[Lefty Noob]

Anyone else surprised by the fact that coach John Calipari, the leading candidate for the job at N.C. State, has decided instead to sign a new deal to remain with the Memphis Tigers? Reports say that the deal will give Calipari about a $200,000 per year raise and make his annual salary $1.3 million plus incentives.

He's 148-59 at Memphis, a program that had back-to-back losing seasons before he joined the team in 1999-00. Since then, they've won an NIT title and been to three NCAA tourneys, including this past season as a #1 seed. There would've been no better time to try and cash in on that kind of success, but instead he decided to stay put. Not that I'm saying it's a bad thing, but... why?

Loyalty to the program? Does he think he can win a national title there?

[wvuauthor]

NC State would have definitely been a step up (as well as a challenge), but he has done a great job at getting Memphis back to the top. I suppose he just wants to finish the job...

[legend]

Why would he go to a program that is only third in its state, when he can win his conference every year and recruit in a hotbed of talent like the Memphis region? This was all about leverage for more money. Very few of these coaches have loyalty to a program, unless it is their last stop!