ShareThisDebate if you must the No. 1 seeds, the Final Four contenders, the national championship pick. But don't waste one second debating the coach of the year in college basketball. The award has to go to one man: Memphis coach John Calipari.
It seems like just yesterday that Calipari was trying to regroup after his team's tough loss to Kansas in the national championship game. Memphis blew a nine-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation and lost in overtime, 75-68. Friends thought Calipari took the defeat so hard that they sent food to his home, reminding him of growing up near Pittsburgh when neighbors would send over macaroni and cheese when someone died.
Making matters worse for Calipari, his three top players left for the NBA. "(No. 1 overall pick) Derrick Rose, who was Superman," he said. "Chris Douglas-Roberts, a first-team All-American. And Joey Dorsey, who was like Lawrence Taylor on defense ...
"So we started this year thinking, 'Let's try to make the (NCAA) tournament.' All of a sudden, we're 31-3 and it's like, 'What in the world happened?'"
Calipari happened, that's what.
The man can coach.
Freshman guard extraordinaire Tyreke Evans might have helped a little, too.
Memphis has had such a year that many think it was robbed when it didn't get a No. 1 seed in the tournament instead of Connecticut. Calipari understands that the weak Conference USA works against the Tigers, who have won 61 consecutive league games. But he pointed out Memphis played non-conference games at Georgetown, Gonzaga and Tennessee, winning the latter of the two.
"What more could we have done?" Calipari asked. "They said we needed to play more top-50 teams. But we don't have any other top-50s in our league.
"I'm OK with a No. 2. Being in a non-(Bowl Championship Series) league hasn't hurt us. But it kills other non-BCS programs. The biggest predictor of success in the NCAA tournament is seeding. If you're a 1 or 2, you have a good chance of winning it all. If you're a 7, 8, 9 or 10, bye-bye."
Memphis will play Cal State Northridge Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., and, if chalk holds, Connecticut in the West Region final in Glendale, Ariz.
"I definitely think we can (win the national title)," Calipari said. "There are probably 20 or 25 teams that can get to the Final Four and probably eight teams that can win it."
(Yes, Calipari says Pitt is one of the eight. And, yes, he'd love to play Pitt in the national championship game in Detroit. He's a Pittsburgher, isn't he?).
Memphis' season turned when Calipari moved Evans -- the 2008 Pennsylvania Player of the Year out of Philadelphia's American Christian High School -- from shooting guard to point guard.
The Tigers, 6-3 at the time with losses to Xavier, Georgetown and Syracuse, have won 25 in a row since.
"The coach who had him out of position should be fired," Calipari said, fairly giggling.
Evans, still the Tigers' leading scorer despite playing the point, figures to leave for the NBA after this season. Calipari is cool with that. "People say taking guys for just one or two years hurts your program. But has it hurt us? Derrick was our third guy to leave after one year. Tyreke will be the fourth. We'll be OK."
Memphis' three seniors -- Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson and Chance McGrady -- are the winningest class in Division I history with 135 victories. "All three will graduate in May in four years," Calipari said.
There isn't much talk this season about Calipari leaving for a better college job or an NBA job. Memphis officials took care of that after last season when they gave him a contract extension worth more than $2 million per year. If he stays through the 2012-13 season, he'll get a $5 million bonus.
"I don't need to go anywhere else as long as we can keep getting players, keep playing on national television, keep graduating our guys, keep sending them to the NBA and keep having chances to compete for the national championship," Calipari said. "After that, it comes down to quality of life. We like living in Memphis."
Getting players never has been a problem for Calipari. This year, he has signed or received commitments from, arguably, the top shooting guard and center recruits -- Xavier Henry of Oklahoma City and DeMarcus Cousins of Mobile, Ala. He's also the favorite to get top point guard John Wall of Raleigh, N.C.
Memphis won't be out of the national title picture anytime soon, although this year's team will be hard to top. "I keep telling myself that the best things in life happen when you least expect them," Calipari said. "This team came out of nowhere. It's going to be one I'll always remember.
"Think about it. How does a team make its own mark against the backdrop of a team that went 38-2 and played in the national championship game the year before? These guys have done it. Our city isn't talking about last year. They're talking about this year and this team."
Yes, Calipari's friends and neighbors have the mac and cheese ready, should the Tigers stumble out of the tournament. But they also have the champagne ready, just in case.
E-mail Ron Cook at rcook(at)post-gazette.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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