Oregon assistant coach Kenny Payne on U.K.'s radar

[zonafaninky]

Today the announcement was made assistant coach Rod Strickland would be stepping down as part of the coaching staff and take an administrative job,this after he was arrested for his 4th DUI.In the news tonight UK reports it is looking very hard at former louisville player and current Oregon assistant coach Kenny Payne to replace Strickland.

On two side notes UK announced that next season they will travel to Canada for some games and budgeted 300K for this,also released the 2010-11 athletic budget coming in at a mere 79.4 million,can you say price of tickets going up

[MrBug708]

That could seal the deal for Jones to go to UK

[azcat34]

What happens when Calipari leaves?

[PDXcat]

WWW strikes again!

[JimmyPeterson]

Today the announcement was made assistant coach Rod Strickland would be stepping down as part of the coaching staff and take an administrative job,this after he was arrested for his 4th DUI.In the news tonight UK reports it is looking very hard at former louisville player and current Oregon assistant coach Kenny Payne to replace Strickland.

On two side notes UK announced that next season they will travel to Canada for some games and budgeted 300K for this,also released the 2010-11 athletic budget coming in at a mere 79.4 million,can you say price of tickets going up

Do you know when they announce where they'll go within Canada? I saw this msnbc article that states that UK plans to come to Canada, but no mention of where. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/36952276/ns/sports-college_basketball/

[zonafaninky]

I don't think the plans are final yet but they did set aside $300,000 to make the trip so i expect for that kinda money it will be multiple games/tourneys,Calipari said it was the best thing he could do for a young team to get them toughened up and ready for next season.Not exactly sure how going to Canada is going to do that unless he plans to play on ice against a hockey team

[zonafaninky]

mark it down this deal is 99% done the local news is already reporting he will be on the uk bench this season

[97cats]

http://www.oregonlive.com/spor...nd_the_k_1.html

Oregon fans know what I'm talking about. Wesley is close friends with former Ducks assistant Kenny Payne. They met while Payne was a player at Louisville. And when Payne was hired by former coach Ernie Kent, it wasn't long until the talent followed to Eugene. Detroit-area blue-chipper Malik Hairston chose Oregon over Michigan. In fact. Hairston told me, "I've known Wes forever," after I saw the then-sophomore at Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals babysitting Wesley's 4-year old son in a court side seat.

I asked Wesley about their relationship a few days later and he tried to explain that inner-city kids were haunted by threats of terrorism and looked to a place like Eugene as a safe haven. I laughed so hard that I nearly spit Pepsi through my nose. Wesley laughed too. I like the guy. And in that, you understand he's a salesman with a high social IQ and a purpose. He's leveraged a one-time job as a 20-year old sneaker salesman at a strip mall in New Jersey into a power gig.

Payne is an assistant with Kentucky now, incidentally. No shocker there. Ask about it his relationship with Calipari, and Wesley calls it a "friendship." Probably worth a deeper look by the NCAA, although, Wesley is no Willie Lyles. He's too sophisticated and has been doing his job for too long.