Mitch Barnhart fielding 'a lot of interest' for Kentucky WBB job: "This is a good destination"

Kyra Elzy was relieved of her duties as head coach of the Kentucky women’s basketball program on Monday following a 61-60 overall record in four seasons with the Wildcats. Mitch Barnhart thanked her for her time in Lexington, a run that included a 2022 SEC Tournament title, and later admitted it was a difficult day making the call to ultimately move on.

But it was time.

“Those are never easy days,” Barnhart said on the UK Sports Network late Monday evening. “… I think back to the SEC championship down in Nashville and we celebrated that and just struggled to build on that just a bit and it felt like we needed to do something a little bit different.”

Interest is high

The focus now shifts to what’s next, the school announcing a “national search” for a new head coach is officially underway. And it hasn’t taken long for Barnhart’s phone to ring.

“What we have found is that this is a good destination for someone,” Barnhart said. “There’s a lot of interest, we’ve had a lot of people call (Monday). We’re going to take a broad look at it, a national look at it. I’ve got a couple of staff members that are working with me. We’ve got a lot to offer at the University of Kentucky and I think that’s really, really important.”

Barnhart broke down the program’s 15-year run that includes 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 top-20 finishes in the AP Poll dating back to the 2009-10 season, along with a pair of SEC regular season and tournament titles.

“Clearly we want to build on that,” he said. “You’ve got some programs in our league that have continued to build the brand of women’s basketball in the Southeastern Conference. We’ve got some work to do to get back in that conversation.”

Facilities and fan support

History is part of the intrigue, as is the $85 million expansion and upgrade Memorial Coliseum is undergoing that will be “open substantially completed this fall.”

“I think the facility is going to be an amazing place. And then we’ve got a brand new locker room and facilities for our women’s basketball program, and so lots of benefits and assets,” he said. “We’re in the Southeastern Conference, which is a dynamic league. In the world the way that college athletics is changing, we think it’s a dynamic place to be, in the Southeastern Conference with the leadership of Greg Sankey. There’s a lot of really great positives for us to move forward with. We’ve just got to identify the right person.”

Another factor to keep in mind? Fan support. Through the ups and downs in recent years, Big Blue Nation showed up and established a foundation program boosters could get behind. In the NIL and transfer portal era, those things are important for roster fluidity and continuity.

“Even when we were struggling down the stretch, people were still coming to women’s basketball games and wanting our team to do well, cheering them on. They’ve been very, very, very supportive,” he said. “We’re thankful for that, I’ve had a lot of conversations (Monday) with boosters that have been very involved in our women’s basketball program for the last 10-15 years and they’re incredibly supportive and ready to do things that are helpful to move us forward.”

The base is there. Now it’s on Barnhart to find the person for the job.