John Calipari to Arkansas, Kentucky coach candidates: Coaching search, targets by SEC insiders
CatsPause has covered the Wildcats for years and reveals the top coaching Kentucky basketball candidates such as Billy Donovan and Scott Drew to replace John Calipari
The Kentucky basketball coaching job is now officially open.
After days of reports and speculation, John Calipari posted his formal goodbye to Big Blue Nation on Tuesday via a video on social media. He didn’t say where he’d be going, but Arkansas ended any questions about that on Wednesday via a press release announcing that it had hired the Hall of Fame Coach. It brings a seismic shift in the SEC basketball landscape as Razorbacks add arguably the top college basketball recruiter in the sport, while the Kentucky basketball coaching search is now on for the first time since 2009. Here’s how it all went down.
Kentucky basketball has the nation’s most all-time victories, the highest winning percentage and eight national championships. It’s perhaps the most coveted job in the nation, so the Wildcats will have their pick of some of the top coaches in college basketball and perhaps even the NBA. If you love the Wildcats, or just want to know if your coach is the next target, be sure to see what the proven team of insiders are saying at CatsPause, the 247Sports affiliate that covers Kentucky.
The team of insiders at Catspause.com are providing up-to-the-minute scoop on the latest intel surrounding the Kentucky basketball coaching search. Catspause has built a solid reputation over its 20+ years covering the Wildcats, and has deep-rooted sources inside and around the Kentucky athletic department.
CatsPause has collectively put together a list of coaches to watch as the Wildcats are in the thick of their search. And right now, CatsPause is offering 50% off the first year of an annual subscriptions*, so now is the time to sign up.
The team at CatsPause already has a list out of 12 potential candidates and there are some surprising names on the list. Head to CatsPause now to see them all.
While Scott Drew is a possibility, one name the staff has identified as a potential candidate is BYU head coach Mark Pope. He checks several boxes as a championship-winning player at Kentucky, a former assistant coach in the SEC (Georgia, 2009-10) and now a power-conference head coach in the Big 12. He’s led the Cougars to two NCAA Tournament appearances and has had them ranked No. 15 or higher at some point in three different seasons.
Pope’s downsides include that he’s never won a game in the NCAA Tournament and he’s not known as an elite recruiter. Though he played at Kentucky and had assistant coaching stints at Georgia and Wake Forest, the Nebraska native has done all of his recent coaching out West. He had a stint at BYU as an assistant from 2011-15 before serving as the head coach at Utah Valley and then coming back to BYU as the head coach in 2019. There would be a clear adjustment in returning to a new-look SEC that will feature high-profile coaches such as Nate Oats, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl and Calipari.
Another name on the list is Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. Every team in the nation is chasing UConn right now after the Huskies just won their second consecutive national title. The last coach to accomplish that feat was Donovan with the Florida Gators back in 2006 and 2007, so perhaps he’s the coach Kentucky would tap to get the Wildcats back to the top.
Donovan stayed at Florida until 2015, leading the Gators to five more NCAA Tournament appearances and another trip to the Final Four in 2014. He’s been in the NBA since that point, coaching the Thunder from 2015-2020 and the Bulls since that point.
Chicago has only made it to the playoffs once under Donovan and has hovered around .500 the past couple years. If he took the Kentucky job, he’d be returning to an entirely different world in college basketball with NIL and the transfer portal taking focus, but his past success at Florida makes him one of the coaches who could draw as much buzz as Calipari did during his tenure. See more candidates at CatsPause.
The rest of the list of 10 names to know includes multiple national championship winners, and a shocking name who is currently coaching another SEC program. See who it is at CatsPause
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