfast and every father wants him to marry his daughter. Fred is the best floor general in the country. Tekele is the best on ball and off ball defender in the country. Carter? He will be the best big man Marshall has ever put on the floor, until Shaq is a junior. He has a very nice recruiting class coming in, and he knows it, the recruits know it, and how would it look to the team if Marshall left? "You guys are good, but you aren't 5 star good, so you aren't good enough for me." Does that sound like our coach to you?

[WuShock16]

Gee, wouldn't Doug Gottlieb be the frontrunner for the UK job if Calipari leaves?

He is an expert....expert in his own mind, but an expert nonetheless.

[WuShock16]

I just don't think KY is a fit for several reasons.
1. Money. Marshall is not motivated by it, although it helps. He is more motivated by the community. Right now he can make $2+ million per year, which is on pace for every man in the NCAA (Coach K is paid like a titan, therefore he is no mere man.) If Marshall was motivated by mere money, he would have been gone long ago.
2. Support. If WSU went 7-24 next season, very few would call for his head, and the ones that would reside here, as characters. Marshall is beloved by the community. He has rock star status. His kids love Wichita. Kellen loves the school. HCGM would not leave all that behind for a bunch of 5 star recruits that need their butts wiped and a steamed towel whenever they poop. He would rather have types like Ron, Fred and Tekele.
3. Is KY that much better of a job? Jets? Check. Money? Check Greggs personal bank account. Recruits? I think we had some sophomores that turned out just fine.
4. The state of the team. Marshall returns a top 5 backcourt this year, will have the best backcourt next year, and can recruit the type of player that fits his personality. Ron eats nails for breakfast and every father wants him to marry his daughter. Fred is the best floor general in the country. Tekele is the best on ball and off ball defender in the country. Carter? He will be the best big man Marshall has ever put on the floor, until Shaq is a junior. He has a very nice recruiting class coming in, and he knows it, the recruits know it, and how would it look to the team if Marshall left? "You guys are good, but you aren't 5 star good, so you aren't good enough for me." Does that sound like our coach to you?

Going along with #2, if Kentucky started a season 35-0 and then lost in the round of 32, would BBN handle that loss as well as we all have? I remember seeing reports on TV after WSU lost to Kentucky (and, more so, VCU in 2012) of fans greeting the team upon returning home. It was a small batch of fans, but more than just a handful. Would Big Blue fans welcome the team home after a first weekend loss? Not only does Shocker Basketball have support, but it is UNCONDITIONAL support. I cannot help but think about our fanbase selling out NIT games for Western Kentucky and College of Charleston. Granted, if we took a step back in the near future, our fanbase wouldn't be as happy about the NIT what we experienced in these last three years. However, I still think there is unconditional support that our program has to where we wouldn't have a dead, empty arena for future NIT games. Not many, if any, programs share that.

[Rosewood]

I just don't think KY is a fit for several reasons.
1. Money. Marshall is not motivated by it, although it helps. He is more motivated by the community. Right now he can make $2+ million per year, which is on pace for every man in the NCAA (Coach K is paid like a titan, therefore he is no mere man.) If Marshall was motivated by mere money, he would have been gone long ago.
2. Support. If WSU went 7-24 next season, very few would call for his head, and the ones that would reside here, as characters. Marshall is beloved by the community. He has rock star status. His kids love Wichita. Kellen loves the school. HCGM would not leave all that behind for a bunch of 5 star recruits that need their butts wiped and a steamed towel whenever they poop. He would rather have types like Ron, Fred and Tekele.
3. Is KY that much better of a job? Jets? Check. Money? Check Greggs personal bank account. Recruits? I think we had some sophomores that turned out just fine.
4. The state of the team. Marshall returns a top 5 backcourt this year, will have the best backcourt next year, and can recruit the type of player that fits his personality. Ron eats nails for breakfast and every father wants him to marry his daughter. Fred is the best floor general in the country. Tekele is the best on ball and off ball defender in the country. Carter? He will be the best big man Marshall has ever put on the floor, until Shaq is a junior. He has a very nice recruiting class coming in, and he knows it, the recruits know it, and how would it look to the team if Marshall left? "You guys are good, but you aren't 5 star good, so you aren't good enough for me." Does that sound like our coach to you?

I'm going to play a little devil's advocate

1) Money isn't just about the bottom line. It is about the recognition and really the respect. To be one of the top paid coaches in college basketball says that college basketball as a whole appreciates you. (Counter to my own argument: all of the hardware he won this year also says that).
2) He will have support at Kentucky to the level he wants. He will also have very high expectations. He knows the expectations are growing in Wichita as well and he just saw Gene get shown the door after a down cycle. He already knows he can't sit back and put it on cruise control. I believe he has the drive and desire to win that you need at Kentucky. But there is just as much unconditional support (lol @ the Kentucky National Title tat guy, especially with this run) but there are plenty of others that are crazy irrational fools. We have some already at Wichita St. We are getting more as you people get older and forget to take your meds. You know who I'm talking about.
3) Yes, Kentucky is a better job. Better tradition by far. Recruiting does itself. At Kentucky you pick whoever you want and you get it with very few exceptions. Your plan B recruits aren't bad either.
4) I agree 100% with you here. I think he has a very hard time leaving Fred and Ron and Tekele. I will also agree with a point you made in #1 that his family does love it here and I think he loves it here too.

