Report: Kentucky 'targeting' Scott Drew as next head coach, John Calipari replacement
Hours after John Calipari announced his departure from Kentucky, the Wildcats are “targeting” Scott Drew as his replacement, NJ.com’s Adam Zagoria reported. The Baylor head coach reportedly has a strong relationship with UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart.
Drew’s name was one of the first to come up once news broke of Calipari’s reported decision to leave for Arkansas, along with Nate Oats and Jay Wright. Those two coaches both removed their names from consideration for the job Monday night – Wright on the national championship pregame show and Oats via social media.
That’s where Drew could fall into the equation, especially given a connection with Barnhart that stems from that 2021 tournament run, though. That’s the year teams converged on Indianapolis for March Madness, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel said Barnhart – the selection committee chairman that year – stayed in the same hotel as Baylor.
That, along with the fact that Drew listened to a rival head coaching job, could help pave the way for Drew to make his way to Lexington.
“In a more realistic candidate list, I’d take a look at Scott Drew at Baylor,” Thamel said Monday night. “He and Mitch Barnhart have a relationship going back to the bubble NCAA Tournament. Baylor, obviously, won that 2021 NCAA Tournament. Mitch Barnhart was the committee chair, and he was in the Baylor hotel and he was assigned to the Bears’ team. So they spent a month together. Everyone remembers how much time you spent together in the bubble.
“I think because Scott Drew listened to Louisville, he’d give Kentucky a listen. And Kentucky has more financial metal, they have more resources and they have a better league moving forward. That’s something Scott Drew is likely to entertain.”
Drew has been the head coach at Baylor since 2003 and built the program from the bottom up. The Bears went 8-21 in his first season at the helm and didn’t make their first NCAA Tournament until 2008. Drew found his stride in 2010, though, when Baylor made its first Elite Eight under his watch.
Eleven years later, in 2021, the Bears brought home the national championship for the first time in program history.
All told, Drew has a 446-244 record at Baylor and two Big 12 championships in 2021 and 2022. The Bears have also made 12 NCAA Tournaments under his watch compared to just four before his arrival.