Cal never told the players

[rick64]

Sounds like he never said anything to Mitch either about being in contract negotiations.

 

[ScottGreene22]

KSR just heard CAL was in Arkansas Friday after leaving Arizona. Kept it quiet even Barney didn’t know supposedly until after midnight last night.

 

[BlazerHallsBallsN96]

That might explain some of these tournament losses.

I think he's been on the take for a while now getting paid to lose as well replay the games he doesn't even look mad or surprised at the end.

 

[tls]

He left 33 million on table that UK owed him

Not worth all the hell he was going to continue to get and increasing. How much money does he need.?

Some folks are really into that money thing.

 

[Wildcat Sheli]

Did the news leak out before Cal intended, or was it planned to release the information at this time? It almost sounds like someone had a scoop they couldn’t keep quiet.

 

[Blue Wildcat]

Shouldn’t be any surprises. Clear that Cal only cares about Cal. Even his charity work was to push and promote his name. You don’t do charity work and later use it as a mechanism to highlight how great you are.

 

[TheDude73]

But I thought he was the “Players First!” coach.

At least that’s what he told us about a thousand times.

Well he showed his hands every one of those thousands of times by following up with a brag about getting more players into the NBA than anyone else. He takes credit for it but we all figured it out - these kids would have gone pro regardless of school or coach.

 

[LorrieMorganspantyhose]

Look, we're going to learn a LOT over the next few days .... the guy was a POS.

I have a friend who is on the board at the country club in Memphis where Cal was a member .... he stiffed them on a massive bill and over $50k in gambling debts when he bounced to UK. That's just a tiny example of who he is behind the scenes.

Trust me, that’s the least of what he did but he owed at several spots it’s true. What he did to the offices at Memphis was worse, emptied them out out of spite and some other things that were dirty. For no reason too people were shocked. Which I liked at the time, watching them cry was beautiful.

I’ve tried for years to explain some of it and when it wasn’t well received I held back. If people only know whew, he’s the biggest slime ball I’ve ever seen. But, hey, he’s gone. And regardless of what happens we’ll be better off. But he threw the season. It was so easy to see. Just like he did the Missouri Memphis game before he came here. Feel bad for those players.

 

[Jazzycat]

If what is coming out about Calipari is true, there were multiple issues between JC and the administration, the boosters, the fans and the players. He apparently burned some bridges over the past several years which damaged UK's ability to sustain NIL money and keep support coming in to the basketball program. When that happens, it is time for a change.

I appreciate everything that Calipari accomplished in his years at UK and wish he and his family well as they move forward. I also believe that Kentucky will continue to be Kentucky. Barnhart just needs to listen to people who understand the complexities of coaching bb and recruiting players and get the right guy in there that will continue the winning tradition. It will work out for everyone in the end.

 

[wkycatfan7]

He told the ones he wants to follow him to Arkansas.

 

[kyjohn]

All I can say about the Cal fiasco is, thank God and Greyhound he's gone.

 

[W1LDCAT22]

Now we will never see those "tweaks" he was going to implement next year.

You mean the "tweaks" that Cal was going to implement 5 years ago?

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Pilgrim reported that the current players didn’t even know and were blindsided and assistants contacted a recruit last night. But everyone was blindsided by this and they still haven’t heard from the coaching staff.

Said one recruits parent said they like Nate or Scott

How can players follow this man to Arkansas? Players first right?

I hope that screws him over a little bit honestly. Pressure Mitch to hire Oats, make him get a Hurley.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Look, we're going to learn a LOT over the next few days .... the guy was a POS.

I have a friend who is on the board at the country club in Memphis where Cal was a member .... he stiffed them on a massive bill and over $50k in gambling debts when he bounced to UK. That's just a tiny example of who he is behind the scenes.

They didn’t sue him?

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Good grief. Perry has signed an LOI. Mitch would have to release him. He is not going anywhere. Some of you all worry about the damndest things.

They all have LOI and everyone will be released if they ask for it. Perry probably be one of the only ones who realistically stays.

 

[Kybluedude]

Shouldn’t be any surprises. Clear that Cal only cares about Cal. Even his charity work was to push and promote his name. You don’t do charity work and later use it as a mechanism to highlight how great you are.

That’s not fair

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Trust me, that’s the least of what he did but he owed at several spots it’s true. What he did to the offices at Memphis was worse, emptied them out out of spite and some other things that were dirty. For no reason too people were shocked. Which I liked at the time, watching them cry was beautiful.

