RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)
-- North Carolina State has plenty of money to spend on its next basketball coach. Finding someone to take it apparently is a problem. John Calipari became the latest to turn down an opportunity to replace Herb Sendek, deciding instead to stay at Memphis. Calipari agreed to a contract extension Wednesday that comes with a nice pay raise, at least giving the impression he might have used his flirtation with the Wolfpack to his advantage. "Is it possible?" said Rick Spell, a prominent Memphis booster and a friend of Calipari's. "Yeah, but let me tell you something. North Carolina State presented themselves well." According to various reports, Wolfpack athletic director Lee Fowler offered Calipari about $2 million a year, a similar deal to the one Texas coach Rick Barnes declined over the weekend. Barnes also got more money from the Longhorns, although a new contract hasn't been announced yet. "It's a different business these days," Spell said. Fowler, through a school spokesman, declined an interview request. Sendek was 191-132 in 10 seasons with the Wolfpack, and he led them to appearances in the NCAA tournament during each of his final five seasons. That tied the late Jim Valvano for the best run in school history. Sendek was introduced as the new coach at Arizona State on April 3. Once Barnes was off the list, Fowler reportedly turned his focus to Calipari, who led the Tigers to a 33-4 record last season, his sixth at the school. They lost to UCLA 50-45 to fall one victory shy of their first trip to the Final Four since 1985. "Cal has done a magnificent job, and he was the perfect hire for us," Spell said. "I believe he was the perfect hire for N.C. State, too. Cal would have rejuvenated that program. It was a very appealing option. In fact, he was somewhat blown away by it." Where do Fowler and N.C. State turn now? With some key recruiting weekends coming up -- including national AAU tournaments around the country -- they need to find someone quickly. "If it continues to drag on, it will affect their spring recruiting," said Dave Telep, the national basketball recruiting director for Scout.com. "You don't want to go deep in April without hiring a coach. These weekends are essential to recruiting." Despite losing out on its first two choices, N.C. State does have an appealing job. The RBC Center, its home arena, is less than 10 years old and seats about 19,000 people. Also, the Wolfpack have won two NCAA titles under two different coaches, a total surpassed by only five schools. Unfortunately for N.C. State fans and alumni, two of those are North Carolina (four) and Duke (three). "In spite of things we are all hearing right now, professionals in this business believe the N.C. State job is a good one and that they will get a good coach," East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He coached at Virginia for 17 years and retired as the winningest coach in school history with a 326-173 record. "The fact that they have been turned down actually shows that they are setting their sights high and it is hard to understand how that can be considered by some as such a negative," Holland wrote.