Source: Antigua has not been contacted

Kentucky Coach John Calipari has gone on record touting assistant Orlando Antigua as “ready to be a head coach.”

Antigua’s name surfaced as a possible candidate for Duquesne quickly last week because of his Pittsburgh ties.

But according to a source with knowledge of the situation, Duquesne has not contacted Antigua.

The same source said the former Pitt assistant would be interested in the job if the deal was right.

He played for Pitt from 1991-95, and was an assistant for Jamie Dixon at Pitt from 2003-08 when he left to join Calipari at the University of Memphis.

Antigua is currently days away from a Final Four meeting against Louisville.

Duquesne athletic director Greg Amodio said Friday he will not discuss the coaching search until a hire is made. So it’s unclear if there are any plans to contact him.

Calipari told CatsPause.com earlier this month that Antigua is “ready to be a head coach.”

“What I always tell my staff as (the season) starts winding down, ‘You see what's out there and tell me what you want to do and what you want me to do,’” Calipari told the website on March 6. “Orlando is ready to be a head coach if that's what he chooses to be. The issue is, we've got a pretty good thing going here so now you have to be a little choosy on what you do. There are going to be schools that contact him. I talked to Kenny (Payne) and said the same thing, ‘Kenny, if there is anything out there you're interested in, you let me know.’”

Antigua was also tied to a job opening at Rhode Island, but the position has since been filled.