Baylor’s Scott Drew will not be the next Kentucky basketball coach. UK’s search continues.
What has already been an eventful search to replace John Calipari as the head men’s basketball coach at Kentucky took its first major turn Thursday morning.
Baylor’s Scott Drew will not be the next coach of the Wildcats.
Drew has decided to stay put in Waco, where he’s spent the past 21 seasons as the head coach of the Bears, leading the program to its first national championship in 2021. Drew, long thought to be the first choice of UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart, began discussions with Kentucky on Tuesday, not long after Calipari officially announced his resignation to become the head coach at Arkansas.
Kentucky’s pursuit of Drew included sending a private plane — belonging to a company owned by Joe Craft, who is UK Athletics’ biggest booster — to the Waco area, where it was boarded by members of Drew’s family Wednesday morning. The aircraft returned to central Kentucky, where Drew’s family visited Lexington before returning home to Texas on Wednesday night.
By Thursday morning, Drew was off the board. And UK’s search will continue.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander was first to report that Drew had passed on the opportunity to be the next head coach at Kentucky. Drew released a statement later Thursday morning.
“In our program, we strive to put Jesus first, then others, then ourselves,” he said in a post on X. “We truly believe that 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.”
Drew was also considered to be the first choice for the offseason vacancy at the University of Louisville, which hired Charleston’s Pat Kelsey last month to replace Kenny Payne, a longtime Calipari assistant who was fired after two seasons with the Cardinals.
The top candidates to replace Calipari now include UConn’s Dan Hurley, who led the Huskies to their second consecutive national title this week, and Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, who won two national championships at Florida before jumping to the NBA nine years ago.
Hurley is widely expected to stay at UConn this offseason, and he has addressed speculation that he would be linked to the Kentucky opening multiple times since the Huskies won the NCAA title Monday night.
“It’s certainly flattering, but I’ve got a long career of turning down jobs or more money to stay in places I was happy and that fit me and that provide me the resources to at that level achieve the things you want to achieve,” Hurley said during an appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Wednesday. “Right now at UConn ... what the place means to us, the opportunity to go for a three-peat right now is the only thing that’s obviously on anyone’s mind here.
“I just can’t see that being a thing.”
Donovan was at the top of Kentucky’s list when the job opened up in both 2007 and 2009, when UK ultimately hired Billy Gillispie and Calipari, respectively. Both times, Donovan decided to stay at Florida, where he led the Gators to the national title in both 2006 and ’07, also advancing to the Final Four in 2000 and 2014.
Now in his fourth season with the Chicago Bulls — and his ninth as an NBA head coach since leaving Florida in 2015 — Donovan addressed the Kentucky opening during his pregame press conference Tuesday night. Taking multiple questions on the topic, Donovan stressed that he had not been contacted by anyone at UK and that he was fully committed to the Bulls for the remainder of the 2023-24 season, though he did not unequivocally deny interest in the UK job beyond that point.
“Obviously, I spent five years (there),” he said of Lexington. “My first five years in coaching, when Coach (Rick) Pitino gave me a job. Two kids were born there. Like at all my stops, you have very, very fond memories. I have not been contacted by anybody. I haven’t spoken to anybody. My total commitment and focus is here — to this team and to this group.”
The Bulls’ season could end as soon as Wednesday, when they’ll compete in the first “Play-In Tournament” game, but if they win two games in that event next week, they would qualify for the NBA Playoffs, which could extend Chicago’s season until at least the end of April.
Donovan is not expected to entertain any offers from Kentucky as long as the Bulls’ season is still alive.
Drew, who took over Baylor’s program in 2003, has a 446-244 record in his 21 seasons with the school. He led the Bears to the national title in 2021, when Barnhart was chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Barnhart’s search for Calipari’s replacement will now move on to its next stage, and a process that looked like it could be over by Thursday morning will continue, with no quick end in sight.
This story was originally published April 11, 2024 at 11:01 AM.
