By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky’s search for a new basketball coach had a couple of misses on Thursday.
Scott Drew took his name out of the running first, declining the offer to coach the Wildcats and instead remain at Baylor University. Later in the day, longshot candidate Dan Hurley of two-time national champion Connecticut said he wasn’t interested either.
Making an appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” Hurley was emphatic that no amount of money would remove him from his position at this time: “Once you make a certain amount of money, it doesn’t make that much of a difference in your life. I couldn’t be happier than I am here. … I’m going to be here going for a three-peat.”
So it’s on to the next choice, which appears to be Billy Donovan, a former UK assistant and current coach of the Chicago Bulls who led Florida to back-to-back titles in 2006-07. As of Tuesday night, he had not been contacted by Kentucky officials about the opening.
Donovan has been out of college coaching since 2015 when he took over at Oklahoma City. He has been with the Bulls since the 2020-21 season.
In turning down the Cats earlier Thursday, Drew issued this statement.
“In our program, we strive to put Jesus first, then others and then ourselves,” he said. “We truly believe God has called my family and I to continue our work here at Baylor, surrounded by the best people and community anyone could be blessed to have. … We look forward to working together to bring more championships to Waco.”
Drew’s family visited Lexington on Wednesday and he had been offered the position Tuesday night, a reliable source told Kentucky Today. Family and prayer were paramount as he considered the move.
Kentucky reportedly made a gigantic offer to Hurley who turned it down.
Former Villanova coach Jay Wright also has been mentioned as a possible successor to Calipari. Wright has been out of coaching since 2022 and currently serves as an analyst for CBS Sports. He guided the Wildcats to NCAA titles in 2016 and 2018.
Other names being mentioned are former Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino and BYU’s Mark Pope.