John Calipari has been the coach of the Kentucky Wildcats since 2009 and has repeatedly denied any interest in a return to the NBA.

However, those rumors still persist, especially with the news this week that the New York Knicks are expected to hire agent Leon Rose as their new team president.

Now, another longtime agent — David Falk — is predicting that Coach Cal will be the next coach of the Knicks starting next season (via 247Sports):

“I’m waiting for — I’ll take bets on how long it’s going to take before they hire John Calipari to be the next coach,” Falk said. “I’d say 30 seconds. And I hope it works. I’m rooting for him to make it work.”

Calipari said he’d love to help Rose, who he is close with, in any way he could other than being the Knicks coach, though:

“Let me say this: First of all, I haven’t talked to Leon, so I don’t know if it’s done, if he’s doing it,” Calipari said last Friday. “I have no idea. But let me tell you about him: I’ve known him for 25 years — dear friend.

“In a rough-and-tumble business, really, that business he was in was a sport, too — like body-to-body contact, it is. And I’ve never heard anyone in 25 years say anything bad aboutLeon Rose.He’s a gatherer. He’s a culture-builder. I’d help him in any way I could, being a resource.

“You want to call and ask me about college players, my own players? I’m here. It just wouldn’t be to coach.”

It sounds like Cal is staying put, but we’ll see what happens the rest of this college basketball season.