Posted by MATT JONESIn an interview with FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman, former Arizona Coach Lute Olson called John Calipari "very unprofessional" for his decision to take kids who had originally committed to Memphis with him to his new job at Kentucky. According to Olson, people should not be critical of current Memphis coach (and former Olson player) Josh Pastner, until he is able to get the type of kids to Memphis that fit into his system. The shot at Calipari likely implied that Olson believes the decision to take the Memphis recruits made Pastner's job more difficult and was somehow a slap in the face to the UK coach's former assistant.
The view expressed by Olson is not one that he alone shares. Calipari, and other coaches, have often been criticized for trying to get players that originally commited to the coach's former employer, to follow them to their new employer instead. The old-school view on the subject is simple. Players commit to the University, not to the coach, and when that decision is made, it is sacred. This is the view held by the NCAA as well, as showcased by its unbelievably unfair "Letter of Intent" system that binds players to programs, but not coaches, often leaving them begging for mercy from Universities long after a coach has gone on to greener pastures.
However such an approach is exactly the opposite of the player-centric view that should dominate college athletics. Beyond all other considerations, shouldn't the number one priority be that a kid have the ability to attend the college of his choice? The reality is that the vast majority of college basketball players attend a college primarily because of the coaches that oversee the basketball program, not the beauty of the University or its academic tradition. For an athlete who is majoring in basketball (which let's face it, every top college basketball player is doing), the most important factor is who his mentor will be. When that mentor changes, the kid should have the ability to change with it.
Olson can kid himself with the view that John Wall, Demarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe were considering Memphis due to its status as a fine institution and the long tradition of Memphis basketball history. But we all know that is complete bologna. Those players were going to Memphis because of John Calipari and little else. When Calipari left, those kids should have the right to go with him. Regardless of what Olson and the old-timers believe, Memphis and other schools shouldn't be able to "own" those players and control their futures, simply because it makes the new coach's job more difficult.
John Calipari taking the former Memphis recruits with him to Kentucky did make Josh Pastner's job tougher, but it allowed the individual players to go to the school of their choice. That may bother Lute Olson, but making things easier for millionaire coaches isn't, or at least it shouldn't be, what college athletics is about.
