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Tennessee denies Memphis talks with Pearl, athletic director

Posted on April 2, 2009

MEMPHIS (AP) — Tennessee is denying that anyone connected with Memphis has spoken with either coach Bruce Pearl or its athletic director about replacing John Calipari as the Tigers’ basketball coach.
WMC-TV reported on its website Thursday that sources said Memphis had offered Pearl a seven-year, $21 million package to take over for Calipari. Calipari was introduced Wednesday as Kentucky’s new coach and the highest paid in college basketball with an eight year, $31.65 million deal.

“No one has talked to Memphis,” Tennessee spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter told The Associated Press.

Tennessee planned a statement later Thursday.
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Tennessee versus Memphis. Not a rivalry? We will see when Tiger High shows up to receive their annual ass-rape.

Here is a podcast link of Bruce Pearl on Memphis radio. Bruce eventually hangs up on a Memphis *Sports* Radio Host [Wolken is geigh] or [Tiger High]. Everything was going fine during the interview, Bruce complimenting Memphis, talking about the Vandy game, the youth on the team, blah blah.

Then host starts gets hostile and shit, talking about how it seems Pearl’s defensive philosophy changed this year and asks in a way what are you going to do Saturday and “are you going to press Memphis”?

Bruce replies, it was nice talking to you guys (suck my diiiiick!!), thanks, buh-bye.

Tennessee wins 78-72. Memphis chokes (again) on missed free throws.
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He might even paint the big house on Galloway blue.

This is why I want the Memphis Tigers to go after Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. I want him to agree, and then I want him to buy the big house on Galloway, and then I want him to paint that sucker blue.

He would, wouldn’t he?

Instead of that lovely peach. Or pink. Or whatever it is now.

The big blue house would signal a new start for everyone. But only a start.

Pearl could drop by Gibson’s Donuts in the mornings, just like John Calipari did.

The regulars would love the guy.

He could take over Cal’s Championship Steaks. Call it the Pearl Oyster House.

What a way to make this community gloom disappear.

No need to waste any time chasing Rick Pitino. He’s flat not going to come.

Just go get the man at the other end of the state. All together now: “Bruuuuuuuuuce.” How does that sound, Memphis fans? Talk about bouncing back.

Pearl might not come to Memphis, in the end. But I know for a fact he’d listen to the pitch.

He knows the area. He recruits here all the time. He likes big piles of cash as much as the next guy.

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson said Wednesday that money won’t be the reason anyone turns down the Tigers job.

Great. Because Pearl has a whopping $2.5 million buyout. Better back up the truck.

And, yes, it’s possible I want this to happen in part because it would drive Calipari nuts.

Calipari genuinely hates Pearl. As much as he is genuine about anything, at least.

Speaking of which, did you catch that Calipari press conference in Kentucky? Did you hear the part where he said he wouldn’t recruit a player who was disrespectful to his mother?

I wish someone had known to ask the natural follow-up: “Then why did you recruit a player who burned a gang sign into a girl with a lit cigarette?”

The guy is too much. He’s even taking his secretary with him to Kentucky. Maybe he’ll leave some old furniture or Pierre Henderson-Niles.

Now it turns out that while all those fans were lined up in front of Calipari’s house the other day, begging the coach to stay, he was inside trying to persuade the Memphis recruits to join him at his new gig.

He can’t talk to them once he’s the Kentucky coach, see. That’s against the rules. So why not be agonized until he’s got it figured out?

And then he comes back from Lexington on Wednesday and gets all weepy.

At least he had the good sense not to show at Johnson’s time-to-crank-up-the-coaching-search press conference.

“It’s time to turn the page,” Johnson said.

The new page says: PEARL!

It’s not like Pearl is some wacky sideshow, either. He can flat coach. Let me tell you about two highly acclaimed college basketball coaches. We’ll call them — what else would we call them? — Coach A and Coach B.

Coach A went to a program in serious disrepair. In his first four years at the place, he went to two NCAA Tournaments and two NITs. He won one NCAA Tournament game.

Coach B went to a program in serious disrepair. In his first four years at the place, he went to the NCAA Tournament four straight times. He won five NCAA Tournament games. He went to two Sweet 16’s.

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