Yahoo Sports Who is next for Kentucky basketball? The list of potential replacements for John Calipari.
The John Calipari era is apparently over, and Kentucky will be looking for a new men’s basketball coach.
Who will be in charge of the Wildcats when the 2024-25 season tips off in November?
UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart will be under immense pressure to make a home-run hire. That’s always the case when it comes to Kentucky basketball, but it’s especially true following what appears to be the unceremonious end to the Calipari era, which included just one NCAA Tournament victory over the past four years.
Calipari was expected to finalize a deal to become the head coach at Arkansas as soon as Monday.
Before Barnhart — and other UK decision-makers — hired Calipari in 2009, the longtime athletics director’s only other men’s basketball head coaching hire was Billy Gillispie two years previously. Gillispie, viewed as an up-and-coming coach but one who was largely unproven nationally, flamed out after just two seasons at Kentucky, winning zero NCAA Tournament games and ending his short stint as coach of the Wildcats with a loss in the NIT.
Calipari came in and took UK to four Final Fours in his first six seasons, with the 2012 national championship included in that run.
Kentucky has not advanced to the Final Four since 2015 — now the second-longest drought in program history — and the next coach of the Wildcats will be tasked with ending that skid in short order. It won’t be easy, but Barnhart has some quality candidates — from realistic to unlikely — that could pull it off.
Here’s a look at several potential replacements for Calipari.
The presumed favorite
Current: Baylor head coach (21st year).
Why it makes sense: The talk around UK for the past couple of years has centered on Drew as Mitch Barnhart’s preferred choice in the event of Calipari’s departure. Obviously, that moment has arrived, and the Baylor head coach is still expected to be the name at the top of Barnhart’s list. The reasons are obvious. Drew would be a high-floor, high-ceiling head coach of the Wildcats after doing an unbelievable job in Waco over the past two decades. He took over a program reeling from a horrendous off-the-court scandal and one that hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in more than 50 years. Now, Baylor is a perennial national contender, and Drew has also shown an ability to successfully compete for five-star recruits. He and Barnhart already have a friendly relationship, and their personalities would seemingly mesh well. Drew won an NCAA title in 2021 — unthinkable for Baylor basketball when he arrived — and has been no worse than a 3 seed in any of the past four NCAA Tournaments, showing an ability to navigate the drastically changing college basketball landscape.
Why it might not work: Drew has a good thing going in Waco. The 53-year-old has now been the head coach there for most of his adult life and can realistically remain in that position for as long as he wants. It’s a safe spot with the highest level of job security imaginable and a relatively low amount of outside pressure or scrutiny. To leave, he’d have to really, really want to try his hand at a place like Kentucky. Drew was prominently mentioned as the top choice for the Louisville job in recent weeks, and he made it clear that wasn’t happening. “My family is happy at Baylor, I’m happy at Baylor, we’re extremely blessed to be here. We’re staying at Baylor,” he told The Athletic on the eve of the NCAA Tournament, amid the U of L speculation and buzz that he was prepared to sign a new deal with the Bears. That’s a strong statement. But Louisville is not Kentucky, and it won’t be news to Drew that he’s tops on Barnhart’s list. His answer might be different now that UK is a real possibility.
Back to college?
Current: CBS broadcaster.
Why it makes sense: Let’s keep this brief. Wright has won two national titles. He has the personality to thrive at a place like Kentucky. Even the most cynical of UK fans would celebrate this hire. He coached Villanova for 21 seasons before surprisingly announcing his retirement from coaching at age 60 after a Final Four run in 2022, his fourth trip to that stage over a 13-year period.
Why it might not work: Why would Wright want to return to the sidelines? He has a cushy job at CBS, one that he’s well-suited for, already drawing praise from viewers and other pundits. He said after stepping down at Villanova that he felt he’d lost the “edge” it takes to be a coach with the kind of success that he strived to achieve. The college basketball landscape was starting to shift rapidly around that time — with those NIL and transfer portal reforms — and the headaches those changes created have led other coaches to step away earlier than they normally would have. Stepping into an even bigger pressure-cooker — there’s no bigger fishbowl than UK basketball — just doesn’t make much sense. Update: Wright said on the national championship pregame show Monday night that he would not be interested in coming out of retirement to be the next head coach at Kentucky.
