The NCAA men's basketball coaching carousel is always a nervous time for the top mid-majors.
You know the story: teams in major conferences who under-performed buy out the guy who couldn't get it done, then go trolling around for the best talent money can buy. And that usually leads them into the pockets of the most successful mid-majors.
This year was no different.
There were five such moves over the past few months, three by SEC schools, two by Pac-10 programs: Anthony Grant from Virginia Commonwealth to Alabama, Mark Fox from Nevada to Georgia, Ken Bone from Portland State to Washington State, Sean Miller from Xavier to Arizona, and the coup-de-grâce of screw jobs, John Calipari from Memphis to Kentucky.
The Arizona hiring was absolutely critical in saving the Arizona program from a devastating decline into Oregon State territory in the Pac-10.
Miller has already stolen Solomon Hill from USC (who USC had stolen from Arizona in the wake of the protracted retirement of Lute Olson), plus grabbed the ESPNU sixth-ranked center, Kyryl Natyazhko, and 6-6 swingman Kevin Parrom out of Connecticut.
Parrom and Natyazhko were both headed to Xavier until Miller decided to bolt (Parrom for sure, Natyazhko just more than likely).
But yet Xavier's loss still pales in comparison to the calamity at Memphis in the wake of the Calipari departure.
Xavier at least still has a stacked roster coming back, including the addition of former Indiana Hoosier Jordan Crawford. Memphis, with 137 wins over the past four years, including two Elite Eights and a trip to the title game, will be basically starting from scratch under first-time head coach Josh Pastner.
Not only will the Tigers be losing their main contributors from last season in Tyreke Evans, Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson, and possibly Shawn Taggart, who has declared for the NBA Draft but not hired an agent, but their top-ranked recruiting class has all but vaporized:
Shooting guard Xavier Henry, the third-ranked player in the ESPNU 100, is gone to Kansas along with his brother, C.J., who was a walk-on with the Tigers last season.
Center DeMarcus Cousins, the fourth-ranked player on the list, is off to Kentucky with Calipari.
Point guard John Wall, the fifth-ranked player on the list who had been close to signing with Memphis prior to Calipari's departure, is now waiting to see what Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks does in regards to the NBA draft. If Meeks goes pro, it seems likely Wall follows Calipari to UK.
What's for certain is that Wall will not be attending Memphis under Pastner.
Now none of this is to disparage Pastner, who will be a very good coach. He was a walk-on at Arizona when I was a student reporter covering the team, and I can tell you from personal experience the guy is as smart and determined as any coach in the country.
But basketball is a game of players. And thanks to Calipari draining the program of recruits, there's virtually no chance Pastner avoids a fall out of national prominence while he rebuilds.
Kentucky, on the other hand, is the heavy favorite to not only win the SEC East, but to also make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
First, they have a coach in Calipari who knows how to mix a collection of stars into a cohesive group.
Second, their roster is absolutely loaded. Not only are they bringing in Cousins, but they had already signed Daniel Orton, the number two center coming out of high school this year. Patrick Patterson is back, as are two highly-touted prospects from last year's class: Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins.
Oh, and they're pretty much guaranteed to have either Meeks, who averaged nearly 24 points per game last year, or Wall, the most physically gifted guard in this year's class.
(UPDATE: Wall reportedly told Calipari on Tuesday he will indeed attend Kentucky next season. So now I suppose they could end up with both Wall AND Meeks. Wouldn't that be something?)
Kentucky now has its best combination of talent and coaching since the Rick Pitino era, and if you think that's an exaggeration, consider this: between 1993 and 1998, the Wildcats had four First Team All-Americans (Jamal Mashburn, Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, and Scott Padgett), all recruited by Pitino; but since Padgett, not a single one.
To put it another way, if I offered to bet you $100 that Kentucky was going to make a Final Four in the next four years, would you bet against me?
Now Xavier and Memphis may argue with the premise of this column in that they're referred to as "mid-majors."
And that's fine. I can dig it.
So rather than looking at it as "majors" vs. "mid-majors," let's look at it as "haves" vs. "have-nots."
Right now, Arizona and Kentucky have. Memphis and Xavier have not.
And even if they get it back again, chances are somebody else will just take it away.
Leave a Comment