Odds to Replace John Calipari as the Next Kentucky Men's Basketball Coach

The John Calipari era is over. Now for the first time in a long time, the Kentucky Wildcats are looking for a new head basketball coach.

For a few months, Kentucky had the longest-tenured basketball and football coaches in the SEC. Now Mitch Barnhart must go back to the drawing board. The Kentucky athletic director has held his position for 22 years. This will be his third hire for the men’s basketball program. One was a success and the other was a huge flop. Which route will this one go? Oddsmakers are handicapping the coaching search.

BetOnline.ag, an offshore wagering service, has made Baylor head coach Scott Drew the favorite, just ahead of Alabama’s Nate Oats. Multiple candidates included in the live odds have Kentucky connections, like Mark Pope and Rick Pitino. There is also one name high on the list that made me giggle, Richard Pitino. Maybe it’s better to save your money than wager on a Little Pitino in Lexington.

Scott Drew	1/1
Nate Oats	3/1
Richard Pitino	7/1
Billy Donovan	9/1
Mark Pope	10/1
Kelvin Sampson	12/1
Jamie Dixon	16/1
Sean Miller	16/1
Chris Beard	18/1
Rick Pitino	20/1
Scott Padgett	20/1
Shaka Smart	20/1
Anfernee Hardaway	25/1
Bruce Pearl	25/1
Dan Hurley	25/1
Jay Wright	25/1
TJ Otzelberger	25/1
Will Wade	25/1
Brad Under	33/1
Jerome Tang	33/1
Mark Few	33/1
Mick Cronin	33/1
Shaheen Holloway	33/1
Tommy Lloyd	33/1
Bill Self	50/1
Mike Krzyzewski	50

More Hypothetical Odds for the Next Kentucky Head Coach

But wait — THERE’S MORE!

Today there are a ton of Hot Boards from various entities floating around the World Wide Web. Many of them feature the same familiar names. Mike Decourcy published one that almost made me do a spit-take. It was laughably bad, but I could easily move on without letting the stink linger for long.

The same applies to these odds. Adam Thompson from Bookies.com handicapped the Kentucky coaching search and provided some odds for entertainment purposes only. If you weren’t a fan of the first set of odds, you might enjoy the top candidates he has for the Kentucky coaching vacancy.

Player	Odds	Implied Probability
Nate Oats, Alabama	+350	22.2%
Scott Drew, Baylor	+450	18.2%
Bruce Pearl, Auburn	+600	14.3%
Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls	+625	13.8%
Dan Hurley, Connecticut	+650	13.8%
TJ Otzelberger, Iowa State	+800	11.1%
Rick Pitino, St. John’s	+1100	8.3%
Jay Wright, formerly Villanova	+1200	7.7%
Mark Pope, BYU	+1200	7.7%
The Field	+1500	6.3%

Those are just odds from third-party companies. For more intel from insiders, take a closer look at KSR’s Hot Board 1.0 and subscribe to KSR+ to make sure you don’t miss any intel during this exciting time to be a Kentucky Wildcat fan.