By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CHICAGO - Make no mistake, Memphis coach John Calipari wants to beat University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins in the worst way. He also wants to see Huggins live.

Calipari visited Huggins in the Beaver, Pa., hospital the day after his Sept.28 heart attack. Calipari said he talks to Huggins once a week and plans to keep an eye on him during recruiting periods.

"I told him, `When we're on the road, I'm not going to be afraid to grab you and say, let's go. I'm going to bed, you're going to bed. You're drinking wine, that's enough, let's go,'" Calipari said.

Looking around Sunday during Conference USA Media Day, Calipari said he and Huggins have known each other longer than any coaches in the league.

He likes to aggravate Huggins with his comments in the media and looks forward to battles between their teams, but Calipari said Huggins is a friend.

"We can all joke about it, and we all have now," Calipari said of the heart attack. "I'm joking about his 5-year-old suit that he's got on. But the reality is, when I went to see him (in the hospital), he didn't look good. If you said to me in two months he'll be up and ready to go, I'd say you're out of your mind."

EQUAL TIME: On the other side of the room Sunday, Huggins was having fun at Calipari's expense.

True story: Huggins said that when he was rushed to the hospital, a man riding in the ambulance was Calipari's cousin.

"I guess I was afraid then," Huggins said. "(But) Cal said his cousin knew not to let me die before he beat me."

Huggins is 5-0 against Calipari.

EASY CHOICE: Despite his becoming a first-team all-conference pick in his first season at Marquette, junior guard Dwyane Wade - C-USA's preseason player of the year - said he never thought about leaving for the NBA.

"It was a no-brainer for me to return to Marquette," he said. "We didn't go as far as I wanted to go (in the NCAA Tournament, a first-round loss to Tulsa). I wasn't as good of a player as I wanted to be. I think the day I am ready to go, it will be a no-brainer."

Wade is on several preseason All-American teams. But he isn't saying whether this could be his last season in college.

NEW FACES: Neil Dougherty of TCU is one of four new coaches in the league, joining Brad Soderberg (Saint Louis), Dave Leitao (DePaul) and Mike Anderson (UAB).

Anderson was an assistant to Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, Leitao was an assistant to Jim Calhoun at Connecticut and Dougherty was an assistant to Roy Williams at Kansas. Soderberg was an assistant to Lorenzo Romar with the Billikens.

Dougherty interviewed with Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski for the Musketeers' job after Skip Prosser left for Wake Forest in 2001. He said that was one of only a handful of schools with whom he had spoken over the years.

It was going to have to be a special situation for him to leave Kansas, he said. Xavier was one; TCU is another.

"I don't know if I'm different or not," Dougherty said. "Coach Williams was so good to me that I never felt like I needed to become a head coach. I was a basketball coach at the University of Kansas, and to be honest with you, that made some jobs not very appealing."

E-mail: mperry@enquirer.com