Kentucky basketball coaching search: Odds released for Scott Drew, Nate Oats, more

Kentucky is searching for a new basketball coach after the surprising news that John Calipari is heading to Arkansas.

BetOnline has released odds for who the next head coach of the Wildcats will be.

Baylor‘s Scott Drew has the best odds to be the next Kentucky head coach, according to BetOnline. Drew is +100 after leading the Bears to a 24-11 record this past season. Scott Drew has been at Baylor since 2003 and led the Bears to the 2020-21 national championship.

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Up next in the Kentucky basketball coaching search odds is Alabama head man Nate Oats. The 49-year-old Oats comes in at +300. He has been at Alabama since 2019 and led the Crimson Tide to the Final Four this past season.

New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino, who is the son of former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, has the third-best odds at +700. The younger Pitino led New Mexico to the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship in 2024.

Former Florida coach and current Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is next at +900. Donovan has coached in the NBA since 2015 after leading the Gators to four Final Fours and a pair of national titles.

Other notable names on the list with odds to be the next Kentucky basketball coach include St. John’s coach Rick Pitino at +2000, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl at +2500 and Uconn coach Dan Hurley at +2500. Hurley and the Huskies are set to play for their second straight national title Monday night against Purdue.

Other longshots to be the next Kentucky coach are TV analyst and former Villanova coach Jay Wright at +2500, Gonzaga coach Mark Few at +3300 and legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski at +5000.

Here is the full list of odds for the next Kentucky head coach:

Odds for next Kentucky basketball coach

Scott Drew, Baylor, +100
Nate Oats, Alabama, +300
Richard Pitino, New Mexico, +700
Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls, +900
Mark Pope, BYU, +1000
Kelvin Sampson, Houston, +1200
Sean Miller, Xavier, +1600
Jamie Dixon, TCU, +1600
Chris Beard, Ole Miss, +1800
Rick Pitino, St. Johns, +2000
Scott Padgett, Mississippi State (assistant to the head coach), +2000
Shake Smart, Marquette, +2000
T. J. Otzelberger, Iowa State, +2500
Bruce Pearl, Auburn, +2500
Will Wade, McNeese State, +2500
Penny Hardaway, Memphis, +2500
Dan Hurley, UConn, +2500
Jay Wright, TV analyst, +2500
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona, +3300
Mick Cronin, UCLA, +3300
Brad Underwood, Illinois, +3300
Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall, +3300
Jerome Tang, Kansas State, +3300
Mark Few, Gonzaga, +3300
Bill Self, Kansas, +5000
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke (retired), +5000