Current: Chicago Bulls head coach (fourth year).
Why it makes sense: A Kentucky assistant coach during the first five seasons of the Rick Pitino era, Donovan ultimately went on to lead Florida to back-to-back NCAA titles before later leaving for the pros. He coached five seasons in Oklahoma City and is now in his fourth year with the Bulls, who have clinched a spot in the NBA playoffs play-in tournament. Donovan led the Thunder to the conference finals in his first season as an NBA head coach, but he hasn’t been out of the first round of the playoffs in five subsequent appearances. Donovan, 58, was presumed to be Barnhart’s preferred choice in both 2007 and 2009, though he remained the head coach of the Florida Gators both times.
Why it might not work: Donovan has already turned down this job in the past, and he got out of college basketball nine years ago — giving up an incredibly safe position at Florida after nearly two decades in that job — due, in part, to reasons that have been made even more taxing by the transfer portal and name, image and likeness reforms. Perhaps Donovan would like a return to the college game after nearly a decade in the NBA? It’s worth making a call to find out, but — as can be said for the other two names in this section — it would be difficult to fathom Donovan leaving life in the pros for a return to college basketball and the headaches and hassles for coaches that have resulted from the recent reforms.
Current: Boston Celtics president of basketball operations (11th year with franchise).
Why it makes sense: Stevens was one of the most celebrated figures in college basketball after leading Butler to back-to-back national title games in just his third and fourth seasons as a head coach — both before he turned 35 years old. He was presumed to be a top candidate for whatever high-profile college jobs opened up before surprisingly getting hired as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, which he led to three conference finals appearances in eight seasons before moving to the team’s front office in 2021. Still just 47 years old, Stevens is highly respected in basketball circles and would be a bombshell hire for any college basketball program that could get him to step away from the NBA.
Why it might not work: Even when he was in the college game, Stevens’ unassuming personality never seemed like the right fit for the Kentucky basketball fishbowl, which made it even more of a surprise when he left Butler for one of the highest-profile jobs in the sport. There are obvious pressures with his current job, but would Stevens want to step away from his role at the top of the franchise currently favored to win the NBA championship for a return to college basketball, which has changed immensely over the 11 years that he’s been away from the game?
The hot names
Current: UConn head coach (sixth year).
Why it makes sense: If you lose a Hall of Fame coach with four Final Four banners in your home arena and the No. 2 recruiting class ready to come to town, you better nail the hire. Coaxing Hurley away from UConn would qualify as nailing the hire. There’s no hotter name in college basketball coaching circles right now than the man in charge of the Huskies, who won last year’s NCAA title and will play for a second national championship Monday night. Hurley is energetic (to put it mildly) and would surely fire up the segment of the Kentucky fan base that has been looking for a change in leadership. Leading the most successful team in the sport at this particular moment in time — on the heels of name, image and likeness reforms and transfer portal changes that have left other successful coaches flailing and complaining — is a sign that Hurley might be on the way to a whole lot more winning in the near future.
Why it might not work: The 51-year-old New Jersey native has spent his entire life in the Northeast, playing for Seton Hall, starting his coaching career under the tutelage of his famous father — high school legend Bob Hurley — with college head coaching jobs in New York and Rhode Island before his current gig in charge of the Huskies. Would he want to leave that region of the country? Would he want to leave UConn? The Huskies have won five NCAA titles in the past 25 years — with a sixth possible on Monday night — under three different coaches, leading to talk of UConn as a modern-day blue blood. Hurley signed a six-year extension after last season that will pay him more than $5 million per year (and he’ll likely get another bump from that after this season). Kentucky would have to go well above that number to even get his attention. Hurley also has a brash personality that might not mesh well with the UK fanbase in the toughest of times or with Barnhart, who didn’t exactly have the best relationship with the last guy to hold this job. If Hurley leaves the Huskies following this season, UConn would be owed $7.5 million to let him go.
Current: Alabama head coach (fifth year).
