Calipari was THIS close to going to UA

[Arizona's Finest]

I know many of us (Mao) have brought this up a few different times, but I am unsure some fans, or ASU fans, took it that seriously and thought we were being delusional.

So here it is from an unbias national guy in Seth Davis....

• I wonder if Arizona fans realize just how close they were to getting John Calipari as their coach. If the Kentucky job hadn't opened, I'd say there was about a 75 percent chance Cal was going to end up in Tucson. That's why Arizona's coaching search looked so disorganized at the end. They thought they had their man.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/seth_davis/11/08/opening.day/1.html

All this and I would STILL take Miller over Cal ten times out of ten. Things have a way of working out in the end I guess.

 

[Gaddabout]

That was a lucky miss. Miller is a much better fit and won't get the program on probation.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Many here mentioned this for months and were laughed at.

Im glad we have Miller, but this goes to show what happens when the AD's plan A, B, and C are all the same.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

That was a lucky miss. Miller is a much better fit and won't get the program on probation.

I suppose, although being preseason top 10 this year would've been nice.

And yes, everyone knew this was pretty much agreed upon in principle. Cal wanted out as he knew the Derrick Rose thing was coming down and had his recruits sign releases into their LOI's to follow him. And Arizona after some lengthy internal debate was willing to take him.

No hard feelings here, Calipari was actually a big reason Miller is in Tucson. While Miller struggled with the decision after we upped the offer he called some of his friends and colleagues in coaching circles and asked their opinion on Arizona Basketball as a whole. Some people (Herb Sendek for one) warned him of the roster troubles, living up to Lute's legacy, and unrealistic expectations and told him to say no. From what I heard from a fairly big booster, Cal got on the phone with Miller who was wavering having only been to Tucson once and basically said "You're taking this job. Period." and proceeded to hype up the Arizona gig until Miller accepted. Thad Matta also encouraged him to go west from what I gather.

Im glad we have Miller, but this goes to show what happens when the AD's plan A, B, and C are all the same.

Exacly, Livengood gets little credit for this. Without Calipari he was going to introduce Jim Boylen, a coach whose previous game was getting shellacked by Russ Pennell.

 

[splitsecond]

The only reason Herbie tried to dissuade him is because he knew the trouble he would be in when Miller resurrected the program.

But I thought this was common knowledge everywhere? I guess the haters love to live in denial.

 

[Black Jesus]

I like Miller, but if we had Calipari, we would of had John Wall,