Bluegrass Turns Green

So it's finally true. John Calipari is the new head basketball coach at Kentucky replacing Billy Gillispie.

The former Memphis coach has accepted a contract that will make him the wealthiest coach in Division I, and will place enormous expectations on him to have the Wildcats contend right away. He has reportedly signed for eight years and $35 million.

The move is a great one for Kentucky, even if they have doled out an unprecedented sum to bring Calipari to Lexington. Coach Cal is a great recruiter, and has taken both UMass and Memphis to the national championship. He is a great defensive coach, and always has great athletes playing for him.

Yet I questioned on the BERNing on Sports Podcast whether this is a good move for Calipari. Obviously, he's getting a huge sum of money that no one could pass up. I realize that Kentucky is the winningest program in Division I history and the chance to coach or play there is hard to pass up. I also know he'll inherit Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson for next year's team.

But when you consider that Calipari was already being comfortably compensated by Memphis, and he was part of a situation that set up extraordinarily well for his Tigers to succeed yearly in the NCAA Tournament, maybe Coach Cal is leaving a perfect situation behind.

After all, he's won more than sixty consecutive games in Conference USA. Last year he took the Tigers to the National Title game and with a team that lost Derrick Rose, they still earned a number two seed in this year's dance and likely would have competed for a similar position next year. Seemingly every year the last few years Memphis has earned the benefit of the doubt even though they play a weak conference schedule and they get a top seed. It seems that would be hard to leave behind.

Again, do I see why Calipari's off to Kentucky? Sure. Do I understand the lure of a school with so much tradition and history? Yes. Furthermore, do I think Calipari can do a great job and Kentucky can return to prominence under his tutelage? Yes.

But while the bluegrass seems greener on the other side, maybe it's not. Maybe this isn't the match made in heaven that many on the national networks have asserted it is. Maybe Coach Cal would be better served staying in his safety zone in Memphis where he's guaranteed success. He could still have that success at UK, but it's going to be a heck of a lot harder.