SAN ANTONIO -- Bill Sacco, Joe DeGregorio and their wives will be in prime Memphis seats tonight, courtesy of the coach, John Calipari, who never has forgotten where he's from. Or, as Sacco put it, "He might be a Gucci kind of guy, but he still likes to go to Kmart once in a while."

Hall of Famer Larry Brown also will be there. At least he'll be in the Memphis section for the first half of the national semifinal game against UCLA. "You have to understand I didn't just coach with Cal," Brown said. "I coached at UCLA, I coached at Kansas and had [Kansas coach] Bill Self on my staff and I played at North Carolina and coached with [North Carolina coach] Roy Williams on the [2004] Olympics team. I think I'm going to have to spend a half in all four corners of the Alamodome."

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TODAY

• Memphis vs. UCLA
• Time: 6:07 p.m..
• TV: KDKA-TV 2
• 
  Kansas vs. North Carolina
• Time: Approx. 8:47 p.m.
• TV: KDKA-TV 2

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The three men are the three most important basketball people in Calipari's life -- Sacco his coach at Moon High School a lifetime ago, DeGregorio his coach at Clarion State before it became the more proper Clarion University and Brown his mentor at Kansas and with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. Calipari wants you to know they are three significant reasons he's here on college basketball's biggest stage, his Memphis team a 2-point favorite to beat UCLA and win an NCAA record 38th game.

"It means a lot having them here," Calipari said. "Most of all, they're my friends. I've never lost touch with them. You never lose touch with people you care about."

It's also pretty special for Sacco, DeGregorio and Brown. Any teacher will tell you there's nothing like seeing a student make it in a big way.

"I'm so proud of John. I love him to death," Brown said. "I don't think anyone else could do what he did at Memphis and UMass [a Final Four trip in 1996]. I know I might hurt some feelings at those schools, but it takes a unique person to succeed there. You have to be a hell of a coach. You don't get all the first-round NBA picks."

Calipari said he learned plenty from Sacco, DeGregorio and Brown.

From Sacco, who described Calipari as "a gym rat" when he was growing up across the street from Moon High: "He was an absolute grinder, worked year-round, knew when to have fun and knew when to get tough. He took a team that had lost for 30 straight years and took us to the playoffs and created pride in all of us."

From DeGregorio, who gladly accepted Calipari as a transfer from North Carolina-Wilmington to run his team as the point guard: "I've never seen a more positive, upbeat, passionate person every day in my life."

And from Brown, who nurtured Calipari's love for coaching early and then provided a soft landing for him with the 76ers after Calipari was fired by the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the 1998-99 season: "He hired me at the University of Kansas when I had no business being hired. Who was I to work with Larry Brown? ... We talk three, four days a week. He's just somebody that I have great faith in. When he says something to me, I listen."

In a sense, it staggered Sacco and DeGregorio that their names came up during Calipari's session with the Final Four media yesterday. "How did I end up in the same sentence with Larry Brown?" Sacco asked. "I'm at Cornell now. People ask me, 'The college?' I tell them, 'No, the high school.' "

But, in another sense, Sacco and DeGregorio weren't surprised. Calipari doesn't forget, won't ever forget.

"He treats us royally," Sacco said. "We just look at each other and ask, 'Why?' For him to do that means a lot to us."

To Calipari, as well.

"There's not a time I get back home to Pittsburgh that I don't see both of those guys," he said.

A lot of times, they end up eating wings at Harold's Inn in Hopewell. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall near those conversations? Do you think they have a lot to talk about?

It's not just the two trips to the Final Four; Sacco and DeGregorio also were guests of their favorite coach in The Meadowlands in '96. Calipari has won more college games -- he's 407-134 -- in his first 16 seasons than any coach except Williams (437-112). Memphis is 37-1 this season, the loss coming to Tennessee. No team here is hotter. Memphis led Michigan State -- the team that eliminated Pitt -- by 30 points at halftime last weekend, then blew out Texas by 18 in the South Region final in front of a pro-Texas crowd in Houston.

"That's just incredible to me," said UCLA coach Ben Howland, whose team struggled to beat Michigan State and lost to Texas at home earlier in the season.

It's no wonder Calipari has told his players repeatedly during the tournament, "It's your time. It's your time."

Obviously, the man has a bunch of believers in his locker room.

"John has the ability to get all over their ass, yet they know he cares about them," Brown said. "The biggest thing in coaching is getting your players to understand the difference between coaching and criticism. John is unique that way."

It's hard to imagine Calipari staying at Memphis much longer, even though he is believed to be making more than $2 million a year. Conference USA just doesn't provide enough competition. "This season was hard for John after the Tennessee game," Brown said. "He didn't have any big games after that. The rest of the season was all about getting ready for the tournament. He did a remarkable job keeping his team focused through that."

Once, Calipari would have done just about anything to get the Pitt job and was crushed when Pitt honchos Mark Nordenberg and Jerry Cochran didn't even interview him after Howland left for UCLA after the 2002-03 season. But he's almost certainly outgrown that job. That big-number salary, remember? Although Calipari failed in his two-plus seasons with the Nets -- if walking away with $15 million can be considered a failure -- it wouldn't come as a shock if he ends up back in the NBA to take care of unfinished business. Don't be too surprised if he ends up with the Chicago Bulls next season or even the New York Knicks. You have to figure they'd pay him quite nicely to clean up Isiah Thomas' New York mess.

A Gucci kind of guy?

Absolutely.

"But to us," Sacco said, quietly, "he'll always be just John."