Kentucky Wildcats
Thaddeus Young has known John Calipari for a long time
Kentucky Wildcats

Thaddeus Young has known John Calipari for a long time

Published Jan. 13, 2016 1:32 p.m. ET

Thaddeus Young is a Memphis native. John Calipari coached in the city for years before heading to University of Kentucky. Now, the two are linked again, though this time, it's only through rumors.

With the Nets searching for a head coach, Calipari's name has come up in more than one place as a possible person to fill the position. And it turns out, the two men with Memphis ties have been connected before.

From Fred Kerber of the New York Post:

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“He recruited me extremely hard when I was in high school,” Young said Tuesday. “It was hard not to go there. That was one of the biggest decisions of my life, not to stay in Memphis and decide to go to Georgia Tech.”

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“He’s a tough coach,” said Young, who attended many Memphis practices. “A lot of guys that were on the team, they were my friends. I played AAU with some of them. Like I said, it was a tough decision. I had a great relationship with Coach Cal and his coaching staff. … Those guys were recruiting me tough, and I had been around them since I was in the eighth grade. So that was the crazy thing about it.”

Young ended up attending Georgia Tech, where he starred for only one year before entering the 2007 NBA draft. 

Calipari could come to the Nets—anything is possible—but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has reported it would take a $120 million, 10-year contract along with a dual coach/GM role for that to happen.

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