Why it makes sense: Three weeks before Dan Hurley won the national title at UConn last season, it was Oats who had arguably the hottest name in college basketball. The former math teacher — and decorated high school basketball coach in Detroit for more than a decade — landed his first college head coaching job at age 40 and proceeded to lead Buffalo to three NCAA Tournaments in his first four years, actually taking the mid-major program to the round of 32 in each of the final two seasons of that span. That got him the Alabama job, and he’s led the Tide — a team that had two March Madness appearances in the 13 years before his arrival — to four straight NCAA tournaments, taking the program to its first Final Four this season. Last year, Alabama won the SEC title and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. This year, Oats nabbed a 4 seed after losing nearly all of the top players and assistant coaches from the previous season. (A sign he can maneuver the current landscape of college basketball.) Oats also plays an analytics-driven, fan-friendly style heavy on tempo, 3-pointers and scoring.
Why it might not work: Earlier this month, Oats agreed to a contract extension that runs through 2030 and will pay him more than $7.5 million by the end of the deal. (Calipari and Bill Self are the only coaches at public universities currently making more than that.) So, UK would have to pay him handsomely to get him to Lexington. And there’s more on the money front. That new deal includes an $18 million buyout if Oats decided to jump ship in the next two years. So Kentucky would be on the hook for that, too. The 49-year-old coach was also roundly criticized for his handling of an incident last season that involved one of his players being charged with murder in the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman. It’s unclear how that stain on Oats’ record would affect Barnhart’s thinking, but his name is likely to pop up on lists such as these. And few coaches would excite the UK fan base more. (It’s unlikely that SEC colleagues Chris Beard or Bruce Pearl will be on Barnhart’s list — for varying reasons — though they might be included on national hot boards related to the Kentucky opening.) Update: Oats released a statement Monday night reaffirming his commitment to Alabama amid the “rumors” tying him to the Kentucky job.
Next on the list
Current: Marquette head coach (third year).
Why it makes sense: Smart was 33 years old when he shocked the college basketball world and led VCU — an 11 seed that needed a play-in game to get in the round of 64 — to the 2011 Final Four in his second season as a head coach. That was the first of five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with the mid-major program before he took the top job at Texas — where things did not go so well — and later Marquette, where he was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year last season and has led the Golden Eagles to back-to-back 2 seeds in March Madness. Smart, who turns 47 years old next month, is another engaging, high-energy coach who has an infectious positivity about him that could be a benefit with both five-star recruits and Kentucky fans, as long as he’s winning at a high rate.
Why it might not work: Winning at a high rate was a problem at his last stop. Smart was one of the hottest names in college basketball when he took over the Texas program following the departure of Rick Barnes in 2015, and it simply didn’t work out in Austin. This is a program with deep resources and tremendous potential, but Smart managed a winning record in Big 12 play just twice in his six seasons there. He led the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament three times but never won a single game in any of those trips, getting upset in the first round by a 14 seed in his final game as the Texas coach. Marquette advanced to the Sweet 16 this season. Before that, the Final Four run at VCU — now 13 years in the past — was Smart’s only team to make it out of the first weekend of March Madness. Smart signed a contract extension through 2030 last offseason.
Current: Arizona head coach (third year).
Why it makes sense: Another hot name in the current college basketball landscape, Lloyd spent two decades as an assistant coach for Mark Few at Gonzaga before landing a prized position for his first head coaching job, taking over at Arizona three years ago. So far, so good for Lloyd, who went 33-4 in his first season, 28-7 in his second and earned a 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, leading the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 for the second time in his tenure. He earned national coach of the year honors in his very first season in charge of a program and — following the messy end of the Sean Miller era — turned Arizona around right off the bat. Lloyd, 49, clearly knows how to win basketball games, and he also has the reputation of a top-notch recruiter of international players while showing an ability to navigate roster turnover and sustain success.
Why it might not work: Lloyd — a native of Washington state — has spent his entire life out west, and he’s also still green as a college head coach, with just three seasons in charge of a program. He has an 88-20 record in those three seasons, though Arizona has not yet advanced beyond the Sweet 16 in his tenure. Lloyd agreed to a new contract extension this year, and that deal stretches through the end of the 2028-29 season, paying him $6 million per year by the end. And if any school wants to hire Lloyd this offseason, Arizona would be owed $12 million to let him go.
Current: Iowa State head coach (third year).
