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Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009

Is Calipari the right guy for UK?

An open letter to University of Kentucky President Lee Todd:

Re: What appears to be the impending hiring by UK of John Calipari as its men's basketball coach.

The present athletics administration at the University of Kentucky has never seemed especially adept at conducting thorough background checks on major coaching hires.

In 2002, Kentucky found itself on NCAA probation in football. Yet UK went out and hired a new football coach (Rich Brooks) without even checking to see whether that coach had a history of NCAA violations in his past (he did).

Then, in 2007, Kentucky was seeking to fill its men's basketball head coaching position. Which only happens to be one of the most high-profile jobs in all of American sports.

In filling this vital public relations-oriented job, UK's background check failed to identify that it was offering the position to a prickly introvert (Billy Gillispie) prone to extreme mood swings.

Given the past performance, Dr. Todd, you'll forgive me for being skeptical that the background check UK will run on John Calipari will actually ask the questions that need to be raised.

So, Dr. Todd, let's address some of the questions you better have asked of Calipari before giving him the keys to our state's signature college sports program.

Question One: Who is William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley and what role does he play in Calipari's recruiting?

The short answer is that Wesley is a behind-the-scenes figure believed in recent years to have "steered" high-profile recruits Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans to Memphis.

Wesley's ties to Calipari go back to the recruitment of former Memphis star Dajuan Wagner (the son of former Louisville player Milt Wagner). Wesley was Dajuan's godfather.

"Worldwide Wes" is one of the more enigmatic figures in all of basketball. Nobody seems to know what exactly to make of him.

In June, 2006, GQ magazine ran an article on Wesley headlined "Is This The Most Powerful Man In Sports?"

He's said to be a Detroit-area mortgage broker. "Worldwide Wes" pulled Ron Artest out of the "Malice in the Palace" fight. He is also said to be tight with Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

The general consensus in basketball circles seems to be that "Worldwide Wes" uses his influence to get in with young, star basketball players for the benefit of Nike.

In GQ, Calipari is quoted as saying that "Worldwide Wes" is a "goodwill ambassador to the University of Memphis program."

Now, maybe there is nothing wrong with this relationship. Or maybe "Worldwide Wes" and his tie with Calipari are the next big recruiting scandal waiting to explode.

With your legacy at UK at stake, Dr. Todd, are you sure that's a risk worth running?

Question Two: What kind of discipline exists inside a John Calipari-run program?

You'll recall in 2002, Dr. Todd, all the local angst that was created during the Team Turmoil season.

That season, Kentucky had two players get in a fight (over a girl, apparently) on the team plane and two underage UK players get busted for trying to use fake IDs to get into a local club.

It all had the locals in a tizzy.

Well, compared to what's gone on among the players at Memphis, that kind of stuff seems quaint.

In 2005, a Memphis reserve was charged with soliciting a prostitute.

Two UM players were charged in September 2007 with inciting a riot and disorderly conduct outside a Beale Street night spot (source: ESPN.com). The charges were later dropped after the two completed an eight-week anger management program.

A Memphis player was accused in Feb., 2008, of hitting his ex-girlfriend (with an open hand) in an early-morning confrontation (source: Feb. 7, 2008, Associated Press). The charge was later dropped.

When Calipari took his team to Alabama-Birmingham after the latter incident, a fan held up a sign that read, "at UAB, we beat Memphis, not our girls."

When the Kentucky Wildcats go on the road in future seasons, Dr. Todd, are those the kind of signs you want to see?

Question Three: What exactly is the relationship between Calipari-coached players and agents?