College basketball insider offers latest on Texas coaching search, John Calipari

The current state of affairs with Kentucky basketball is already pretty interesting, with the team falling lower and lower. Arguably the worst of them all occurred on Tuesday, with a loss occurring at Rupp Arena at the hands of South Carolina. That’s only happen three times throughout history let alone under John Calipari.

To add to the equation, Calipari has been linked with a move away from Lexington to the Texas Longhorns. Since firing head coach Chris Beard, some of the biggest names have been connected to the job. And when Calipari is mentioned anywhere, big headlines are going to be made.

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander is not fully buying Calipari to Texas, though. He believes there will be discussions between the two and, reportedly, there already has been through back channels. But Norlander does not believe Calipari will truly be the top target in Austin.

“Do I think Texas will kick the tires on Calipari? Sure, but Calipari’s in PR hell right now,” Norlander said. “Do I think he’s Texas’ top target? No. Calipari will be 64 in February and has seemingly lost his fastball.”

Norlander than said Calipari would be on a short list on candidates but admitted there are a few guys “more likely” to wind up with the Texas job. Among those were Baylor‘s Scott Drew, Auburn‘s Bruce Pearl, Alabama‘s Nate Oats, and Arkansas‘ Eric Musselman.

Timeline presented for Texas coaching search

Even with the coaching move, Texas is still in position to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Acting head coach Rodney Terry has done a nice job thus far and will have another test on Wednesday with TCU.

He is a candidate to get the full-time job as well. But with the season still on-going, Norlander does not believe there is a lot of room for Texas to make moves at the moment. Once the postseason wraps up, athletic director Chris Del Conte can really hone in on a couple of candidates.

“There won’t be movement on Texas’ next coach until March,” Norlander said.

Depending on how the search goes, Texas could be the best job available this offseason. But with their desire to go after some big candidates, bringing a name with the magnitude Beard did may be difficult.

But for now, focus in Austin in on the court and getting results in the Big 12. Finding a coach for the 2023-2024 season can begin once the current year is over.