Why it makes sense: Otzelberger, 46, is viewed as one of the biggest up-and-comers in college basketball. He’s now led the Cyclones to the NCAA Tournament in each of his three seasons as head coach, and the 2 seed earned by Iowa State this year is their best since Larry Eustachy led the program to back-to-back 2 seeds more than 20 years ago. (Some pundits thought Iowa State deserved this year’s final 1 seed, something the Cyclones have never achieved.) Otzelberger also took South Dakota State to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons as a college head coach, winning the conference regular-season title in year three. His defense has been rated in the top 10 nationally in each of his three seasons in Ames, where he served as an assistant for eight total seasons over two different stints before getting his first head coaching job.
Why it might not work: No offense to Otzelberger, but there are much bigger names on this list. If he gets the call from Barnhart, it probably means Kentucky has had a few whiffs along the way, and the UK athletics director knows he needs to make a marquee hire to turn the page on the Calipari era. Otzelberger’s teams have also been known for their physical defenses, and Iowa State was ranked outside the top 100 nationally in offensive efficiency over his first two seasons there. That kind of reputation won’t fire up the fans, though it is misleading. The Cyclones jumped up to No. 47 in the KenPom offensive efficiency ratings this season, and all three of his South Dakota State teams were ranked in the top 100 nationally in that category. Otzelberger has been terrific in Ames, but, in this moment, Barnhart probably needs to make a bigger splash. And Otzelberger has a $17 million buyout to leave Iowa State. That’s pricey.
Current: Florida head coach (second year).
Why it makes sense: This would be an innovative hire. Golden, at 38 years old, is the youngest person on this list by a pretty wide margin. He’s known as a forward-thinking, analytics-minded young coach with the possibility of a blindingly bright future in college basketball. In his third season as a head coach, Golden managed to lead San Francisco to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The program hadn’t been to March Madness via any route in 24 years before that. After that, Florida took a chance on him to replace the departing Mike White, who jumped to Georgia while he still could. He’s amassed a 20-16 SEC record over the past two seasons — making the NCAA Tournament this year — while trying to bring that program back to prominence. In the process, Golden has proven to be an astute handler of the transfer portal, and he comes across as an energetic and engaging young coach with a plan for the future.
Why it might not work: He’s 38 years old, and he’s never won an NCAA Tournament game. Rick Pitino was only 37 when he coached his first game at Kentucky, but he’d also led Providence to a Final Four and the New York Knicks to two NBA postseason appearances by that point. Before taking over the Dons’ program five years ago, Golden had been an assistant coach under Kyle Smith for five seasons — at Columbia and San Francisco — and an assistant under Bruce Pearl for two at Auburn. At this point in time, Golden would be an outside the box hire, and don’t expect Barnhart to go outside the box.
Kentucky connection
Current: BYU head coach (fifth year).
Why it makes sense: The most successful University of Kentucky alumnus in college coaching, Pope was a member of the Wildcats’ beloved 1996 national championship team. He left medical school to return to basketball, first as an assistant coach at Georgia in 2009, and — after assistant stints at Wake Forest and BYU — landed his first head coaching position at Utah Valley for the 2015-16 season. There, Pope managed to get to the postseason in three consecutive years before accepting the top job at BYU, where his first team was projected as a 6 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his first NCAA Tournament the following season and earned a 6 seed in this year’s March Madness, leading the Cougars to a 10-8 record in their first season of Big 12 play. Pope is also a former UK teammate of Jeff Sheppard, whose son, of course, is Reed Sheppard, the national freshman of the year and a beloved Kentucky player who might be contemplating a return to the Wildcats despite his status as a projected NBA lottery pick.
Why it might not work: Pope, 51, has never won an NCAA Tournament game. This year’s trip to March Madness — where BYU was upset by Duquesne — marked his second NCAA Tournament appearance, both of which have ended in first-round losses as a 6 seed. A certain segment of UK fans would surely welcome the hire of a former Wildcat, but other high-profile programs have gone a similar route in recent years, and their fan bases have been quick to turn on even beloved alumni if there wasn’t enough winning on the court. This would be a risky move for UK and Barnhart, who — with the circumstances of Calipari’s departure — need to do everything possible to ensure a successful future for the program.
