John Calipari to Announce Decision on Kentucky This Afternoon

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

John Calipari will end the suspense this afternoon, and will announce where he will coach next season.

The indisputable facts are simple:

He is the nine-year head coach at the University of Memphis.

He has an offer on the table from the University of Kentucky for eight years at $35 million.

And the administration at the U of M, with the help of the program's most prominent boosters, have promised to be able to match any offer dollar-for-dollar.

What is not known for certain is what Calipari will decide to do.

Reports have been rampant for nearly 24 hours that Calipari was set for Kentucky. If it is announced that he is, indeed, becoming the top Wildcat, it will seem to verify the idea that he made the decision some time in the past 48 hours.

There are those who are saying, however, that he still has not decided, that he is torn between the allure of a dream job and the joy he has felt in building up a once-ailing Memphis program.

Only Calipari himself knows if that is true.

The following, however, was reported by the Memphis Commercial Appeal after a reporter overheard a conversation between Calipari and some close friends:

"Nobody actually came out and asked Calipari if he was leaving, but he said he hadn't made up his mind. He was going to drive around Memphis today and decide this afternoon.

"If you're into reading tea leaves—or coffee grounds, if you prefer—Calipari did say two things that should have Memphis fans worried.

"'Things will be OK here,' he said.

"And also: 'Taking the job is the easy part of the decision. Leaving here is the hard part.'"

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