[Buckskin86]

Lovers' triangle: Pitino, Calipari and Crean

Apparently when John Calipari rode into Lexington and in a matter of weeks secured commitments from maybe the nation's two best 2010 point guards, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, it got the attention of the other mega-coach in the state.

Marquis Teague of Indianapolis, maybe the best point guard in the 2011 class, said last month that the five schools he is considering signing with next year are Louisville, Ohio State, Indiana, Wake Forest and Kentucky.

Recruiting observers had considered Teague a lock for Louisville for a long time. Teague's father, Shawn, played for Louisville coach Rick Pitino when Pitino coached at Boston University.

But then Tom Crean got up and running at Indiana last year and began playing to Teague's in-state loyalties. And then Calipari was hired by Kentucky last spring and immediately assembled a team some think could win the NCAA championship this year. And then Calipari persuaded the Teagues to pay Kentucky a visit last month.

The lean toward Louisville has become, in the view of those recruiting observers, a three-team race among Kentucky, Indiana and Louisville.

So now Pitino -- despite other pressing concerns -- has made his latest play, hiring an assistant coach from Teague's high school to be his special assistant.

Nothing illegal about it, according to NCAA rules. Pitino's not the first to do it, either. It just smells, that's all. Like a lot of what goes on in college basketball.

Do not underestimate Calipari's powers of persuasion, however. A year ago, hoping to position itself to get Wall, Baylor hired the brother of Wall's AAU coach as its director of player development. Calipari got Wall anyway.

Lovers' triangle: Pitino, Calipari and Crean (Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog)