Fowler Ignoring Calipari (Updated 11:15pm)

StateFansNation has confirmed through four different sources that Lee Fowler has chosen to ignore multiple overtures from representatives of John Calipari regarding the vacant NC State Head Coaching job since the position opened on Saturday night.

Various representatives of Calipari have attempted to contact Athletics Director Lee Fowler – both directly and through various highly-placed NC State contacts – since Saturday night. We have confirmed that multiple phone calls made directly to Fowler as well as other employees of NC State’s Athletics Department have gone unanswered and un-returned this week.

One source connected very closely with Calipari has expressed that “John wants the job very badly.”

People close to the NC State side of the equation speculate some of the following alternatives:
(1) Rick Barnes is in the bag and their is no reason to contact Calipari.
(2) Fowler has become obsessed with landing Barnes and is failing to manage other facets of the potential search.
(3) Fowler is trying to hide behind the fact that over a decade ago that UMass’ Marcus Camby admitted to accepting money from an agent.

We can’t imagine the outrage within the NC State community if Fowler ultimately CHOOSES to hire coach with less than Calipari now that Rick Barnes has spurned Fowler’s best pitch. By wins, Calipari has the fifth-best career start in NCAA history through nine, 11 in 12 seasons. Through 12 collegiate seasons, only North Carolina coach Roy Williams, former North Carolina State legend Everett Case, Louisville Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim have won more games than Calipari. And, he did it all while at lowly UMass and Confernce USA’s Memphis.

Additionally, we can’t imagine the hypocrisy if Lee Fowler would use Camby’s tangential indescretion over a decade ago against Calipari. This is the same Lee Fowler who was an assistant coach on a staff cited for multiple major NCAA infractions at Memphis State in 1980s. Ultimately, the Memphis State scandal led to mass forfeitures of games and the Tigers vacating their 1985 Final Four appearance. Later, Fowler’s former boss (Dana Kirk) was sent to prison for tax evasion.

Some NC State fans have pondered the question, “What if Fowler has been mandated from Oblinger/Board of Trustees that he cannot pursue Calipari?”

Our response to that also takes question form — In light of Lee Fowler’s more-checkered past with the NCAA, how can anyone at NC State veto Calipari on ethics while Lee Fowler runs the entire Athletics Department? The answer is either ignorance or hypocrisy. Either is unacceptable.

We will follow this very closely in the coming days. If Fowler finds a way to strike out without swining on someone like Calipari en route to landing a coach with less stature who cannot excite the NC State fan base, then he might want to consider packing his bags faster than he can sign long term extensions for Wolfpack Sports Marketing without sending them to public bid.

Ironic Twist
How is this for irony — Ten years ago, one of the cleanest, squarest Athletics Directors in the country offered John Calipari a job on which he ultimately passed.

The AD? NC State’s squeaky clean Todd Turner.

That’s right…Mr. Clean deemed Calipari clean enough to work at NC State…yet an Athletics Director with Lee Fowler’s history with the NCAA may not? For more on this stroll down memory lane you can click here.

“Talked to Todd twice,” Calipari said at the star-studded charity golf benefit at Prestonwood Country Club. “N.C. State was an interesting proposition. Great town. N.C. State has great tradition. They’re getting a new [arena]. Their fans want to win in the worst way. The ACC is such a great league.”

Ironic Twist, II
Ten years ago, one of our authors (Jeff) reported Turner’s conversations with John Calipari in his email newsletter, “The InfoPack”. Jeff was pushing Calipari for the State job before it ever opened. Jeff was criticized for not knowing what he was talking about until the original N&O article that we linked was published and corroborated his reporting. Kind of ironic in its own right considering some of the attacks that we’ve seen on some message board posts regarding our work here.

Parting Shot
Want to see something great? Go to CoachCalipari.com.

Want to see something that you would never see in a Lee Fowler or Herb Sendek program? Go to the “Memphis Hoops” tab and scroll down to the Performance Pledge and then the “Committed to Winning a National Title”

To be a part of the University of Memphis Basketball team you must be committed to winning a national title. To wage that war, we must live together, eat together, study together, condition and play together.

No one can be held to a lower standard! We all must reach the same bar. The more we sacrifice for each other the harder it will be to surrender during the season!

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

General NCS Basketball

89 Responses to Fowler Ignoring Calipari (Updated 11:15pm)

  1. BJ43 04/07/2006 at 12:25 AM #

    I don’t know…

    Does anyone find it amusing that (1) Herb walked away with a $1.3M / Yr contract (2) Rick Barnes said NO to NC State

    SFN – It is amusing that you think that Herb walked away with a $1.3M contract when he is getting paid $900k a year at ASU.

