Altman Says Payne Was in Lexington

Altman Says Payne Was in Lexington

Gary Parrish is confirming through Coach Dana Altman of Oregon that Kenny Payne was in Lexington this weekend.
Oregon assistant Kenny Payne visited Kentucky this weekend and is a candidate to join John Robic and Orlando Antigua on John Calipari's staff, Oregon coach Dana Altman told CBSSports.com on Sunday. "Kenny's really good," Altman said by phone. "He works hard and does a good job. That's why Kentucky wants him."
Parrish went on to talk about Payne's relationship with World Wide Wes and Terrence Jones.
A move by Payne to Kentucky would come as no surprise given that he's a close friend of William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley, the basketball powerbroker with ties to Calipari. It's also worth noting that Payne has spent years recruiting Terrence Jones, a Portland native who committed to Kentucky last week. Multiple sources told CBSSports.com that Payne's probable presence at Kentucky was a factor, though not the determining factor, in helping the Wildcats lure Jones away from Washington

We wrote a few weeks ago that Kentucky was trying to fill an open assistant coaching vacancy and that three potential candidates were Kenny Payne (Oregon), Jerrance Howard (Illinois) and Emanuel 'Book' Richardson (Arizona). Although all three were reported to be happy with their current positions, word of Payne possibly moving to the SEC were only further fueled by Terrence Jones choosing to play for the 'Cats next season. On Monday, John Hunt of the Oregonian reported that Payne visited Lexington this weekend and Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.net reports Payne-to-Kentucky is almost a done deal.

For Kentucky, Payne's move is a huge deal. First off, the Pacific Northwest is teeming with talent (and has been for the past several seasons). If Payne is on board, UK could soon start a pipeline to the Seattle/Tacoma/Oregon area; in a recent tweet, Tony Wroten listed UK as his top school. And although Gonzaga is hot on his trail, 2011 PF Kyle Wiltjer -- from Portland, Ore. -- could soon hear the siren song of the SEC.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Calipari is also looking to add the Portland Pilots to the Wildcats' schedule in 2011. "Calipari declined to say who Kentucky would play in the game," the newspaper reported, "but a spokesman for the University of Portland said the schools were well on the way to finalizing an agreement."

The article states that the proposed game would be played at Portland's Rose Garden, and would be the first visit the Kentucky basketball team has ever made to the state of Oregon. When playing teams from the state in other locales, the Wildcats are unbeaten at 6-0.

While the game is billed as a homecoming game -- a favor to Portland native Terrence Jones -- there's little doubt that Calipari and the Wildcats would love to build a stronger presence on the West Coast. Jones and his former high school teammate Terrence Ross (who committed to Washington) could be merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blue-chip talent in the Pacific Northwest
From ESPN insider

Kenny Payne accepting UK assistants basketball job

Oregon coach Dana Altman confirmed Wednesday that Kenny Payne, an assistant coach with the Ducks under Ernie Kent, will join John Calipari's staff at Kentucky.

"Kenny's gonna go to Kentucky,'' said Altman, who met with Payne in the morning. "He's done a great job for us, and I really wanted him to stay. It's been kind of an awkward start because I did not know Kenny when I got here a month ago, but after a week, I got very comfortable around him and offered him a job and wanted him to stay.

"But he had a number of offers on the table and investigated them all, and he went to Kentucky this past weekend and really liked it, felt like it was in his best interest and his family's best interest to go to Kentucky.''