Larry Orton, father of five-star recruit Daniel Orton, said it’s going to be John Calipari.

“Calipari’s going to take that job,” he told the Kernel. “You know it and I know it.”

The media had speculated all day on whether or not Memphis’ head coach will move to Lexington for the Cats next season. Larry Orton, who said he spoke with UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart on Saturday, said he would be surprised if Calipari didn’t take the job, and praised his coaching abilities.

“I think he’s a very good coach,” Larry Orton said.

When asked if they were considering reopening Daniel Orton’s recruitment, Larry Orton said it would depend on how Calipari feels about his son.

Despite what he called a “crazy” weekend of events, Larry Orton was upbeat and positive, seemingly more so than when the Kernel spoke with him on Friday, when UK head coach Billy Gillispie was fired.

Many people began to speculate that Florida head coach Billy Donovan would take the reigns of UK, but he released a statement on Friday saying he had no interest in UK or any other job.

By late Sunday, the rumor mill began to turn to Calipari. He is 252-69 in nine seasons at Memphis, including a trip to the national championship game last season.

On Monday, tales of contracts began flooding Web sites. Rivals.com announced in the afternoon that UK hired Calipari. The deal was suspected to be worth about $40 million over six years.

Only a few hours later, ESPN.com said they believed UK is offering Calipari $35 million over eight years to succeed Gillispie. The deal would make Calipari the highest paid coach in the country.

By 4:53 p.m., the Memphis media began to develop stories as well. The Memphis Commercial Appeal said Calipari was in a meeting with Memphis’ boosters. The report said either Calipari was lobbying for Texas El-Paso head coach Tony Barbee to replace him, or the boosters were trying to talk Calipari out of taking the UK job.

The Kernel has not been able to confirm any of these reports. Memphis spokesman Lamar Chance only confirmed UK was given permission to contact Calipari about the vacancy.

Chance released the statement at 1:09 p.m. Monday, and he said late Monday night that the Memphis athletic department had no further comment.

And while the rumor mill churned in Memphis, 420 miles away, Lexington had its own twist and turns on the story.

There was speculation that UK players were called in for a team meeting at 4:30 p.m. At 4:10 p.m., Kernel reporters arrived at Wildcat Lodge, the players’ dorm. Around 15 minutes later the UK team walked out and went to the Joe Craft Center together. Jodie Meeks was carrying a basketball, but the team was dressed in street clothes.

Reporters were not allowed to talk to players. An e-mail was sent out Saturday by UK Athletics reminding the media that all UK men’s basketball player interview requests must come through the UK Media Relations office, “regardless of the situation.”

Memphis’ current recruiting class is widely considered as one of the country’s best. The mother of one of those incoming recruits, Nolan Dennis, told the Commercial Appeal he has an agreement with the university that he will be released from his letter-of-intent if Calipari leaves the Tigers.

Dennis is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Richland, Texas, who averaged 18 points per game his senior season. He is ranked as the No. 10 shooting guard in the country according to Scout.com.

Rivals.com national basketball recruiting analysis Jerry Meyer said if Calipari left for UK, several of his top-notch recruits may consider following suit.

“If he were to be hired at Kentucky, I can’t guarantee they’d follow him,” Meyer said. “But I can guarantee they’d answer his phone calls.”

— Kenny Colston, Brad Luttrell, Ben Jones,  James Pennington, Bobby Reagan