After Billy Gillispie failed to deliver expected results on and off the court, the Wildcats turn to a proven winner in Memphis coach John Calipari. To snag one of the game’s best coaches, Kentucky was winning to pay top dollar: more than $31 million in eight seasons and a $2.5 billion signing bonus. The next intriguing story line will relate to Memphis’ recruits. The Tigers have one of the best incoming freshman classes in the country, led by Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins.

The Western Athletic Conference suspended New Mexico State’s mascot, Pistol Pete, for one game after a clash with Utah State’s Big Blue mascot in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament. Pistol Pete will serve the suspension during the 2009-10 season opener in November.

Ohio State awarded contracts to two companies to manage the media profile of many Buckeye teams. The Buckeyes’ basketball team will still follow Big Ten and NCAA contracts with major networks like ESPN and CBS.

Liberty transfer Seth Curry, brother of sharp-shooting Stephen Curry, has decided to play for Duke, starting in 2010. The brother of the All-American averaged 20.2 points per game and appeared poised to become the next Curry to dominate NCAA opponents.

Junior swingman DaJuan Summers told Georgetown coach John Thompson III that he will skip his senior season to enter the NBA Draft. Summers led the Hoyas with 13.6 points per game this season. The Hoyas are bracing for another significant loss if freshman Greg Monroe opts to follow Summers into the NBA Draft.

Florida sophomore guard Nick Calathes announced that he will at least test the NBA Draft process. Calathes is a big guard at 6-6, which could make him an attractive pick for NBA teams that value size in the backcourt. However, Calathes is not blessed with blazing speed, which is not something he could improve on by remaining with the Gators.

Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price announced that he would resign as the Eagles’ coach after leading the team to an 8-22 record. In 10 years with Georgia Southern, Price compiled a 165-133 record.

Virginia’s next coach will be Tony Bennett, who informed Washington State administrators and players that he has accepted the Cavaliers’ job offer. Bennett’s teams play a slow-paced, defensive-minded brand of basketball that is atypical for most ACC teams. All but 10 ACC teams rank in the top half of the NCAA for tempo while the Cougars were the fifth slowest of 344 Division I teams this season.

Alabama looked to one of the most successful mid-major programs in VCU and Rams coach Anthony Grant for a successor to Mark Gottfried. Grant informed the Rams Friday that he would leave the university for Alabama.

Elon looked across North Carolina and within the Southern Conference to pick Davidson associate coach Matt Matheny as the Phoenix’s next coach. Matheny will be taking on his first head coaching job after working as an assistant to Davidson coach Bob McKillop for 16 seasons.