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It has really been a question of if, not when, some of the Memphis commitments would choose to follow coach John Calipari to Kentucky. DeMarcus Cousins was the most likely to do so first, since he has not yet signed a National Letter of Intent (LOI) with Memphis. His commitment was only verbal, so there was not even a formality of having to ask Memphis to release him from the LOI.

Sure enough, Cousins made the decision to go to Kentucky. He is likely to be only the first.

Xavier Henry did sign a LOI with Memphis, but has just received his release. He is not ruling out sticking with Memphis since his older brother will be eligible to play for the Tigers in 2009. He is, however, now deciding between Memphis, Kansas and Kentucky.

John Calipari may have to start his Kentucky career in search of a new leading scorer.

Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks, who paced the Wildcats with 23.7 points per game, will find out his standing in the NBA draft. He's not going to hire an agent, according to the story, but he will go through the draft process. Meeks was an All-American this year, and along with forward Patrick Patterson, was most of Kentucky's offense this past season.

Right now, the mock drafts have him as a second round pick, at best. Still, between Calipari taking over at Kentucky and being a junior, Meeks has every reason to find out what his options are with the NBA. And if not, he still can come back for his senior year with the knowledge of what he needs to improve. He would be a fool not to find out his status.

Nothing like the threat of having a bitter in-state rival possibly poaching your coach to force another contract extension, even after a somewhat disappointing season. Memphis was hoping to land Bruce Pearl from Tennessee, with a whopping seven-year, $21 million contract according to some reports.

Memphis was reportedly looking to make a big splash after losing John Calipari to Kentucky. Rick Pitino was not going to be walking through that door. Neither was Tim Floyd coming from USC -- despite apparently listening. Bruce Pearl may or may not have been interested, but Tennessee was not going to let Pearl even appear to be considering an offer from Memphis.

Georgia fired Dennis Felton in mid-season appeared to be thoroughly botching their coaching search. They targeted Missouri coach Mike Anderson, and had to wait until he finished a strong run to the Elite Eight. In doing so, Georgia missed out on other coaches like Anthony Grant. If not for the farce of a coaching search in Arizona overshadowing things, Georgia would have been receiving plenty of ridicule.

Anderson rebuffed Georgia and the reported $2 million plus offer to stay at Missouri for a nice raise, but not what Georgia was offering. Georgia's coaching search appeared to be in disarray. As if the program did not expect to be rejected by their first choice if they overwhelmed him with cash.

At the University of Maryland, where I started teaching a course last semester, the university president just before last Christmas announced that the campus would have to implement a furlough plan -- unpaid leave -- this year because of budget cutbacks from the state due to the economic downturn. Maryland wasn't alone.

Arizona State implemented furloughs. Utah State did the same for all of its 2,995 employees the second week of last month. That followed layoffs at Clemson. Small schools like John Carroll University in Cleveland aren't immune as it, too, forced unpaid vacations on employees.

The Kentucky press conference to announce the hiring will not be until tomorrow. John Calipari, though, texted ESPN college basketball reporter, Andy Katz, to let him know that he would leave Memphis for the Kentucky job.

That Calipari is taking the job surprises no one. Despite Memphis reportedly offering him a more lucrative financial package to stay, it is not like Kentucky low-balled him.

UPDATE: USA Today reports Calipari contacted former Wildcat coach Joe B. Hall to inform him he has taken the job. It appears as though Calipari intends to embrace the UK tradition from the get-go.

Earlier: According to Fox13 Memphis and Memphis' News Channel 3, John Calipari has officially accepted a very lucrative offer to become the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. More details to come on the amount and length of the contract, not to mention the expected roster turnover at both Memphis and Kentucky.

For now, though, the anticipation appears to be over. John Calipari seems to be the Kentucky Wildcats' basketball coach. He'll join up with one of the most hallowed basketball programs in the nation, as Kentucky has won more national championships than anyone but UCLA. "Coach Cal" sports a resume that fits the bill, though.

Everyone keeps tuned to sports sites and ESPNews for the latest plumes of smoke from Memphis and/or Lexington regarding John Calipari and whether he stays at Memphis or goes to Kentucky. The flip side is that the move has paralyzed nearly every other coaching search as programs and coaches in-demand wait to see what happens.

Oh, sure some little things have happened. Viginia Commonwealth has apparently hired Shaka Smart to be their next head coach. As with the last hire of VCU's former coach, Shaka Smart is a Florida assistant.

Everything else, though, appears to be on hold, if only for a moment.

With the seemingly inevitable move of John Calipari from Memphis to Kentucky, there promises to be a scramble of young talent in the wake. Not only will there be obvious upheaval at both Kentucky and Memphis -- again, assuming Calipari takes the job -- but the move has the potential to reverberate throughout the nation.

John Wall, the top-rated point guard in the nation, has previously expressed plans to attend Memphis and play for Calipari. With the coaching status of Memphis currently a bit in limbo, however, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke has swooped right in.

As things progress on the John Calipari-to-Kentucky coaching front, one can't help but get a feeling of inevitability. Monday, we covered the swirling rumors and now it appears Calipari is going to accept the offer any minute. According to a source for the New York Times, one claiming to be a longtime friend of Calipari's, he will accept a very lucrative deal to become the Wildcats' next coach. It's worth noting Calipari is already one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball, so he'd likely become far-and-away the highest paid coach in the nation.

More interesting, perhaps, could be the immediate impact of talent to Kentucky -- at the expense of Memphis' once vaunted recruiting class.

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