FanHouse Demarcus Cousins

It's a marriage of mutual necessity. He needs them -- and, oh, do they need him, as sure as Ashley Judd can fill a "Go 'Cats'' t-shirt. The anguished looms at Kentucky need John Calipari because he'll hustle, sell the program, recruit stud players, kiss babies and embrace the psychotic romance that is Big Blue Nation. And John Calipari needs Kentucky because, well, he still isn't roundly accepted as an elite coach, a perception he'll change if he resurrects a fallen dynasty.

As things progress on the John Calipari-to-Kentucky coaching front, one can't help but get a feeling of inevitability. Monday, we covered the swirling rumors and now it appears Calipari is going to accept the offer any minute. According to a source for the New York Times, one claiming to be a longtime friend of Calipari's, he will accept a very lucrative deal to become the Wildcats' next coach. It's worth noting Calipari is already one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball, so he'd likely become far-and-away the highest paid coach in the nation.

More interesting, perhaps, could be the immediate impact of talent to Kentucky -- at the expense of Memphis' once vaunted recruiting class.

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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.

Derrick Favors and John Wall are the top two recruits in the nation -- Favors, as we mentioned yesterday, was rated number one by Scouts and Wall has been listed as Rivals number one overall prospect.

Favors is now off the board, having committed to be a Yellow Jacket for one year his college career. Wall, meanwhile, remains on the market, so to speak, but there's good news for the teams (Baylor, Duke, N.C. State, Memphis mainly; Kansas, Oregon and Miami are also in consideration) currently pursuing the point guard.

He won't be swayed by Favors decision to attend Georgia Tech when making his decision.