The latest on top Kentucky basketball candidates now that John Calipari is officially gone

With the official announcement Tuesday that John Calipari is leaving Lexington after 15 years, the University of Kentucky can now turn its full attention to the search for its next men’s basketball coach.

Even before that search could begin in earnest, some high-profile names seemingly removed themselves from the conversation.

In a span of about four hours surrounding Monday night’s NCAA championship game, former Villanova coach Jay Wright, Alabama head coach Nate Oats, and UConn head coach Dan Hurley all shot down the possibility — to varying degrees — that they would be the next leader of the Kentucky basketball program.

Wright, who stepped away in 2022 after winning two national titles at Villanova, was always viewed as an extreme long shot for the job. The idea that he would come out of retirement at age 62 to jump into the high-stress Kentucky basketball fishbowl — and leave his current position as a commentator for CBS Sports behind — was an unrealistic one.

On the national title pregame show Monday night, he confirmed that he would not be coming to UK.

A short time later, Oats — fresh off leading Alabama to its first Final Four in program history — posted a statement on social media that didn’t directly reference the Kentucky opening but made clear that he intended to stay put in Tuscaloosa, where he signed a contract extension last month that will make him one of the highest-paid college basketball coaches in the country.

That deal runs through 2023 and includes a whopping $18 million buyout for any school that wants to hire him.

“I am fully committed to this team and to this University,” Oats posted on X. “We have already accomplished some great things here, and there is nothing I want more than for the University of Alabama to win its first national championship in men’s basketball. Despite any rumors to the contrary, rest assured that I will continue that pursuit as your head coach.”

Later Monday night, Hurley led UConn to its second consecutive NCAA title, becoming the first program since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators (in 2006 and ’07) to repeat as champions. After the game, the always brash and boisterous Hurley went out of his way to pledge his allegiance to the Huskies, where he’s been the coach for the past six years and is sure to get another hefty raise this offseason after signing a new contract extension just last year.

Hurley said his focus was on building “a dynasty in modern times” at UConn, and the school’s athletics director, David Benedict, said Monday night that the Huskies would do “everything we possibly can” to keep the 2024 Naismith national coach of the year in Storrs next season.

So, where does all that leave Kentucky? In basically the same spot it was in on Monday afternoon.

Who’s the next Kentucky basketball coach?

The name long thought to be at the top of UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart’s list is Baylor’s Scott Drew, and he has made no public statements in recent days regarding his future.

Drew, 53, led the Bears to the 2021 national title and has spent the past 21 seasons as the head coach at Baylor, which hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in more than 50 years and was reeling from an off-the-court scandal before his arrival.

Louisville targeted Drew in its coaching search last month, and the Baylor coach said then that he intended to stay in Waco amid reports of a new contract extension — that would come with a substantial raise — this offseason.

Barnhart and Kentucky were not in a position to engage in any formal discussions for the UK head coaching job while Calipari’s situation was still up in the air, but — now that his move has become official — Drew is expected to be at the top of the Wildcats’ call list. The Herald-Leader was told late Monday night that there is mutual interest between the two sides.

The other big name on Kentucky hot boards is former Florida coach Billy Donovan, who led the Gators to back-to-back titles and four Final Fours in 19 years with the program before jumping to the NBA following the 2014-15 season.

Donovan spent five years with the Oklahoma City Thunder and is now in his fourth season with the Chicago Bulls, who have clinched a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Bulls are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings and play in Chicago on Tuesday night, with three more games on their regular-season schedule after that.

The NBA’s Play-In Tournament is scheduled for April 16-19, with two of the four Eastern Conference teams who participate in that event moving on to the NBA Playoffs, which begin next weekend. That timetable could be tricky for Kentucky, which targeted Donovan as its first choice in 2007 (before eventually hiring Billy Gillispie) and then pursued him again in 2009, before Calipari took the UK job.

The Herald-Leader was told Tuesday that Donovan, who turns 59 years old in May, is focused completely on his position with the Bulls, and there does not seem to be a high level of interest on his end in a return to college basketball.

Despite his comments in the wake of Monday night’s national title victory, Hurley could still also be on Kentucky’s list. Now off the hook for the $44.5 million that was remaining on Calipari’s contract — and with no buyout for the former UK coach hanging over their heads — the Wildcats are expected to spare no expense in their search for a new head coach.

To land Drew, Donovan or Hurley, it would likely take an annual salary number near — or possibly exceeding — the $9 million that Calipari was due to make over the final four seasons of his contract with Kentucky, but the Herald-Leader has been told that UK’s wealthiest boosters are on board with making a major splash with this coaching search, in hopes of returning the program to the top of the sport. UK has not been to the Final Four since 2015, and the 2012 NCAA title was Calipari’s lone national championship in 15 years with the Wildcats.

Now, the search is fully on for his replacement. And it will start with some big names.

It’s official: John Calipari is leaving Kentucky after 15 years as men’s basketball coach

Calipari’s career: A look back at Coach Cal’s 15 seasons with Kentucky basketball

UK students praise Calipari but wonder, ‘was he actually good for college basketball?’

Taking stock of John Calipari’s career while the Kentucky coach pursues a new challenge

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