I’ve tried for years to explain some of it and when it wasn’t well received I held back. If people only know whew, he’s the biggest slime ball I’ve ever seen. But, hey, he’s gone. And regardless of what happens we’ll be better off. But he threw the season. It was so easy to see. Just like he did the Missouri Memphis game before he came here. Feel bad for those players.

I absolutely believe we lost both tourney games because he was out looking to leave.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Trust me, that’s the least of what he did but he owed at several spots it’s true. What he did to the offices at Memphis was worse, emptied them out out of spite and some other things that were dirty. For no reason too people were shocked. Which I liked at the time, watching them cry was beautiful.

I’ve tried for years to explain some of it and when it wasn’t well received I held back. If people only know whew, he’s the biggest slime ball I’ve ever seen. But, hey, he’s gone. And regardless of what happens we’ll be better off. But he threw the season. It was so easy to see. Just like he did the Missouri Memphis game before he came here. Feel bad for those players.

Thanks for the scoop little Morg. Welcome back.

 

[TheDude73]

They all have LOI and everyone will be released if they ask for it. Perry probably be one of the only ones who realistically stays.

I think most will wait until we know who the new coach is. If it's Oats or Hurley, I could seriously see most of the kids hoping to stick to their commitments, although I'm not sure how the dynamics work with a new coach coming in and an old coach's recruits. Tubby won a NC in his first year thanks to everyone coming back. Not sure if it works that way today, though.

 

[Whoppercat]

You talking about him taking 50k from Memphis like it’s a big deal and downplaying 33 million

This makes zero sense

 

[UK-Chulo]

That might explain some of these tournament losses.

Starting your least productive players is not by accident.

 

[RunninRichie]

KSR just heard CAL was in Arkansas Friday after leaving Arizona. Kept it quiet even Barney didn’t know supposedly until after midnight last night.

He's a POS.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Perry signed with UK, not Cal. He’s a Kentucky kid.

The rest signed with Cal, so they will probably play for him next season in Arkansas.

Maybe but I expect a big push to flip Fland from several top programs.
It will probably come down to whether the players and families were in the loop or were they blindsided.
I could see Cal conceding Perry to UK and keeping things hush but telling the families of the others he was looking to move.

 

[TNCatfanforever]

Pilgrim reported that the current players didn’t even know and were blindsided and assistants contacted a recruit last night. But everyone was blindsided by this and they still haven’t heard from the coaching staff.

Said one recruits parent said they like Nate or Scott

How can players follow this man to Arkansas? Players first right?

Wow that was the same classless act Tubby pulled

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

I think most will wait until we know who the new coach is. If it's Oats or Hurley, I could seriously see most of the kids hoping to stick to their commitments, although I'm not sure how the dynamics work with a new coach coming in and an old coach's recruits. Tubby won a NC in his first year thanks to everyone coming back. Not sure if it works that way today, though.

It was different for Tubby since he was an assistant for the coach that departed so he had already been coaching the guys who stayed and he probably had some sort of interactions with the recruits Pitino was recruiting.

The new coach will have no such ties to the current roster or class unless we hire one of Cal’s current assistants

 

[SkyPrince1]

It was different for Tubby since he was an assistant for the coach that departed so he had already been coaching the guys who stayed and he probably had some sort of interactions with the recruits Pitino was recruiting.

The new coach will have no such ties to the current roster or class unless we hire one of Cal’s current assistants

??
Tubby hadn't had any interaction with the players on the '98 UK roster or any recruits.

 

[trueblujr]

Assume all current players and our 6 recruits are all gone.. With portal, not so much an issue. But we may take a hit next season.. but I didn’t have high expectations for next year with Calipari.

And bottom line is, Calipari was leaving at some point in next 5 years.. so this was going to happen. Just when… If you get a home run hire, may even have a better team next year. Solid, and it may take us another year.

New coach might get a couple current players back, and 1-2 of the recruits, but assume they are all gone.

Have to think Perry might be swayed to stick around being a Kentucky kid and all.

 

[true-blue1]

Pilgrim reported that the current players didn’t even know and were blindsided and assistants contacted a recruit last night. But everyone was blindsided by this and they still haven’t heard from the coaching staff.

