Coach Calipari's a Slime Ball! Look at What We Know About His Past

Calipari gets talent, sure.

He successfully recruited Dajuan Wagner, the national player of the year, to Memphis. A couple of weeks later, Wagner's father, Milt, was named coordinator of basketball operations. Calipari got a commitment from McDonald's All-American game MVP Tyreke Evans, too. But only after hiring one of Evans amateur coaches as his own personal assistant. Derrick Rose came to Memphis, too. And the NCAA later learned that Rose's brother, Reggie, received free travel to Tiger road games in the deal.

Take a stroll around Calipari's programs and you'll find a pack of men with unknown motives hanging around. Agents, hangers-on, sycophants, and of course, the infamous and powerful talent broker -- William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley -- who steers players into Calipari's arms.

Look at Calipari's coaching resume and you find academic fraud, including NCAA sanctions over a cooked-up entrance examination. Calipari had to throw out his NCAA Final Four appearance at the University of Massachusetts when it was learned that one of his players (Marcus Camby) took money from an agent. The same thing happened at Memphis after the NCAA investigated Rose's recruitment and his SAT test.

Legendary college coach Bob Knight blasted Calipari and wondered why he'd still be allowed to coach after the Memphis fiasco.

Compliments of Oregonian columnist John Canzano