John Calipari is expected to be named Arkansas’ new basketball coach on Tuesday officially.
It’s stunning to even say since everyone thought he’d be back at Kentucky for next season since his buyout is so high.
With him about to leave the school, Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio has reported that the school will reach out to three top coaches, including UConn’s Dan Hurley.
“Kentucky will contact Danny Hurley, Billy Donovan, and Scott Drew. My guess is they will make all three of them say no. Maybe they all do but they will try with all before moving to another group. That group is much more wide open and could include a ton of people,” Jones tweeted.
Hurley is fresh off a second straight title with UConn, so it’s unlikely he leaves. Donovan and Drew would make more sense as the former is with the Chicago Bulls while the latter is at Baylor.
Donovan used to coach Florida and led the program to back-to-back titles before he made the jump to the NBA.
Drew has been at Baylor for the last 21 seasons and has led the program to 12 NCAA Tournaments and even won a national title in 2021.
Both would be strong hires so it’ll be fascinating to see if Kentucky can pull this off.