Coaches

[Tomcats1990]

Who is on your short list if Pope doesn’t turn it around next season?

[Tomcats1990]

You go all in on Todd Golden first, I wanted him 3 years ago. The stop gap guy if you fail on Golden is Bruce Pearl. He would get the program back on track.

[BIG BLUE GURU]

Agree I think you go to Golden first but I mean at this point why would he leave Florida for UK.

Then I would go for the following

1. Michigan Coach
2. Arizona Coach
3. Iowa St. Coach
4. Pearl
5. Texas Tech Coach

[bthaunert]

It's so different now. Traditional basketball power jobs are no longer the cream of the crop with rev sharing and NIL. I don't believe a coach like Golden is jumping ship from Florida to come to Kentucky anymore. He can do the same thing at Florida that he does here with much less pressure. It really depends if you want a short-term fix or potentially a long-term solution. If you want a short-term fix, you get Kelvin Sampson in here. He's been vocal about not getting financial support at Houston and is a top 3 coach in college basketball over the last 5 years. I believe he would make the jump to get his elusive title.

Long-term, I think you look at a couple guys. Tommy Lloyd would probably be number 1 on that list. Not sure if he would make the jump, but it could be a possibility. Maybe TJ Otzelberger at Iowa State or Grant McCasland at Texas Tech.

I'm not sure there are any other guys outside of Sampson, Pearl and maybe Lloyd that we could get that would be a really good hire.

[Tomcats1990]

Kentucky is still Kentucky no matter how much the landscape has changed. Barney did a very poor job after CAL left of hiring a new coach. With our NIL numbers being at or near the top theirs no legitimate reason to be this bad. I love Pope and want him to succeed but he is in over his head.

[Pobilly]

No Pearl ever.

Not sure golden would want this job. One of the hardest jobs in college basketball. He has a good thing now. Why leave UofF for Kentucky. He has no pressure. Will wait and see what the landscape looks like when Pope is let go. Many good young coaches out there. But can they handle the pressure vacuum of KENTUCKY. Doubt if for most.

[Cawood86]

I think Lloyd would be my pick but he's a west coast guy I believe. Doubt Golden is leaving UF , especially if they make a run this year

[rupp876]

Why would you have wanted Golden 3 years ago? He was coming off of a 16-17 season.

[BJD]

First order of business is get rid of Pope. Then figure it out.


UK basketball gets better as soon as Pope is let go. Should be today. Anything later is just prolonging the inevitable.

If the bar is just get someone better then just hire a good high school coach.

Just do a proper search and UK can hire a great coach.

[South jones]

I think if Golden leaves Fla it will be NBA.
Pearl is done with college basketball and may go into politics imo.

Mike white might deserve some attention. With the resources and Kentucky name behind him, perhaps he could be what the program needs.

It's a crap shoot regardless of who is hired, BUT THERE IS A COACH OUT THERE SOMEWHERE WHO COULD BRING THE PROGRAM BACK TO PROMINENCE.

[TrueblueCATfan]

I dont cars who it is as long as they

Get us back to winning
I want to be the #1 seed on selection Sunday
not play on Wed in SEC Tournament
Be ranked in Top 10

[EKYCat]

I think if Golden leaves Fla it will be NBA.
Pearl is done with college basketball and may go into politics imo.

Mike white might deserve some attention. With the resources and Kentucky name behind him, perhaps he could be what the program needs.

It's a crap shoot regardless of who is hired, BUT THERE IS A COACH OUT THERE SOMEWHERE WHO COULD BRING THE PROGRAM BACK TO PROMINENCE.

Mike White of UGA?

He has about the same career record as Pope except he has one Elite Eight. Other than that he's not been out of the round of 32. Hard pass.

[Catsrock]

For guys like Golden and Oats—sure less pressure because they are football first schools. But that also means less appreciation and love from the fanbase. Florida couldn’t keep their arena full when Donovan was winning back to back titles. It may not be every guy out there but there are coaches who crave performing for a rabid fan base. Start at the top, offer everything you can, and if they turn you down you move onto the next guy.

Drew didn’t turn UK down because he didn’t want it. His wife said they weren’t uprooting the kids from a comfortable life. Golden may make a different decision. Sampson probably wouldn’t be uprooting grandkids. Hurley (who I don’t like) turned down UK and the Lakers last time—but he was hunting history with a string of championships at that time. My point is every individual has a different situation. Don’t just assume they wouldn’t want to coach a historic blue blood.

[bthaunert]

It's all such a crapshoot. If you were to look at the landscape of college basketball, I would argue these are the top 3 coaches in the game (I'm sure others have other thoughts) right now:

1. Dan Hurley - never past the 2nd round prior to UConn
2. Todd Golden - never past the 1st round prior to Florida
3. Kelvin Sampson - 1 Final Four and 1 Elite Eight in 22 years at major schools prior to Houston

Since 1960, there have been 4 guys that left the program they won a national championship with for another college program...Massimino, Norm Sloan, Cal and Tubby. All 4 of them were a shell of the guy who won a title. Hiring someone who has a title in their prime just has not happened.

[Pete Hogwallop]

It's all such a crapshoot. If you were to look at the landscape of college basketball, I would argue these are the top 3 coaches in the game (I'm sure others have other thoughts) right now:

1. Dan Hurley - never past the 2nd round prior to UConn
2. Todd Golden - never past the 1st round prior to Florida
3. Kelvin Sampson - 1 Final Four and 1 Elite Eight in 22 years at major schools prior to Houston

Since 1960, there have been 4 guys that left the program they won a national championship with for another college program...Massimino, Norm Sloan, Cal and Tubby. All 4 of them were a shell of the guy who won a title. Hiring someone who has a title in their prime just has not happened.

And fans would have been screaming for Hurley and Golden to be fired well before they won their titles, too, since they both had some really poor seasons - much worse than what we're having now. Golden was 16-17 at Florida in 2022. And he had a losing season at San Francisco 2 years before that. Hurley went 16-17 at UConn in 2018.

And Sampson got in trouble with the NCAA along the way so he wouldn't have lasted either.