After wowing UK fans and brass alike by bringing up the fact he called nearly every living person of significance related to the University of Kentucky before and after taking the job, the pieces seem to be falling into place for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. There won’t be one preseason poll that will have UK worse than 15th next season. The coach with the ridiculously loaded contract is already living up to it as much as possible less than two weeks into the job.

By all accounts, his first practice last week went well.

So now, it’s an issue of recruits and scholarships. Time to tidy up that roster and tinker everything to the 10th degree in the offseason.

Jodie Meeks is testing draft waters; Patrick Patterson, the better NBA prospect, has not mad a decision yet.

You want to know the scary thing about it? Even if Meeks leaves, which seems unlikely, Kentucky might not fall off all that much without him.

Now, consider that proposition two months ago: Kentucky without Meeks. Pretty bleak, right? No longer. That’s the kind of coaching and recruiting power Cal and his $3.96 million-per-year contract has brought to the Bluegrass Program.

So let’s examine the ripple effects:

— The team already has a solid recruit coming in with John Hood. It looks like he might see more bench time than expected (he admits to trying to study and adapt to the dribble-drive offense), but the Mr. Basketball from Kentucky is an added bonus for Cal coming in.

— Michael Porter, senior-to-be, has left the team to continue with other options (likely knowing he’d see zero playing time), opening up a spot.

— Nolan Dennis has asked to be let out of his letter of intenet from Memphis. You bet: he’s interested in Kentucky.

— Center DeMarcus Cousins has committed to Kentucky. Cousins is considered a ridiculous talent, and his presence alone, if paired with Patterson, would make UK one of the best front courts in the country.

— How does Cousins’ transfer affect Daniel Orton? He is also a center, had committed to UK prior to Gillispie’s firing and claimed he’d be staying in the wake of it. Conflicting reports say he’s in/out today. Some question if Orton would be willing to split minutes with another big man.

— The two other guys — guard Xavier Henry and point guard John Wall — who are all Calipari’s guys, have to make some decisions pretty soon. Henry seems like a long shot, but then again, so was Roburt Sallie, who changed his mind on Nebraska late last season and went to Memphis. As for Wall, everyone’s waiting. He’s considered by many to be the best prospect (but really, what does that mean?) out there. Both Duke (yeah, right) and UNC are trying to lure the kid in at the 11th hour. If you think one extra recruit won’t mean much if Meeks, Patterson, Cousins, Hood and Orton are there, consider Wall to be the biggest impact player of them all, and one of those Derrick Rose-type players.

Also, if you’d like to see the contract, which Kentucky never compiled one for Gillispie, here it is.

That sound you heard was the rest of the SEC taking a big gulp.