UK AD Mitch Barnhart still hoping for March runs from both Kentucky basketball programs
Little about the 2023-24 college basketball season has gone according to plan for the Kentucky men’s or women’s teams.
But with a handful of regular season games remaining, athletic director Mitch Barnhart is not ready to make any major decisions about the future of either program.
“In both programs, you find a way to do something in March,” Barnhart told the Herald-Leader on Thursday after the UK Board of Trustees athletics committee meeting.
The situation appears most dire in the women’s basketball program where even after the team’s first back-to-back wins in Southeastern Conference play, the Wildcats sit at 11-16 overall and 4-9 in conference play.
Barnhart spoke to the Herald-Leader shortly before coach Kyra Elzy’s team earned a 78-68 upset win at Mississippi State. The victory was just UK’s second over a Power Five team with a winning record this season.
“Women’s basketball is struggling to find a way to get to the top half of the league,” Barnhart said. “There’s no mystery in that. You can look at the record and see that. We’ve got a little bit of time left to do some things in the regular season, and then you get to the (SEC) tournament.
“Kyra has always had some success in the tournament. But at the end of the day, Kyra is one of ours and she has worked diligently hard to represent this program the right way, and we’ll just keep battling with her and our women on our team.”
Elzy coached Kentucky to the 2022 SEC Tournament championship, UK’s first conference tournament title since 1982, but her overall record as head coach is 60-55. Kentucky is 23-36 in SEC play during Elzy’s tenure.
The men’s team does not appear to be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but recent struggles have increased fears of a third consecutive first weekend exit.
Kentucky has won just one NCAA Tournament game since 2019. The Wildcats missed the tournament in 2021 with a disastrous 9-16 record, lost to No. 15 seed St. Peters in the first round in 2022 and fell to Kansas State in the second round in 2023.
John Calipari’s team looked to have turned a corner after an upset win at Auburn last Saturday but followed that performance by blowing a 15-point lead Wednesday at LSU in a last-second loss to a team that was just one win over .500 entering the game.
“We’ve got to get all of our guys on the court at the same time,” Barnhart said. “I think that is certainly a focus. I have full understanding and thought that this team can make a deep run in March and can play with anybody. I mean, they’ve shown that.
“I think it’s just a matter of getting all of our pieces together and being able to practice and compete for extended periods of time. The good news is we’ve still got five regular season games left to find a way to get to Nashville (for the SEC Tournament) and position ourselves well for the NCAAs. I like watching them play.”
The men’s team has played just part of one game this season where every scholarship player was available. Forward Tre Mitchell is the latest Wildcat to miss time with an injury, sitting out the last two games with a shoulder injury.
Those injuries might partially explain the struggles that saw the first three-game losing streak in Rupp Arena history, but do not appear to have settled many fans’ concerns about the overall trajectory of the program.
The struggles of both programs have increased the scrutiny of the most recent contract extensions Barnhart awarded his basketball coaches.
The idea of Calipari ever finding himself on the hot seat at Kentucky seemed laughable when he signed what was hyped as a “lifetime contract” in June 2019 after the Wildcats’ most recent season ended one win shy of the Final Four with an overtime loss to Auburn in the Elite Eight. While the contract was not actually designed to last indefinitely for Kentucky, it did guarantee him at least $8.5 million per season through 2029 if he continued to coach and offered him the ability to transition to a university ambassador role with an annual salary just less than $1 million at any point after July 1, 2024.
Kentucky would owe Calipari more than $33 million if it fired him after this season.
Elzy was awarded a raise and one-year extension after the 2022 SEC Tournament title. Her contract now runs through the 2026-27 season. UK would owe her more than $2.5 million if it fired her after this season. While that buyout is less than the one UK paid when it fired football offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello in 2022, only football and men’s basketball produce revenue for the athletic department.
The women’s team is 23-34 since Elzy’s contract extension. The men’s team has won 66.7% of its games since Calipari’s extension, compared to 81.1% of its games in Calipari’s first 10 seasons as coach.