John Calipari has brought in an all-star roster of people to speak to the Tigers so far this season, from Lou Holtz to Bob Rotella among others. Thursday, longtime NBA guard Sam Cassell dropped by for a visit. Cassell, who is in town with the L.A. Clippers for tomorrow night’s game against the Grizzlies, starred for the New Jersey Nets when Cal coached them. They have remained close ever since. Cassell watched most of the Tigers’ practice — he was particularly impressed with Willie Kemp, who was hitting just about every shot — and talked to the team about “Next.” That’s the buzzword this week for the Tigers. One trend Calipari sees in his players is that one missed shot tends to become five in a row, and you simply can’t have that at this level. Just forget it and make the next one. Cassell certainly isn’t afraid to miss game-winning shots. That’s probably why he’s made a ton of them in his career.

Meanwhile, Calipari left practice and immediately went to Benton, Ky., to watch tonight’s high school game between Oak Hill Academy and St. Benedict’s. (I didn’t know where Benton was either. It’s about 200 miles from here, a little past Union City.) The game is on ESPN, so I imagine Cal will be interviewed sometime. Might be worth watching. I assume he’s there to look at Dan Jennings and Glenn Bryant, two forwards in the 2009 recruiting class who Memphis is involved with. I also have heard Memphis mentioned with Greg Echenique, who plays for St. Benedict’s.

Griz forward Pau Gasol suffered a jammed big toe on his right foot in practice, and his status for Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers is uncertain. The 7-footer wore a boot as the Griz concluded practice in FedExForum.

His official status is day-to-day.

Meanwhile, the good news is that rookie point guard Mike Conley has been cleared to participate in full non-contact drills. He’s worked out in those since Monday. Conley will be re-evaluated Friday with the hope of being cleared to work in full-contact practices by Tuesday.

His return appears imminent.