How more upset can you be if your a Memphis Tiger fan? In one day you not only lose the coach that brought your basketball program back to national prominence but along with his departure the Tigers also lost arguably the top 3 high school recruits in the country. For those of you who follow college basketball recruiting, these three names have been very familiar to you over the past season. Cousins, Wall, and Henry have been ranked by all major publications in the top 5 for class of 2009 recruits with Wall headlining the rivals.com rankings and Henry being the top guy on ESPNU top 100.
In one press conference, the University of Memphis (previously known as Memphis State for those who have been living in a closet since Penny Hardaway donned the Tiger jersey) went from being a sure fire pick to be a final four team to an organization without CEO and a team that might lose a conference game this year. Do I feel bad for what is going on at Memphis right now? No. I believe that their rise to national prominence was "very shady" to say the least and I believe they were fairly warned after seeing Calipari leave other places in similar style. To be honest I don't think that Calipari had anything to prove by going to Kentucky, I think his legacy as a coach would have been the same had he just stayed at Memphis, but I do understand the monetary raise but I think there would of been a couple of boosters willing to help him out if he really wanted to stay.
What I am upset about though as a college basketball fan is that I will not get the chance to see all three of these blue chippers get to play on the same court together. (Thank you John Wall for turning down the McDonald's All-American game to play in the new trendy Jordan Brand Classic so that I wouldn't even get to see what it would be like even in an exhibition game.) Now I am not going to go as far as saying that these three would have been the freshmen sensation that was the Michigan Fab Five, but I would definitely take these three ballers over the recent Ohio State trio of Conley, Cook, and Oden who led their squad to the national championship game.
Yes, I know that John Wall had not committed to play for Memphis before Calipari left, but I am pretty confident he would of ended up being a tiger. The reason -- Tyreke Evans. Coach Calipari was able to land this top ranked recruit months after signing day last year showing his ability to sign highly touted recruits late and furthermore with the strong likelihood of Evans leaving for this years draft a nice hole in the backcourt would be perfect for Wall to fill.
Since Wall, Cousins, and Henry have still yet to decide on a school, there is still a possibility that I will get to see them play together. Do I think it will happen? Nothing is impossible, and I know that there is one man who could be able to pull it off --- 
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