2024 Kentucky Next Coach Odds: Who Will Claim John Calipari's Spot?

By Adam Thompson

Apr 8th, 2024 2:58 PM EST

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After 15 seasons, more than 400 wins, four Final Four appearances, and one national championship, it appears John Calipari is moving on from the Kentucky basketball program and on to a new adventure. 

The new adventure is at a rival SEC school that finished under .500 last season – Arkansas. But the charismatic Calipari felt as though he wasn’t wanted anymore at the UK after a string of early exits and more than a decade since the program’s last title. 

So now, perhaps the most sought-after spot in college basketball, is open. Bookies.com veteran oddsmaker Adam Thompson has surveyed the landscape to create odds for sports betting as to the next head coach in Lexington. 

Next Kentucky Coach Odds

This market is for entertainment purposes only and has been created by the Bookies.com team. It is not currently available on betting apps. Percentages will not add up to 100% most time because these are designed to simulate odds a sportsbook would set.

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Kentucky Wildcats Next Coach Prospects

UK is in the upper-upper echelon of college basketball coaching jobs. Calipari was not only, by more than $2 million, the highest-paid coach in the game, but UK’s budget and facilities are nearly unmatched. So, too, are the expectations. 

Scott Drew of Baylor and Nate Oats of Alabama lead the way. 

Oats, 50, led the Crimson Tide to the Final Four this season, and Alabama has two SEC regular-season and tournament titles in the last four years, a remarkable achievement. Prior to that, he turned Buffalo into a MAC powerhouse, guiding them to tournament wins in consecutive seasons. He appears to have the intangibles to take over the most demanding job in the land, and the youth to stick at it. 

Drew, 53, has been leading the Bears since 2003, with a Final Four and 466 total wins. His 17-9 record in the NCAA Tournament is impressive, with a national championship in 2021. That was the last time Baylor made it past the second round, however. 

Billy Donovan is likely high on the Cats’ list. He led Florida to four Final Fours and two national titles before embarking on an NBA coaching career in 2015. He doesn’t seem to be enjoying his time since 2020 as head of the Chicago Bulls. Donovan’s first coaching job was as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Kentucky. He left there to take the head job at Marshall before venturing to Florida. 

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Bruce Pearl quipped at one point that Kentucky was his dream job. At age 64, is that still the case? He’s been a success in 20 seasons in the SEC, at Tennessee, and more recently at Auburn. The three-time SEC Coach of the Year has the personality to handle the mammoth weight of the position. Not all head coaches do. 

Mark Pope has been successful at BYU and he’s the lone former UK player making noise on the coaching circuits, giving him an outside shot for the major leap. 

Coaches may want to come to Kentucky to give themselves a chance to win a national title. So it’s perhaps unlikely Dan Hurley of UConn would be interested. 

The exception is likely Rick Pitino, who led the UK to a title before venturing into the NBA, back into college, through scandals, and now at St. John’s. Pitino has admitted leaving Kentucky was a big regret. Despite a stint at Louisville, he’s still beloved in Lexington, but at age 71, does it make sense anymore for the Wildcats to bring him back? 

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Jay Wright guided Villanova to multiple national titles and would probably flourish at UK. But he got out of the game due to the current landscape of the sport, namely NIL and everything that comes with it. He’s likely fine being an analyst. 

Nearly every coach on the list requires some sort of buyout. Oats would be one of the priciest at $18 million. But Kentucky basketball does not hurt for funding. Calipari was one of the few coaches with his own official private jet for recruiting. 

The Field includes established names such as Celtics player operations head and former Butler coach Brad Stevens, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson,  Shaka Smart of Marquette, and Brad Underwood of Illinois, as well as up-and-comers who may need one extra step to take such a marquee gig, including Dusty May of Florida Atlantic and Mark Byington of James Madison.

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About the Author

Adam Thompson

More About Adam

Long established as one of the nation's premier handicappers, Adam Thompson joined Bookies.com in 2019 after a successful run as senior handicapper for SportsLine & CBSSports.com. He specializes in the NFL and MLB, where he's hit on well over 60% of his picks the past five years. Adam's NBA and horse racing picks have also produced consistent, major winners over the years.

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