Potential candidates
Dan Hurley, UConn Huskies: Has to be the first call, right? Especially if he leads the Huskies to back-to-back national championships on Monday night. Hurley brings attitude, personality and now a track record of incredible success. He's a Northeast guy through and through, so it feels unlikely he would take the job, but he has to be high on the target list.
Scott Drew, Baylor Bears: Drew recently spurned Louisville to return to Waco, Texas, and sign a new contract to stay at Baylor. But is the ink dry on the deal? Drew spearheaded arguably the greatest rebuilding job in college sports history, resulting in a national championship in 2021.
Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls: Donovan was an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1989 to 1993 and eventually won national championships at Florida in 2006 and 2007 -- right around the time Kentucky reportedly pursued him to replace Tubby Smith. Donovan has been in the NBA since 2015 and currently has the Bulls in the play-in tournament.
Jay Wright: The former Villanova coach hasn't shown any interest in returning to coaching since he retired two years ago. Make the call, but one of the things he liked about the Villanova job was the ability to coach the basketball team while also being able to live a remotely normal life. That's hard at Kentucky.
Nate Oats, Alabama Crimson Tide: This one makes perfect sense, given his modern style of play and ability to use the transfer portal. But his buyout is $18 million after he signed a new deal last month.
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona Wildcats: He has been a West Coast guy all his life, and he also just signed a contract extension through 2029.
T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State Cyclones: He also is signed through 2029, and his buyout is upward of $18 million.
Bruce Pearl, Auburn Tigers: He has the personality and name recognition to be a factor, but he also hasn't advanced out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2019. Pearl, 64, is the oldest coach we've mentioned so far; would Kentucky prefer to start fresh with a younger coach?
Sean Miller, Xavier Musketeers: Miller had tremendous success during his first stint at Xavier and his first nine years at Arizona, going to four Elite Eights and three more Sweet 16s. But he has only been to the NCAA tournament once since the 2017-18 season and is coming off a 16-18 campaign in his second tenure at Xavier. Miller would, however, bring toughness, and he has modernized his offensive system.
Mark Pope, BYU Cougars: Pope played for two seasons at Kentucky, helping the Wildcats win the 1996 national championship under Rick Pitino. In his nine years as a head coach at Utah Valley and BYU, Pope has gone to two NCAA tournaments but is yet to win a game.
Rick Pitino, St. John's Red Storm: Why not? Pitino, 71, has admitted multiple times that one of his biggest regrets was leaving Kentucky for the Boston Celtics job.