- FAST FACTS:
- Reaction mixed on UofM Campus
- Some fans furious over Cal's departure
- Some wish him success
tom.powell@wreg.com
(MEMPHIS April 1, 2009) -- Many University of Memphis fans feel like they're going through a bad break-up.
Coach John Calipari is gone after a nine year relationship. Tiger fans have already had to watch him on television, out with his new school.
It's hard for some not to have hurt feelings.
"I hope Kentucky fails," says University of Memphis Student Caleb Henshaw. "I hope the next three or four years they have a losing record, a horrible losing record. I hate UT, and I hope UT beats them."
The headline of the University of Memphis paper, The Daily Helmsman reads, "John Calipari; Now Officially Dead to Memphis."
Many students say they feel like it's a divorce, and Cal is leaving them with nothing. "He didn't leave the program, he destroyed the program. I mean he built it, then destroyed it, and that's why it hurts," says Henshaw.
They say time heals all wounds though, and for some fans, it seems enough time has passed already. "I don't hate Coach Cal at all," says student Dan Gurley. "I appreciate everything he did for this University, but also the city."
