Josh Pastner has left the McKale Center

It was just announced that my friend Josh Pastner accepted a position to become an assistant coach at Memphis. Good hire for Memphis and great move by Josh. I hate to see Josh leave the Pac-10, but he's been at Arizona for 12, 13 years, first as a student-athlete and then as an assistant coach. I also think it will be good for him to learn under another great coach like Calipari, whom I become of a big fan of.

Not only can Cal coach, but he consistently puts his players' best interest above all else. (My standard disclaimer: I love when guys stay in school 2, 3 even 4 years, but it is unfair to criticize elite players and also unmotivated students when they go pro.)

Here's what Cal told Derrick Rose prior to making himself eligible for the NBA draft:
"If you want to do what's right for you and your family, you should consider leaving. If you want to do what's right for me and my family, you probably should stay."

And I put this in my Money Players book....
Memphis basketball coach John Calipari famously tore up Dejuan Wagner's scholarship immediately after his freshman year to "make sure he understood he wasn't coming back." Wagner was the sixth pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, but lasted only three years due to medical problems. Said Calipari: "Now you might say [Wagner's] out of the league, but he made $15 million."