I can think of about 33.7 million reasons that it's John Calipari. Guys like Donovan, Wright, and Stevens don't want to deal with NIL and the Portal.

9 hours ago, futurecoach said:

It will probably be Cal. However, if it’s not him. These are guys I would try to get. 
 

Billy Donovan

Jay Wright 

Brad Stevens

Bruce Pearl

Rick Pitino (if they want a guy for 2 to 3 years before having to look again)

 

With that said I’m not sure how realistic those choices would be. Also Dan Hurley and Mark Few wouldn’t leave their schools. So if I had to guess the next coach at UK if they move on from Cal will be Tom Izzo. I see them playing it sort of safe with the next hire after missing out on the guys above, and then Izzo will fit right in with the normal coaching cycle for UK in its history. Unless we want to count these last 8 years for Cal count as theTubby/Hall years. Then the next coach in the UK cycle will be an alcoholic like Sutton/Billy G. So need to figure out which coaches like to drink, and we then will know who our guy would be. 

Literally none of those guys are coming to Kentucky. 

3 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Literally none of those guys are coming to Kentucky. 

I tend to agree. You have to at least reach out to those guys though.  However, As I said with Louisville Billy Donovan is still one that I think will end up back in college one day for the right job. So out of the guys I mentioned, I do think he may be a possibility. With that said, if you can’t get any of those guys. Then I’m not sure it would be smart to move on from Cal. You better have someone good that you know would come here and can handle the pressure here, before you move on. 

Assuming Cal will be back, but I would go off the radar and ask Dawn Staley. There just isn't a large pool of up-and-coming coaching talent, so swing for the fences.

I'm tracking possible flights from Donovan to Lexington.  

The stars might finally align for Donovan.  His NBA tenure isn't that great but I've read where the Chicago ownership likes him so it doesn't seem like his job is in jeopardy.  I know he was itching to bounce his last few years at Florida but couldn't because he was barred from negotiating with an NBA team when he decided to get out of his agreement to coach the Orlando Magic.  I just don't know if he wants to deal with the constant portal and NIL stuff.

Cal was at the forefront on alot - promoting getting guys to the NBA, giving pay to college players, etc.  He still thinks his way from up until 2015 works.  He has NOT adapted to the new world that is College bball with NIL and the transfer portal.  I belive he promises playing time to CERTAIN kids.  No way Wagner and Edwards should have been starting the last half of the year.  This got us behind most games (and we shoudl have had a big lead early against Oakland).  To quote Albert Einstein:  the definition of insanity:

Does the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

 

 

6 minutes ago, DanvilleFan said:

The stars might finally align for Donovan.  His NBA tenure isn't that great but I've read where the Chicago ownership likes him so it doesn't seem like his job is in jeopardy.  I know he was itching to bounce his last few years at Florida but couldn't because he was barred from negotiating with an NBA team when he decided to get out of his agreement to coach the Orlando Magic.  I just don't know if he wants to deal with the constant portal and NIL stuff.

Or stay in the NBA and never be relevant - I think ego and drive still influence Billy D - and I for one would love to have him at UK.

1 hour ago, Brown said:

I'm tracking possible flights from Donovan to Lexington.  

And keep an eye on the real estate market for farm sales. 

I believe it will be Cal for one (maybe) last hurrah.   He needs to hit the portal hard for some battle-hardened upperclassmen and show some flexibility with regard to ingame management. 
 

But if I’m a UK fan, I go after Billy D.  I know Cal has “NBA connections”.  But it’s hard to believe that Donovan doesn’t. 

Cal will be the coach next year. His ego is to big and it’s obvious he so insecure he’s using a bullying tactic to the fans and the media, thus he’ll come back just to be make us mad. I don’t know why UK fans continue go to Nashville all week just “hoping” UK will make it to Sunday because they know their coach doesn’t even care about the first game. I’ve been over Cal for a long time and it’s how talks about us fans first then his terrible in game coaching (or lack there of) second. 
 

Donovan is not coming to UK I don’t know why you all keep dropping that name. He’s getting paid a lot of money to do less work with less headaches.

Pearl would crawl to Lexington for the job. I’ll throw another one out there, Shaka Smart. 

4 hours ago, Brown said:

I'm tracking possible flights from Donovan to Lexington.  

We did this already, years ago. Heard it was a done deal. 

11 minutes ago, TribeTime said:

Pearl would crawl to Lexington for the job. I’ll throw another one out there, Shaka Smart. 

Shaka is happy at Marquette. 

Pearl may be interested, but he's getting what he wants at Auburn. 

8 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Literally none of those guys are coming to Kentucky. 

Pearl would be the only one that would consider it.