Kentucky’s coaching search hasn’t gotten off to a good start. A day after former coach John Calipari was introduced to Arkansas as the Wildcats’ first choice to replace him, Baylor coach Scott Drew turned them down.
“God has called my family and me to continue our work here. » he said in a statement.
What now for Kentucky? This is a multi-million dollar question with no clear answer.
Drew was UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s preferred choice to replace Calipari for at least three years, since Barnhart was the NCAA tournament chairman in the COVID-19 bubble in 2021, a tournament won by Baylor. Barnhart and Kentucky quickly moved to target Drew; Calipari hadn’t even left town before a British contingent flew to Texas to pick up Drew’s family and show them around Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday. Already having a “no thank you” on Thursday morning is a hard blow.
#JOY pic.twitter.com/JhxpsmHVOw
–Scott Drew (@BUDREW) April 11, 2024
Not only is Drew one of seven active coaches with a national championship — and a solid reputation for rebuilding a program racked by scandals and sanctions into a perennial Big 12 contender — he offered perhaps the best chance to restock immediately the Kentucky list. He reportedly brought some of his returning players with him, and Baylor has the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, including two five-star prospects. In theory, he has also already made major strides in restocking through the transfer portal. It could have been a quick turnaround, to borrow a phrase from BU superfan Chip Gaines, the HGTV star who I spent all day Wednesday joking with British fans on social media.
Superior Repairman 1, Kentucky Rebuild 0.
When you let a Hall of Fame coach walk (or fly privately) to a conference rival, like Kentucky did with Calipari, you better find the replacement, and Barnhart thought he had his man. Now AD, 64, of Kentucky, in his 22nd year at the school, is back to the drawing board for the most important hire of his career. This is a rental that defines inheritance.
This means that now is the time for Barnhart to mobilize all available resources, with the help of highly motivated boosters, and take the lead. It doesn’t matter that each of the candidates “to say no” has already publicly rejected the idea that might interest them, with more or less certainty. Nate Oats, the Alabama coach fresh off a Final Four run, released a statement that he wasn’t going anywhere. Dan Hurley, the Connecticut coach coming off back-to-back national titles, said Athleticism “no way” he’s leaving the Huskies. Billy Donovan, the Chicago Bulls coach who led Florida to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, said of his current job: “My total commitment and focus is there. »
It’s time to test their conviction, especially Hurley and Donovan. Some in the upper tier of Kentucky’s donor base maintained their belief that Kentucky should test the limits of UConn’s ability to satisfy Hurley by making him an astronomical offer that few would refuse. We may be about to discover the price of happiness.
Donovan is the most interesting case, because his Chicago team is still playing at least until next week – the Bulls have qualified for the NBA Play-In tournament – and he won’t actively engage with Kentucky until after the end of his NBA season. But those close to Donovan, 58, who won six SEC titles and appeared in four Final Fours at Florida, believe he is more open to a return to college basketball than at any time since leaving the pros in 2015. Donovan, too, began his career as an assistant at Kentucky under Rick Pitino in the early 1990s.
“Two children were born there. Like all my stops, you have some really good memories,” Donovan said when asked about Kentucky’s opener on Tuesday. At the time, he said he had not been contacted about the position and was focused on his current position. But also: “I understand the scale of this place, its history and its traditions. It’s flattering to be mentioned with a school and tradition like that in this game.”
GO FURTHER
Would Billy Donovan leave the Chicago Bulls for Kentucky basketball?
The timing makes Donovan as a candidate tricky. Kentucky needs someone who can go out there and rebuild the roster through recruiting and the transfer portal — which didn’t exist the last time Donovan coached in college. The massive name, image and likeness deals now required to attract and retain top talent have also not been considered. There’s a whole new world Donovan would have to navigate, and he’s not bringing any players from his current team (or a non-existent recruiting class) with him, like other candidates might. But Donovan is one of the brightest minds in basketball and many believe he could figure this all out quickly, even if his hiring is delayed.
Donovan is worth the wait. It’s at least worth gauging, through back channels or otherwise, whether he’s willing to have that conversation after the Bulls’ season ends. If so, you wait.
If not, and if Barnhart goes for all the home run options, this search could become a circus. So who stops the fall in this case?
BYU coach Mark Pope, the 51-year-old former captain of Kentucky’s 1996 national team, would be an option. Sensible, even sexy. The secure rental sedan. He won 25 games in his fourth year at Utah Valley and won 68 percent of his games in four seasons at BYU, making the NCAA Tournament twice. The Cougars joined the Big 12 this season and more than held their own in that heavyweight division, finishing fifth in the league with a top-15 offense nationally. The question is whether Pope moves the needle enough for a program of Kentucky’s stature, especially after shooting for the moon.
If Barnhart is already this far down the list, he should consider Xavier coach Sean Miller, 55. This doesn’t come without some baggage, but neither does Calipari, who just happens to be an old friend of Miller’s. During his first stint at Xavier, Miller coached the Musketeers to four straight NCAA tournaments, two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight. Then he left for Arizona and had quite a journey: seven seasons with 25 victories in eight years, four seasons with 30 victories, five Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights. But he never reached the Final Four, became embroiled in the 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption and was ultimately fired four years later.
Miller rejuvenated his career with a return to Xavier last season, where he quickly led the Musketeers to 27 wins and another Sweet 16. If we’re talking about stopping a free fall in the coaching search, an AD could do much worse than Miller, who certainly would. recruit at a high level.
But what about the nuclear option?
There’s a man who knows a thing or two about how to breathe new life into basketball programs in Kentucky, and he would walk barefoot across glass from New York to take the job. Rick Pitino returning to the Bluegrass would be the biggest story in college basketball, by far. His age, 71, is certainly a factor. And if we’re talking baggage, Pitino comes with a full baggage cart, but the man is a Hall of Famer who won national titles at Kentucky and Louisville, took Providence to the Final Four and made St. John’s relevant again.
GO FURTHER
Rick Pitino is obsessed. He doesn’t have time to stop
Would that be a crazy thing to do? Maybe. Completely out of character for Barnhart? Absolutely. But if this search quickly spins through and the “no thanks” start piling up, there’s only one coach who could absolutely flip the script. It’s Pitino, who also might be the only person who can convince national freshman Reed Sheppard, whose father played for Pitino, to return for a second season.
If this all ends with Pitino walking across a Rupp Arena stage with Sheppard at his side, Barnhart could still win the press conference.
Required reading
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)