Calipari Becomes Coach at Memphis

John Calipari, formerly a head coach for the New Jersey Nets and the University of Massachusetts, accepted the head coaching position Friday at the University of Memphis.

Calipari, an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers this season, reportedly will earn $4.5 million over five years. He replaces interim head coach Johnny Jones. Memphis was 15-16 this season.

Under Calipari, Massachusetts made five NCAA tournament appearances--getting to the Final Four once--in eight seasons.

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Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury, who kept insisting he would never resign as times got tough during a 9-19 season, quit Friday with two years left on his contract.

Asbury, 54, had been under fire as Kansas State went through a school-record 11-game losing streak and home attendance declined sharply. He had a 85-88 record in six seasons, and was 0-20 against Kansas--with three of those losses coming as coach at Pepperdine.

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Cincinnati center Kenyon Martin had surgery to repair torn ligaments and a fracture in his lower right leg. Martin broke the small bone in his lower right leg and tore ligaments in the opening minutes of a 68-58 loss Thursday to Saint Louis in the Conference USA tournament. Martin, considered a possible No. 1 overall selection in this year’s NBA draft, is expected to make a full recovery in three to four months. . . . Reggie Witherspoon, interim coach at the University at Buffalo since December, was named the school’s permanent coach. Witherspoon replaced Tim Cohane, who resigned Dec. 4 amid an investigation of the program. Buffalo was 5-26 this season.