14 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

If Calipari is out, Scott Drew just doesn't do it for me. But if that's who is next, I sure hope he does more for Kentucky than he's done at Baylor (and I acknowledge, he brought that program back from the dead) and I will be pulling hard for him.

Not my first pick either. 

16 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

If Calipari is out, Scott Drew just doesn't do it for me. But if that's who is next, I sure hope he does more for Kentucky than he's done at Baylor (and I acknowledge, he brought that program back from the dead) and I will be pulling hard for him.

Jones is saying first call is Jay Wright 

9 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

If Calipari is out, Scott Drew just doesn't do it for me. But if that's who is next, I sure hope he does more for Kentucky than he's done at Baylor (and I acknowledge, he brought that program back from the dead) and I will be pulling hard for him.

I have no strong feelings about any name out there other than Jay Wright or Billy Donovan, but I don't see them being realistic options.  I would probably be most fine with Bruce Pearl, even though he hasn't had a load of March success. 

If I had to guess, I don't think Calipari will be back, but neither do I think he will be fired.  I think Barnhart has the leverage between the two and that he'll use it.  He won't fire Cal, but I think he's going to communicate to him that he has the money to buy him out now or in the future.  Basically let it be known that he's replaceable and he will not have full control next season.  Then the ball will be left in Calipari's court, and the two sides will reach an agreement and Cal leaves.

It's to no one's benefit for Calipari to coach at UK next season.  And I don't think he will.

3 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Jones is saying first call is Jay Wright 

MJ (and not Matt Jones) has been saying he's the first call since Thursday haha!

If….and that’s a big IF something happens to Cal….I would love to see Chris Collins get a shot.  I think he’s done a fantastic job at Northwestern.  

39 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Jones is saying first call is Jay Wright 

I saw a quote of Jay Wright talking about how different life would be for him and his family. He can do family things in Philly and people don't bother him. It would not be that way in KY.

Today will be very telling on Cal. Him and Mitch are meeting at some point today and KSR is having someone come on who will not paint Cal in a good light.
 

If this is the end for Cal, my list would be Jay Wright, Shaka Smart, and Tommy Lloyd.  

9 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

MJ (and not Matt Jones) has been saying he's the first call since Thursday haha!

Sorry MJ, didn’t mean to overlook you!!!

On 3/21/2024 at 11:43 PM, 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. 

"So need to figure out which coaches like to drink, and we then will know who our guy would be."

Bob Huggins is our guy!??

10 hours ago, ChuckT said:

If….and that’s a big IF something happens to Cal….I would love to see Chris Collins get a shot.  I think he’s done a fantastic job at Northwestern.  

Was a little surprised he wasn't considered for the Duke job when Coach K left.

11 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

If Calipari is out, Scott Drew just doesn't do it for me. But if that's who is next, I sure hope he does more for Kentucky than he's done at Baylor (and I acknowledge, he brought that program back from the dead) and I will be pulling hard for him.

Honestly I felt the same way about Drew. For Louisville (and Kentucky) personality is going to matter for the coach. Scott Drew is a fine coach, obviously, with a National Championship under his belt. I'm just not sold that he would have been a good fit for Louisville. 

10 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

I saw a quote of Jay Wright talking about how different life would be for him and his family. He can do family things in Philly and people don't bother him. It would not be that way in KY.

Jay Wright is a pipe dream for any college fan that wants him to coach their team. He's not coming back. 

11 hours ago, Randy Parker said:

It's to no one's benefit for Calipari to coach at UK next season.  And I don't think he will.

I would be surprised if he's NOT the coach at UK next year. 

I've had this thought floating around since we knew Louisville would be replacing its coach, and now it's even more relevant with the talk of Cal not being at Kentucky. Something UofL and UK fans are going to have to swallow...

Gone are the days of Pitino, Self, Boeheim, Williams, Krzyzewski (yes, I Google'd it), etc. For the better part of four decades, we've had the same crop of high caliber coaches leading the blue bloods of College Basketball. Most of them are gone, and the ones that are still around are in the final years of their careers. 

We are going to have to come to terms with the fact that our next coach is not going to be a "grand slam hire" like we want it to be, at least night initially. We are going to have to get comfortable with sitting and waiting, and in the era of the transfer portal and NIL that is more unsettling than it has ever been. 

Some Louisville fans are bent out of shape that Scott Drew said no. But why? How many times has a high caliber, well known Power 5 coach left his school and gone to another Power 5? It hasn't happened often. Why? Because if you leave where you are and go to a Louisville/UK/Duke/UNC and fail, your next job won't be at that level, and likely several tiers below. 

Duke and UNC are the only blue bloods to recently hire new coaches. Did they land high-profile Power 5 coaches? Nope. They hired alums. That's what everyone is going to have to do, and unfortunately we are going to have to get comfortable with it. Not necessarily alums, but someone who isn't a big name that we are used to hearing. The next crop of legendary coaches has to start somewhere, and I feel like that's where we are. 

3 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

I've had this thought floating around since we knew Louisville would be replacing its coach, and now it's even more relevant with the talk of Cal not being at Kentucky. Something UofL and UK fans are going to have to swallow...

Gone are the days of Pitino, Self, Boeheim, Williams, Krzyzewski (yes, I Google'd it), etc. For the better part of four decades, we've had the same crop of high caliber coaches leading the blue bloods of College Basketball. Most of them are gone, and the ones that are still around are in the final years of their careers. 

We are going to have to come to terms with the fact that our next coach is not going to be a "grand slam hire" like we want it to be, at least night initially. We are going to have to get comfortable with sitting and waiting, and in the era of the transfer portal and NIL that is more unsettling than it has ever been. 

Some Louisville fans are bent out of shape that Scott Drew said no. But why? How many times has a high caliber, well known Power 5 coach left his school and gone to another Power 5? It hasn't happened often. Why? Because if you leave where you are and go to a Louisville/UK/Duke/UNC and fail, your next job won't be at that level, and likely several tiers below. 

Duke and UNC are the only blue bloods to recently hire new coaches. Did they land high-profile Power 5 coaches? Nope. They hired alums. That's what everyone is going to have to do, and unfortunately we are going to have to get comfortable with it. Not necessarily alums, but someone who isn't a big name that we are used to hearing. The next crop of legendary coaches has to start somewhere, and I feel like that's where we are. 

Spot on.

Coaching in college offers very little prestige now and the future of the sport is hanging in the balance.