MEMPHIS, Tenn. — John Calipari walked into the grand lobby here at FedExForum on Tuesday for a press conference to announce the Hoops For St. Jude Tip-off Classic — an exhibition scheduled for next month between the team he now coaches (Arkansas) and the team he used to coach (Memphis) with proceeds benefitting the internationally acclaimed downtown hospital located minutes away.
But it was so much more than just a press conference.
For anybody who understands the history of Calipari in Memphis, or the relationship between Calipari and Memphis since he left for Kentucky in March 2009, it was a sweet scene — one that seemed to represent the official beginning of the end of an awkward existence between two things that seemed like a perfect match for nine remarkable years in the early 2000s, before little more than a logical career-choice took him from “In Cal We Trust” to “Public Enemy No. 1” basically overnight here in the 901.
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Yes, Coach Cal returned to Memphis on Tuesday.
He was greeted warmly and surrounded by old friends.
There was Van Weinberg, the owner of James Davis, a local clothing store where Calipari has continuously shopped even after leaving town. A few feet away was Streets Ministries founder Ken Bennett, a man who never stopped serving as a resource for Calipari even after the run at Memphis ended. Everywhere you looked, there was another familiar face of another prominent Memphian –…
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