FanHouse JohnWall

When John Calipari told an interviewer at the SEC's basketball media day last month, "These fans -- I'm saying this lovingly -- are nuts,'' he was being very narrow-minded. In the SEC, this season and the last few, why single out the fans?

The idea has been thrown around that the arrival of Calipari (and his history) at Kentucky (and its history) is going to suck all the attention toward them and away from the rest of the conference. Truth be told, this might not be a bad thing. The SEC might not lead Division I conferences in dysfunction, but it's near the top. Only three seasons ago, it was celebrating one of its programs, Florida, completing the rare feat of repeating as national champion. But literally from the moment the Gators made that official by winning the 2007 title in Atlanta -- remember, coach Billy Donovan spent much of the postgame interviews fending off speculation that he was going to take over at, yes, Kentucky -- the SEC has been the home of constant chaos.

Half of the league's 12 schools have changed coaches since then, three this season; two newcomers, at Alabama and Georgia, follow coaches who departed in midseason, making Kentucky, which fired Billy Gillispie and hired Calipari, an isle of calm by comparison.

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If you're looking for the next step in NBA evolution, look no further than John Wall. The 19 year-old, 6-4 Kentucky commit has been the talk of hoops for quite a while, and we found a nifty video of him providing us a preview of what to expect when he inevitably jumps to the NBA after this season. You know, rare as it is for a Callipari point guard to leave after Year 1.

What makes this highlight stand out above other prospect dunk vids? The poster-victim in this instance? Jerry Stackhouse. Sorry about this, Stack. Let's go to the tape, Roger!

Don't expect much of a slowdown with free agency this week, but there will be plenty of NBA executives out of their offices for the next several days.

Many NBA teams will have front-office personnel in Akron, Ohio, where the LeBron James Skills Academy got underway on Sunday afternoon. Getting most of the attention is certain to be point guard John Wall, who could be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft.

However, Wall wasn't present for Sunday's mid-afternoon start to the camp. And as it turns out, Wall is not on either the college or high school roster.

According to an ESPN.com report by Andy Katz, Jodie Meeks is still going to forgo his senior year in favor of entering the NBA Draft. Meeks had joined the early entrant list to the NBA Draft prior to the hiring of John Calipari as the Wildcats' head basketball coach. Once Calipari was brought on board, there was some thought amongst the general public Calipari's presence would somehow convince Meeks to change his decision, but that isn't the case.

Meeks was arguably the best player in the SEC last season. The 6-foot-4 junior averaged 23.7 points per game, and put together a brilliant 54-point outburst against Tennessee mid-January, which was a school record. He shot brilliantly for the season, hitting 41 percent of his threes and 90 percent of his free throws.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said that if high school phenom John Wall applies for 2009 draft eligibility, as he is rumored to be considering, the NBA will do its "due diligence to determine his eligibility." Wall has not yet applied for early entry, according to Frank.

Earlier, ESPN's Chad Ford unleashed a scoop of sorts in a chat: Wall, widely considered the favorite to be No. 1 pick in 2010, could be eligible for the 2009 NBA draft. Ford reports Wall's camp is considering the jump. The collective bargaining agreement is gray on this matter, but the relevant section indicates Wall has a case for eligibility, despite the 2005 rule effectively barring high school-to-NBA leaps.

UPDATE: USA Today reports Calipari contacted former Wildcat coach Joe B. Hall to inform him he has taken the job. It appears as though Calipari intends to embrace the UK tradition from the get-go.

Earlier: According to Fox13 Memphis and Memphis' News Channel 3, John Calipari has officially accepted a very lucrative offer to become the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. More details to come on the amount and length of the contract, not to mention the expected roster turnover at both Memphis and Kentucky.

For now, though, the anticipation appears to be over. John Calipari seems to be the Kentucky Wildcats' basketball coach. He'll join up with one of the most hallowed basketball programs in the nation, as Kentucky has won more national championships than anyone but UCLA. "Coach Cal" sports a resume that fits the bill, though.

With the seemingly inevitable move of John Calipari from Memphis to Kentucky, there promises to be a scramble of young talent in the wake. Not only will there be obvious upheaval at both Kentucky and Memphis -- again, assuming Calipari takes the job -- but the move has the potential to reverberate throughout the nation.

John Wall, the top-rated point guard in the nation, has previously expressed plans to attend Memphis and play for Calipari. With the coaching status of Memphis currently a bit in limbo, however, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke has swooped right in.

Brandon Costner, right now, is all that Sidney Lowe has in Raleigh. Take him away and there's the semi-emergence of Courtney Fells, Ben McCauley's swan song, and the unlikely possibility of landing John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. Which isn't saying much.

Logically, the news/rumor that Costner was bolting for the NBA after this season should be terrifying for Sid. Fortunately for Lowe, though, Costner is referring to that report as "one of those crazy Internet rumors."

Brandon Costner's time at N.C. State has been tenuous, to say the least. The only "good" times were the run in the ACC tournament that the Pack made two years ago; last year, locker room turmoil and expectations tore the team apart. This year, State has shown to good when they play well and really, really bad when they don't.

Unfortunately for Costner, it looks like his legacy will be linked directly with Sidney Lowe and these downtrodden Pack teams; he appears, based on the following quotes, headed out of Raleigh after his junior season.

There was a minor brush-up yesterday evening amongst the sports media world when it was revealed that Bill Self, the man who did what Roy Williams couldn't, might have possibly committed a recruiting violation when he spoke to John Wall (America's No. 1 prospect) after a high school tournament recently.

Self allegedly approached Wall following a Word of God basketball game and congratulated him on his play while mentioning that "I'm not supposed to be talking to you ..." It was curious behavior indeed, and Self addressed the exchange after Kansas topped Texas A&M last night.