I also want to address some other things

* HCGM and ADs -- well, he got along with his AD at Winthrop enough that he was accepted back after he left (aka pulling a Gene). So that says a lot to me. JS loves. ADES loves him. He always wins so how can an AD not love him? He probably doesn't get along with the AD at Creighton though. HCGM suffers no fools and that is an attitude you want from YOUR coach and you generally dislike from other coaches.

* HCGM not only has the play book but he also has the ability to get the max out of his talent. I loved G. Hatch as a man (phrasing) and as a player but let us all be honest -- he wasn't much of a player. But what he had, HCGM was able to get it out of him. That speaks a lot to Hatch and even more to HCGM. I don't know where this idea comes that EVERY single 5 Star McDAA can't be coached and is a pampered baby. Sure, there are some out there. But there are plenty (Jabari Parker) that want to be coached. I also can promise you that HCGM can get a chip on their shoulders, even if they are one and done players. Jordan was able to self motivate and get a chip on his shoulder for every game and would say guys disrespected him. Literally no one disrespected Jordan but they sure did in his mind. HCGM can bring that out in players. And since he would have his pick of the litter at Kentucky he can make sure the guys he is getting are guys that want to commit to bust your teeth Marshall basketball.

* I've read countless times that the hardest thing to teach college kids is D. I've read that the biggest downside to college players going into the NBA is the lack of their D game. Marshall's system put the gears in motion for Toure's natural gifts and drive to stay strong and carry him on. Just like my Hatch example, a lot of that is on Toure himself. But Marshall's system helped him a lot. It helped Early who by going later in the first round is actually going to go to a good team. Good lord, imagine if he ends up in OKC. Sorry, I just derailed myself there. Anyways, all it would take for everyone to love Marshall at Kentucky is for the draft guys to start talking about these recruits and their defensive game improving under Marshall and how he improves draft stock and then he is golden in Kentucky.

* Marshall likes to coach in easy leagues. Big South, MVC, SEC. :)

I'm only worried a little bit. If we had not played Kentucky I wouldn't worry at all. However their AD and all of their boosters just got a great look at HCGM and what he can do. I remember another AD being impressed by HCGM in a tourney...

[WuShock16]

The Good Doc and I had a conversation before the Kentucky game, where I asked what Gregg could do with Kentucky-like talent that was also WILLING TO WORK talent. Doc's answer was something along the lines of, "People might stop coming to games and tell Gregg that beating the hell out of everyone by 50 all the time was getting really boring."

[wu_shizzle]

If Kentucky needs a new coach wouldn't Billy Donovan be their first choice?

And if Billy turns them down again, and there isn't another Calipari who needs to rebuild his image, isn't that a red flag to smart coaches?

Billy Gillespie and John Calipari needed the Kentucky job.

Billy Donovan and Gregg Marshall probably don't.

Maybe Jay Wright needs the Kentucky job.

[SHOCKvalue]

As far as I can tell, this whole "Cal to LA" nonesense was started by some random tweet from a former UK player - that's all. Seems to be much ado about nothing.

[calfan]

As for the Laker's coach, I do think he gets fired.

The next coach needs to be a safe pick, I don't think Calipari fits that.
The Lakers have missed on two straight coaches since Phil Jackson.
They can't afford a third miss.

If Calipari did get the Lakers job, I don't think Kentucky would take Marshall.
I don't think that they would see him as a big enough name, IMO.

[Shox21]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2014/story/_/id/10748631/john-calipari-coach-kentucky-wildcats-shoots-nba-rumors

[jocoshock]

I don't know.. If Marshall is offered the UK job, it would be tough to turn down..

Not if you look at what happened to UMass and Memphis in the wake of his departures....

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

If Calipari did get the Lakers job, I don't think Kentucky would take Marshall.
I don't think that they would see him as a big enough name, IMO.

I couldn't disagree more. Marshall took his team to the Final Four and then was the national coach of the year the following year. He is as big of name as you are going to get once you realize that Coach K, Bill Self, etc. aren't available. Heck, even including the Coach Ks of the world, if you ranked all coaches and just let Kentucky pick their next coach with no strings attached, I bet Marshall would be top 10-15.

[1979Shocker]

Calipari isn't going to the Lakers. For one thing, he isn't going to find enough one and done players that are willing to play just one year in the NBA.

[WSUwatcher]

This is the sort of thread that enables bored Shockernetters (who need to post about SOMETHING, for heaven's sake) to fill their time with fantasy and wild speculation until the signing period rolls around, at which point the wild speculation will be centered on the Recruiting forum.

[IlliniShocker]

Here's a somewhat entertaining read from Pete Thamel at SI.com re: the Calipari-to-Lakers rumor.

Outcoached again, John Calipari showed why he'll never succeed in the NBA