With the 2024 NCAA Tournament national championship game now in everyone's rearview mirror, there is more attention being paid to the job opening in Lexington, particularly the Kentucky basketball head coaching gig. The departure of John Calipari as mentor of the Wildcats has shaken the ground of college basketball. The big question is obvious: who will succeed Calipari at Kentucky?
Several potential candidates are being linked to the Kentucky basketball gig, including Dan Hurley, who just led the UConn Huskies to another national title when his team defeated the Purdue Boilermakers in the grand finale of this year's March Madness on Monday night in Glendale. But Hurley doesn't seem to be all that interested in the idea of him leaving Storrs for Lexington. UConn is also going to do everything in its might to keep Hurley in Storrs, considering the success the Huskies are having under him.
Scott Drew as next Kentucky basketball head coach?
And Hurley isn't even the odds-on favorite to become the next head coach of Kentucky basketball. That would be Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew, who, according to Kentucky Today sports editor Keith Taylor, has already been offered the job by the SEC program.
“Scott Drew has been offered the job at UK,” Taylor posted Tuesday night (eastern time) on X (formerly Twitter).
It is also reported by another media outlet that Drew is being eyed by Kentucky as its next men's basketball mentor (h/t Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media).
“Kentucky is targeting Baylor coach Scott Drew to replace John Calipari, with one source telling NJ Advance Media the two sides are in talks.”
Going back to Drew's odds to become the next Kentucky sideline boss, it is currently at +160 over at BetOnline.ag. It's the shortest odds among all names listed on the action, including Hurley, who has odds of +350 — the third shortest. Between Drew and Hurley is Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan at +200. Donovan could be thinking of going back to coaching in the college ranks with success proving to be hard to come by in Windy City. He's a familiar face for Kentucky basketball fans as he used to be an assistant there.
But at the moment, it does appear that Drew is the likeliest new hire of Kentucky basketball to lead the program. Drew has been coaching Baylor for over two decades, beginning his career in Waco in 2003. He currently has a record of 446-244 with the Bears through 690 total games. He has also steered Baylor to 12 March Madness appearances, including, of course, the Bears championship run in 2021 when they defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament championship game that year.
Others notable names people can bet on as next Kentucky coach are BYU Cougars' Mark Pope (+1000), New Mexico State Lobos' Richard Pitino (+2000), St. John's Red Storm mentor Rick Pitino (+2000, Xavier Musketeers' Sean Miller (+200), Ole Miss Rebels' Chris Beard (+200), and Auburn Tigers' Bruce Pearl (+2200).
Kentucky basketball and Calipari parted ways after an embarrassing early exit at the 2024 NCAA Tournament, where they the Wildcats were a No. 3 seed and got eliminated in the first round by No. 14 Oakland Golden Grizzlies. It was the second time in three years that Kentucky entered the Big Dance with a No. 3 or better seed only to get ousted in the first round.
Follow Us
Subscribe