John Calipari may not be on the brink of leaving Kentucky anytime soon, but when he does his successor will have some big shoes to fill.
Especially on the recruiting front.
“When Cal leaves, that’s going to be a tough job,” former UCLA player Lynn Shackelford told Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader. “For years and years, they’re going to say why aren’t we getting the top recruits? What’s wrong?”
Before this year, Calipari had landed Kentucky the No. 1 recruiting class for four straight years. Duke currently has the No. 1 class for 2014, with Kentucky at No. 2.
Calipari has recently been linked to the Knicks job, although Mike Woodson may have saved himself by halting a nine-game losing streak by winning two in a row entering Sunday’s game against the Celtics.
Still, Calipari reportedly told Bill Raftery in an interview that will air on Fox Sports 1 Monday at 7:30 p.m. that people need to prepare “for the inevitable.”
“What would my wife and I — where would we want to live?” he told Raftery, according to Tipton. “That is my thoughts more than, all right, I want this job. No, I got the job I want.”
Kentucky is coming off a loss against Baylor Friday night in Texas, but with stud freshman Julius Randle leading the way, the Wildcats are still among the contenders to reach another Final Four.
“I don’t know how long I can stay in this seat and live,” Calipari said. “I’ll be honest with that one. But right now, I’m having fun doing it.”
