The Kentucky Wildcats just learned a big lesson the hard way
The Kentucky Wildcats — the program and the fan base — learned a big lesson the hard way this week. Earlier in the week, longtime Kentucky head coach John Calipari left Lexington to take over as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. After not advancing past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since […]
The Kentucky Wildcats — the program and the fan base — learned a big lesson the hard way this week.
Earlier in the week, longtime Kentucky head coach John Calipari left Lexington to take over as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
After not advancing past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, Calipari decided it was time for a new voice to lead the Kentucky program.
Calipari's decision came after weeks of speculation that Kentucky could choose to move on from the Hall of Fame coach.
With Calipari on the way to Fayetteville, the Kentucky fan base immediately started dreaming about which big name coach the program might land.
Alabama's Nate Oats, UConn's Dan Hurley, Baylor's Scott Drew, and former Villanova head coach Jay Wright were the top names on Kentucky's wish list.
They all said thanks but no thanks.
And really, can you blame them?
Oats has a good thing going at Alabama. If he has a down season, he's not going to have to deal with a legion of Kentucky fans calling for his job. Hurley has UConn rolling — he would have nothing to gain by leaving the Huskies for the Wildcats. Drew appeared to give the job some serious thought, but he decided that Baylor is a better spot for his family than Kentucky. And Wright likely took a look at the current landscape of college athletics and quickly said nope.
So instead of landing one of their top options — or even one of the other options that would've excited the fan base (like former Florida head coach Billy Donovan or Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl) — the Wildcats are on the verge of hiring BYU's Mark Pope, a former UK basketball player.
Pope has been the head coach at BYU since 2019 and he's made the NCAA Tournament only twice (and he's never advanced past the first round).
A decent coach, but not exactly an exciting hire.
Kentucky learned this week that just because you're a big named program doesn't mean you can land a big named coach.
The Wildcats thought they could throw around big money and tout their status as a blue blood to attract the biggest names in the sport. Kentucky fans dreamed of coaches like Hurley, Oats, and Drew fighting over who would get the job.
But instead, no one wanted the job. No one wanted the headache and stress that comes with being the Kentucky coach. Who wants to walk into a championship or bust situation?
Kentucky should've known it would be this way. They aren't the first blue blood that's had an opening and hired an unproven and unexciting option.
North Carolina kept the job in the family a couple of years ago and promoted Hubert Davis, a longtime Tar Heels assistant and former UNC player, to replace Roy Williams.
Duke followed a similar path, promoting Jon Scheyer, a former Blue Devils player and assistant coach, to replace Mike Krzyzewski.
UCLA also went through a similar situation in 2019. The Bruins pursued big names like Calipari and Rick Barnes before settling on Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin to replace Steve Alford.
Kentucky thought they could be the program that went out and swiped a big name from a rival program. And they couldn't have been more wrong.
The Wildcats overplayed their hand. They ran off a Hall of Fame coach. And as a result, they're going see what life is life with a coach who has never even won an NCAA Tournament game.
Report says John Calipari regrets not leaving Kentucky 5 years ago for another major college basketball job
Cal has wanted out for a while
