Jeff Borzello predicts Scott Drew will be next Kentucky coach

Several names have circulated over the past day with the coaching seat at Kentucky now left vacant by John Calipari. In the end, though, the name that ESPN’s Jeff Borzello is leaning toward as the Wildcats’ next head coach is a familiar one on their list.

Borzello spoke with Pete Thamel on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ about the move by Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas. In a do-or-die selection, Borzell went with Baylor’s Scott Drew, a coach that has come up in discussions about the job in the bluegrass before. His choice was Drew because of his resumé while in Waco along with his current situation, including in regards to his contract.

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“I’ll say Scott Drew,” Borzell said. “I just think he, you know, has the track record.”

“He did flirt with Louisville a little bit,” recalled Borzell. “He also doesn’t have an enormous buyout like the Nate Oats’ of the world.”

Drew has spent the past 22 seasons as head coach with one at his alma mater in Valparaiso and the remaining, past 21 with the Bears. In total, he has a career record of 466-255 (.646) with essentially all of that coming in his rebuild of Baylor into what it is under him today. That span also includes ? conference titles, a dozen selections in the NCAA Tournament, and his crowning achievement with a national title in 2021.

Again, Drew’s name has often come up when it comes to who the next head coach could be at Kentucky. There has been consistent, reported interest by Mitch Barnhart, the Wildcats’ athletic director, for some time. Still, none of it was necessary before the stunning decision by Calipari to leave the bluegrass for Fayetteville this weekend.

Drew seemingly denied at least one job earlier in this cycle by recommitting to Baylor. With the gig in Lexington now open, though, that loyalty could be tested with how well that Borzello thinks that he fits what Kentucky would be looking for.

“I just think there are a lot of – he ticks a lot of boxes for Kentucky’s next coach,” Borzello said “We’ll see if his return to Baylor after turning down Louisville was a lifetime thing or a three-week thing.”

Thamel calls Billy Donovan the ‘home run hire’ for Kentucky

Plenty of names have been thrown around to replace John Calipari as the head coach at Kentucky. Of them all, though, ESPN insider Pete Thamel believes the best option very well could be Billy Donovan.

Thamel appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show and shared where things stand as Kentucky searches for its next head coach. That’s including the possibility of Kentucky hiring Donovan.

“Billy Donovan is the home run hire. Billy Donovan is the aspirational hire,” Thamel said. “He was an assistant there under Rick Pitino. There’s ties there for Billy Donovan.”

Donovan was the head coach at Florida from 1996-2015. In that time, the Gators reached the Final Four on four occasions while winning a pair of national titles. He left for the NBA ahead of the 2015-16 season and is currently with the Chicago Bulls, after starting off with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Thamel believes that if Donovan is the hire for Kentucky, though, the process could take some time.

“It’ll be interesting in the courtship of Billy Donovan. The Bulls are in the NBA Play-In game, which is on April 17th,” Thamel said. “I don’t think Billy Donovan could leave before the NBA Playoffs. So, if we start to see this search drag out towards that date, I think it would be an increased indication that someone was interested.

“You remember the Nick Saban search. What did that take, 38 days at Alabama for him to leave the Dolphins and come?” Thamel recalled. “I think, if Billy Donovan happens, there would have to be a little bit of a wait. That would be a tell.”