With Scott Drew off board, 6 Kentucky basketball coaching candidates for Cats to consider

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LEXINGTON — With Baylor’s Scott Drew deciding on Thursday to withdraw his name from consideration to become the next coach of Kentucky’s men’s basketball program, athletics director Mitch Barnhart will have to turn his attention elsewhere.

The Wildcats reportedly did just that later Thursday: They tried to pitch UConn’s Dan Hurley on a move to Lexington. But that didn’t work out, either. According to CBS Sports senior writer Matt Norlander, there is “0% chance” Hurley leaves the Huskies for the Wildcats.

“Said one source on Hurley to Kentucky: ‘They could offer $20 million a year and he wouldn’t go,'” Norlander wrote.

Even striking out on Drew and Hurley, Kentucky won’t lack for potential candidates. But who will wind up being John Calipari’s successor with the former coach now plugging away in Arkansas?

Even with Drew out of the running, some things won’t change.

Namely, the qualities Kentucky — and its passionate fan base — demand in its next leader.

UK supporters seek a coach who will reestablish the program’s preeminence in March Madness as well as the SEC Tournament, which it hasn’t won since 2018. With the possibility the entire 2023-24 roster could look to transfer following Calipari’s departure to Arkansas, along with the incoming signees who now likely will ask for releases from their national letters of intent, the Wildcats’ next coach will need to dive head first into the NCAA transfer portal and lean on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals to help rebuild the ranks.

The purse strings should be open for Barnhart, too, since UK does not owe Calipari any money after he left for another job of his own volition. Per USA TODAY Sports’ coaching salary database, UK was scheduled to pay Calipari $8.5 million for the 2023-24 season.

With all those factors in mind, here’s a look at potential candidates for Kentucky’s vacancy broken into categories and listed in alphabetical order:

Home-run hire for Kentucky basketball

Apr 9, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/scott-drew-off-board-7-161113080.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2024-04-11 16:11:13

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