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It's time to discuss. Who our new coach will be next season

If UK hires a coach for $5 million, which would make them a top 5 paid coach in college basketball, it will only cost UK $2.7 million more per year with the buyout and new coach salary through 2029 than what they currently pay Cal. UK can afford that.
I hope you are right. It wouldn't take long to rebuild if we get the right coach that could bring in players through the transfer portal. Cal's OAD model before the portal scared the crap out of me because it would take longer to recover, but now it can be done in one season.

That makes it even easier to get rid of him if the numbers can play out like you have shown. Hope it happens.
 
5. John Vincent Calipari.

He isn't leaving until he destroys the whole program.

If by some miracle he does leave, he will make sure that whoever comes after him is personally hand picked by John Vincent Calipari. Ask JVC who he wants and you will have your answer.
If he is fired , why would he be picking his successor exactly ?
 
Not sure what peoples fascination is with Donovan. It’s almost stalker like, he turned the job down so many times yet people are still infatuated with him. I didn’t want him the first time around but to still talk about him like that is weird. It’s like the girl that won’t date you yet you still talk about her 10+ years later.

Nominated for a “Postie”


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The one who would flat kill it at UK is Bruce Pearl but he will never get the call. Chris Beard is another that I think would thrive at UK and I think give him UKs resources and Shaka Smart would get it done. Eric Musselman was once the hot name and I still think he's a good coach even tho he bombed in the portal this past off season. Nate Oats can coach but I'm still not over the fiasco he oversaw last year with the murder of the young woman.
 
Jay is 62! Why would we hire a 62 year old coach?

I understand your viewpoint. It’s not ideal.

However, I personally don’t like the top options of Scott Drew or Nate Oats. I would go after Hurley but the consensus was he is happy at UConn. My opinion is I’d rather have Jay Wright for 5-6 years while someone else builds their resume as coach. I predict Drew would do poorly and we would be looking for a new coach soon anyway. I simple don’t like Oats based on his handling of the situation last year. Not my guy. Great thing about message boards, you can state your opinion.
 
I understand your viewpoint. It’s not ideal.

However, I personally don’t like the top options of Scott Drew or Nate Oats. I would go after Hurley but the consensus was he is happy at UConn. My opinion is I’d rather have Jay Wright for 5-6 years while someone else builds their resume as coach. I predict Drew would do poorly and we would be looking for a new coach soon anyway. I simple don’t like Oats based on his handling of the situation last year. Not my guy. Great thing about message boards, you can state your opinion.

For the record, I am 67 and recently signed a 2 year contract. I am still running strong. If Jay stays healthy, he could conceivably be here for 8 to 10 years. I just looked and Coach K, who recently retired, is 76.

I guess if we are okay with a coach being here 10 years, which is a lifetime in college basketball considering all the changes, it could actually work. Having said that, I wonder if he has any interest at 62 in taking a long term position?
 
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Not sure what peoples fascination is with Donovan. It’s almost stalker like, he turned the job down so many times yet people are still infatuated with him. I didn’t want him the first time around but to still talk about him like that is weird. It’s like the girl that won’t date you yet you still talk about her 10+ years later.

Hurley and Oates, make them say no to a boat load of money. After that if you want a different coach but similar results consider Drew without all the left leaning crap.

Some serious issues lurking around any who would still want Billy coach at UK. I'd rather Cal stayed...... seriously. Get jilted and more than once, P_SS on Donovan three times. With Cal P_SS.....
 
What has he won? Team underperforms every year with above average talent. No thanks we already have one of those.
Well he’s won right at 80% of his games and he’s only had 2 compete seasons so “every year “ is actually two . And he makes under $3 million a year.
 
I don’t understand why some want Beard. He is a recently fired wife beater, no one cares if he goes to Ole Miss, but Kentucky would take a huge PR hit with hiring Beard
Scott Drew is “too nice” and would get chewed up by the weight of the BBN.