  2. djyank2 04/07/2006 at 1:23 AM #

    If Fowler screws this hire up, he should be terminated on the spot. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this coaching search.

  3. Drunkueid 04/07/2006 at 1:35 AM #

    ‘Bad feeling’ is an understatement. Fowler will need to pull a miracle coach out of his ass if the above stated story on Calipari is true.

  4. TVP 04/07/2006 at 2:26 AM #

    we are such f ing morons if we don’t go after cal…

    i dont think this is on fowler honestly. i think this is on boosters and/or the admin who get skittish with him. even thought he’s totally clean.

    we are destined to be small timers forever with our stupid leadership. dammit all.

  5. NCSU'79 04/07/2006 at 5:42 AM #

    I didn’t like Willis Casey much but , darn, I wish he was still alive & AD at State.

    “Fouler” should be next to go!

  6. Audhumla 04/07/2006 at 6:01 AM #

    I admit to being a just a fan with no sources and a total outsider here, but forgive me for playing psychologist for just a minute…

    Let’s say you’re 17 and dating a girl named Amy. For a few months, everything is going great, but she started getting serious about you. You weren’t ready for a commitment, blah blah blah, and you cheated on her. She caught you, and she dumped you *very* publicly.

    Now, Amy has a twin sister, Beth. And Beth is hot hot hot hot hot. Your metaphysical idea of womanhood. And you hear through the grapevine that Beth wants you something fierce. But she’s still Amy’s sister… And their parents remember you perfectly well as the person who broke Amy’s heart.

    Wouldn’t it be just plain good sense to take a pass on Beth? Fantastic woman and all that, but the painful recriminations you’d have to deal with, the stuff that would come out when you showed up at their house. I mean, is there *any* way you’d answer the call if their home phone number showed up on your cell?

    All I’m saying here is that if I’m Lee Fowler (who I’ve never met, don’t know personally, and don’t wish to demean in any way), I take a pass on anything to do with Memphis…

  7. GAWolf 04/07/2006 at 6:20 AM #

    Cal was on BDSSP this am and sounded like he was selling himself…. pretty impressively I might add. He did a mock recruiting interview with Sal and Dibble and sounded great. He also addressed how he’s improved grad rates wverywhere he’s been. He’s passionate and believes in himself and the service he provides to young men within his program. No brainer…. we need him in Wolfpack Red ASAP.

  8. NCSU4LIFE 04/07/2006 at 8:39 AM #

    First it was Barnes now it is Calipari. I wonder how long it will take us to screw this one up?

  9. BladenWolf 04/07/2006 at 9:03 AM #

    I posted yesterday that Calipari was right man for the job.

    The ethics issue is a joke considering Fowler’s past as well as our own.

    Get Calipari to Raleigh as fast as possible and let me sleep at night!!!

  10. Cardiff Giant 04/07/2006 at 10:12 AM #

    One thing that’s quite funny to me regarding the linked blog entry above is a post from one “Killjoy,” obviously a UNC fan, who writes that “SFN is the funniest thing I’ve ever read.”

    What’s ironic is that this guy is clearly a complete geeksack – I mean, virgin-who-lives-in-his-mother’s-basement level. You see, a click on his name leads to this link – “Cerebral Hobbies.”

    http://www.cerebralhobbies.com/

    And what, you ask, is this? Your classic Dungeons and Dragons, orcs and elves, role playing loser site. “Roll the twelve sided die! Saving throw for homosexuality … FAILED!”

    Classic.

  11. NCSU4LIFE 04/07/2006 at 10:49 AM #

    Damn Cardiff he may have a point after reading your post. That is some funny stuff.

  12. Rick 04/07/2006 at 1:12 PM #

    I am 95% sure Fowler screws this up.

  13. NCSU94GRAD 04/07/2006 at 4:07 PM #

    I’d love to see Calipari but what if Fowler screws that up? (Seems highly likely) You guys won’t believe this b/c I couldn’t comprehend it myself but a “big wig” within the WPC actually floated the name Tommy Amaker in early discussions. From what I was told he was rebuffed but just the fact that his name came up speaks volumes about the search. If we are going to miss out on the “A” list, why is no one talking about Mark Turgeon from Wichita State? He is young with an impressive resume (any thoughts)?http://webs.wichita.edu/gs/basketball/0506guide/Coaches.pdf

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Pack’s 8-Ball Sez “Barnes Says No” at 850 & 620 THE BLOG - 04/07/2006

    […] Rumblings of dissent between prominent boosters surrounds the name of John Calipari. He’s successful, but there is that whole Marcus Camby business. StateFansNation claims that NCSU officials have refused to take Calipari’s call. […]

Leave a Reply