Said one recruits parent said they like Nate or Scott

How can players follow this man to Arkansas? Players first right?

Classy move Cal

 

[Blueblood410]

It's basically a repeat of Tubby leaving.

I'm pretty sure he got on the plane to Minnesota without ever telling the team.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Not a surprise at all. Cal has always been about Cal. He uses the top basketball players to take credit for their NBA success. Truth is 90% of those players would be NBA Stars had they gone to about any college in the country.
Why do you think he choose to leave on the eve of the title game?

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

??
Tubby hadn't had any interaction with the players on the '98 UK roster or any recruits.

Yep, you’re right. I was 7 at the time so I didn’t remember but I knew Tubby had been an assistant for Pitino and then became head coach. For some reason I had it my head that he went from assistant at UK to head coach at UK when Pitino left.

My mistake.

 

[Ukbrassowtipin]

I think it just literally happened. He was clearly looking for another job for awhile or going to stick it out here another year then leave. Arkansas thought they were hiring Beard on Friday.

The guy just flew to watch Reeves shoot in a meaningless 3 point contest. A guy who can't play for him anymore.

I think it just happened in real time yesterday

 

[LXWildcat]

Players have been informed a meeting will take place at 2pm today at Cals house

 

[FranklinRaider315_rivals]

Trust me, that’s the least of what he did but he owed at several spots it’s true. What he did to the offices at Memphis was worse, emptied them out out of spite and some other things that were dirty. For no reason too people were shocked. Which I liked at the time, watching them cry was beautiful.

I’ve tried for years to explain some of it and when it wasn’t well received I held back. If people only know whew, he’s the biggest slime ball I’ve ever seen. But, hey, he’s gone. And regardless of what happens we’ll be better off. But he threw the season. It was so easy to see. Just like he did the Missouri Memphis game before he came here. Feel bad for those players.

I’ve never heard of Cal having any issues with country club gambling like Dana did. I do have direct knowledge about Cal cutting ties with former personal assistant, “Smitty” over a threat he made to a personal friend of mine who was a longtime AAU coach in Memphis and Chattanooga prior to his death. My buddy had asked Cal for a pretty large donation for his AAU team and Smitty demanded his “cut” when he delivered it from Cal. Smitty was then made manager of The Fields, a joint on Beale St. (since closed) that Cal had an interest in.
Cal also loaded up his closet wardrobe by maxing out his unused clothing allowance at a high end Men’s store before heading to Lexington.

 

[fs-ripcord65]

Cal is about Cal always has been.. We dodged a big one here…

CCC has certainly always been about himself ! No doubt about that !
BUT ... I can't say we "dodged a bullet." I've been suffering wounds for years from the slide of my beloved U.K. basketball into an historical malaise ! We won't die from a thousand cuts ... but the many, many cuts over the last few years have been really, really painful to me ! ! ! (PS - I hope this mixed metaphor isn't too obtuse.)
And now I say ... gleefully ... GO 'CATS ! ! !

 

[fs-ripcord65]

Players have been informed a meeting will take place at 2pm today at Cals house

What are the odds that there will be one or two no-shows ? ! ? I'll bet Theiro "already has unchangeable commitments" for 2:00 p.m. today !

 

[Blueaz]

He left 33 million on table that UK owed him

His ego left that...
and if he started negotiations without informing UK (a clause in his contract) ... by breaking this; he may have forfeited it anyway

 

[cathouse_rivals216755]

Look, we're going to learn a LOT over the next few days .... the guy was a POS.

I have a friend who is on the board at the country club in Memphis where Cal was a member .... he stiffed them (the club, not Memphis) on a massive bill and over $50k in gambling debts when he bounced to UK. That's just a tiny example of who he is behind the scenes.

Wait.....gambling debts???

If this is true, Arkansas and Kentucky might have a much bigger problem on their hands with this news.

Could this explain some of the unexplainable......losses???

I hope for everyone concerned, this is not true.

 

[Blueaz]

Did the news leak out before Cal intended, or was it planned to release the information at this time? It almost sounds like someone had a scoop they couldn’t keep quiet.

100 bucks says Cal let this leak... he wanted to see all the fans cry,
Backfire... he can't return to UK... He gave ALL the leverage to Ark for the final contract details
What an idiot...

 

[FilsonCat]

Arkansas fans are in for a ride. I, however, am ready to get back to Kentucky Basketball.