Bruce Pearl is the only realistic candidate that has the coachIng skill and the moxie to do it in Lexington, IMO.
 
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I don’t understand while some of you want Beard. He is a recently fired wife beater, no one cares if he goes to Ole Miss, but Kentucky would take a huge PR hit with hiring Beard
Scott Drew is “too nice” and would get chewed up by the weight of the BBN.

Bruce Pearl is the only realistic candidate that has the coachIng skill and the moxie to do it in Lexington, IMO.
Pearl also has a history that Mitch would stay away from.
 
Drew and Holtmann are candidates 1a and 1b...Brainfart is such an idiot, for years he had a man crush on done-nothing Brey, who would have been the hire if not for the Pratt led booster rebellion.

He needs to be nowhere near the next hire, but if he has the call, you can expect it to be Drew, so they can hold hands in Sunday School.
 
Drew and Holtmann are candidates 1a and 1b...Brainfart is such an idiot, for years he had a man crush on done-nothing Brey, who would have been the hire if not for the Pratt led booster rebellion.

He needs to be nowhere near the next hire, but if he has the call, you can expect it to be Drew, so they can hold hands in Sunday School.
Scott Drew will have a UK coaching career similar to Gillespie
 
No matter what we want I highly doubt that Cal is not the coach here next year. If he isn't the coach Mitch's first call is going to be to Scott Drew. This is not even in question not only does Mitch think he is a good basketball coach but they are also friends.
 
5. John Vincent Calipari.

He isn't leaving until he destroys the whole program.

If by some miracle he does leave, he will make sure that whoever comes after him is personally hand picked by John Vincent Calipari. Ask JVC who he wants and you will have your answer.
Never. Ever. Considered this as a possibility. But now it’s there I can really see that taking place.

That’s great because his coaching tree is ripe for the pickin. 🫤
 
Everyone is grading a lot of these coaches pretty rigidly. Look, none of the ones we could get are gonna be perfect. They have resume gaps, for sure (Hurley isn't coming). Cal definitely has a gap in his now. Would he be on our current list if he were somewhere else right now? Hellz to the no! My take is, there is a good short list to choose from. And the thing that will separate any of them from Cal, is that any of them would prioritize Kentucky winning. The next guy won't be perfect. But if he's putting Kentucky first, it's still an upgrade.
 
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He already turned that money down. Dude isn't coming back to coach college.
Stevens is a lifelong IU fan and grew up watching Knight. IF he ever returns to colllege, it would be to resurrect IU, Duke may be a distant second spot. I dont see him coming to UK under any condition.
 
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At this point the next coach should be anyone whose name isn't our nameless coach.
 
Scott Drew will have a UK coaching career similar to Gillespie
Somewhere between Clyde (minus the alcoholism) and Cal's current spiral...

Holtmann would be even worse...heck, give me Paris, Golden, May or a similar young up and comer...

We may not have a choice, depending on how the fiscal reality of Brainfarts contracts shake out.
 
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Sadly..I still think Cal is here next year! Too much money in the buyout. F*** him and Barnhart!
 
Not sure what peoples fascination is with Donovan. It’s almost stalker like, he turned the job down so many times yet people are still infatuated with him. I didn’t want him the first time around but to still talk about him like that is weird. It’s like the girl that won’t date you yet you still talk about her 10+ years later.

Hurley and Oates, make them say no to a boat load of money. After that if you want a different coach but similar results consider Drew without all the left leaning crap.
I've said before that it's a big NO from me for Donovan. He turned us down 2 times before. Don't give him a third chance.
 
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I think Pearl would win big at Kentucky
The guy isn't perfect. Little history. Little long in the tooth. But he and BBN seem like a perfect fit. He wouldn't be here 15 years, but I guarantee his time would be back to fun basketball. Pitno-lightish, if you will. Plus, I'd be really shocked if he turned down an offer. He'd probably be my fist call. Mostly because I think Oats would stay at Bama.
 
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