Tyreke Evans announced yesterday he’s ready to play for the Memphis Tigers. Already, people are trying to complicate an issue that is quite simple. Dana O’Neil penned an entire story on ESPN.com on the completely symbolic premise that Evans will sign his Letter of Intent when John Calipari signs his contract extension.

Look, here’s the deal, and you can put it in any terms you want: If John Calipari is coaching at Memphis next season, Tyreke Evans will be playing at Memphis. If John Calipari is coaching somewhere else, Tyreke Evans will be playing somewhere else.

Signing a contract extension doesn’t change that fact. Signing a letter of intent doesn’t change that fact. John Calipari can sign his extension and still walk away to an NBA job if he is offered an NBA job that he wants. If that were to happen, Tyreke Evans’ letter isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. I’m not suggesting Calipari will leave; in fact, I’ve said all along that the odds are strongly in favor of him coming back. But obviously his name has been brought up in some media outlets for the Bulls and the Knicks jobs, so it’s worth addressing. Just don’t tie to whether or not he signs his contract extension, because that’s not the issue. And for the record, the Memphis coaching staff is expecting to receive a signed letter from Tyreke in the next day or two, despite what was written on ESPN.