Geno Auriemma, Dawn Staley, Eric Musselman suggested as possible John Calipari replacements

If John Calipari were to leave Kentucky, SportsCenter’s Michael Eaves has a few replacements in mind, and they’re fascinating.

Eaves suggested looking at the women’s game for Geno Auriemma or Dawn Staley to take the mantle at Kentucky. If the Wildcats stayed in the men’s game, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman made the most sense.

Eaves explained his picks on the Gary Parrish Show.

“Okay, you know what’s really funny? I was literally thinking about this yesterday and the only reason I was thinking about it was because I went to the University of Connecticut for the first time to watch the women,” Eaves said. “But, and I sat right behind the bench and I’m looking at Geno Auriemma and I’m listening to him coach his girls, and I was like, you know what? If John Calipari decided to leave Kentucky, I would call Geno Auriemma. I would.”

Auriemma was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2006.

He’s been the head coach of UConn since the 1985-86 season and compiled a record of 1,199-160, winning 11 national championships with the Huskies, including four in a row from 2013-16.

“I was like you know what you know, Geno is older and he may be older than John and you may not want to do it and so then when I go to LA I thought you know what, Dawn Staley,” Eaves said. “I would call Dawn Staley … Granted I was in that environment, so I was thinking about that.” 

Staley, the women’s head coach at South Carolina, is the other candidate for Eaves. She’s coached the Gamecocks since 2008-09 and coached Temple from 2000-01 to 2008 prior.

She is 595-186 as a head coach and won two national titles with South Carolina (2017 and ‘22).

But, Eaves’ final replacement for Calipari might make the most sense, considering women’s coaches of Auriemma or Staley’s caliber haven’t traditionally jumped to the men’s side.

“Previously, a guy that I thought about would be Eric Musselman,” Eaves said. “I think for this program right now you need to need a coach who definitely has ties to the NBA, right because that is what has been luring these players to Kentucky over the last, you know, several years since Calapari has been there and they got seven NBA All Stars, that is by far the most ever. 

“And the second most ever was Kentucky with four and they did it twice. Right so the NBA matters to these kids who are coming into the league right now. But yeah, I think any one of those three would be a really good coach. Now granted it’d be hard for Dawn to do it for obvious reasons. But I think she’s probably the best coach of the three today.”

Musselman is 216-87 in nine seasons with Nevada and Arkansas, getting to the NCAA Tournament seven times and as far as the Elite Eight twice.