Who's Next?

Well, Tubby has left the building which brings up the question – who’s next? Dick Vitale said Minnesota got the better end of the deal with Tubby moving there, but Dick's a moron. How can you rate who got off better when UK hasn't hired a replacement? Contrary to popular belief that good coaches will avoid the pressure of a UK job, I think most would love to have teh fan support, facilities and salary that go with UK basketball. Several names have been put forth. As a UL fan, my suggestion would be Saul Smith. He’s probably available. One person who has already declared himself out of the race for UK head coach is Rick Pitino. Of course, coaches routinely say they aren’t interested in another job without meaning it, plus he’s liar and a mercenary so I wouldn’t put anything past him. He did say it was because he’s too old to switch jobs, but he left out the fact that his roster at UL looks a lot nicer which is really why. Actually, I was shocked by two things – how many UK fans want him back and how many think he will actually be back. I think that may be Tubby’s greatest accomplishment. He got UK fans to forgive Pitino. As for Pitino going back, I find that unlikely. Have UK fans forgotten all the traitor based nicknames they gave him? The signs at Rupp Arena telling him how much they hated him (and his wife)? Do they think he doesn’t know what fanbase was spreading the rumors that he was leaving his wife to move in with a cheerleader he knocked up? The rumor that his trip to the Cleveland Clinic was because he had AIDS? Might have been some burnt bridges from that one.

Obviously, Billy Donovan is the first choice. Wonder if Vitale would still think UK lost something if they get Donovan, his title (and maybe another next week), and three Final Fours? Some people think UK doesn’t have a shot at him. Along the lines of “why leave a good thing without the pressure.” One columnist guaranteed Donovan wouldn’t leave because he is building a legend at Florida, and why make a move that entails higher expectations. To begin with, that’s silly. Ambitious coaches like Donovan believe they can win anywhere. Even though high profile college coaches often struggle making the jump to the pros, new ones keep trying. As for Florida being a better job than UK, he’s nuts. Being a legend in Florida basketball is slightly better than being an American legend in curling. I think Florida only sold out a few games this year, and that was in a 12,000 seat arena. UK gets twice that for Midnight Madness. Florida is the defending champs, but they only took 500 people to their first round game in New Orleans. UK probably took more to Maui. Sure, the UK coach has to deal with some wackjobs, but he also has de facto home games in the tournament. Florida’s AD says he’ll fight to keep him, but can he? The problem in getting into a bidding war with UK is the question of whether or not Florida is willing to alienate football coach Urban Meyer by paying their basketball coach more. Not likely, so Florida will have to pay out quite a bit in money to keep both happy. Donovan might like being at Florida (where girls from Playboy date basketball players), so he could just be using UK’s interest to get a pay bump, but I don’t think he would rule it out of hand.

Of course, if Donovan doesn’t take the job, there are some other candidates. Like Saul Smith. Two guys they should consider are Rick Barnes and John Calipari. Barnes is in the same situation at Texas where he plays second fiddle to football, so he might be interested in moving. He did a good job taking a mediocre Texas program to the Final Four and turning them into a yearly contender. He certainly can recruit. Calipari probably won’t even be asked because his rep is sketchy which is something I've never figured out. The only NCAA problems were at UMass, but that was Marcus Camby taking money from a wannabe agent. It was determined Calipari didn’t know anything about it, and common sense says he wouldn’t want some two bit agent around. The thing with Calipari is he can recruit and coach. Look at his present team in Memphis that was a solid 2 seed in the tournament. Only one senior on the roster which means almost all of them agreed to go there knowing all the other good teams in CUSA were going or gone. And his players just flat out play hard for him. As for coaching, I’ll never forget that UMass Final Four team. It’s only legitimate star was Camby. Donta Bright was the only other high recruit. Only four other players ever saw the floor much - a garbageman forward, one guy off the bench and two Puerto Rican guards. That year, UK had one of the most loaded college teams of my generation, but they lost to UMass in the regular season and had all they could handle beating them in the Final Four. I’d love to see what kind of team he could put together with UK’s resources. So, as a UL fan, I must say Calipari is an evil man and UK shouldn’t associate with those types. However, it's probably not an issue because while I think Calipari would take the job in a heartbeat, I doubt he even gets an interview. And he probably knows it which is why he says he's happy at Memphis.

If Calipari is ignored and the other two say no, there are plenty of others. Tom Izzo is a stretch (he’s from Michigan), but he’s a winner and may want a change of scenery. Thad Matta has been a success everywhere and look where he’s got Ohio State. Plus, he’s always shown a willingness to leave a team. Only problem with those two is Big 10 basketball is boring. That’s why Tubby-ball will fit in. A couple of younger guys who might get looks are Jay Wright at Villanova and Billy Gillispie at Texas A&M. Both have done well enough that you wonder what they could do with UK’s resources. Travis Ford and John Pelphrey aren’t ready. Two names that I heard some UK fans mention on sports radio were Coach K (no, I won’t spell it) and Bob Knight which reinforces my belief that too many UK fans haven’t got a clue about basketball outside of Kentucky. I’m surprised I didn’t hear Roy Williams’ name. Some people are set where they are.

There is one guy whose name hasn’t really come up much who I think would be perfect for UK, and I’m being serious. If I was UK, I would go to Knoxville and get Bruce Pearl. He doesn’t have a long time connection to UT, so what would hold him there? Some people might think he should show more loyalty since he’s only been there two years, but Tubby was at Georgia only two years before moving to UK, and apparently I’m the only one who doesn’t think Tubby’s a saint. I’ve watched Pearl since I was at Kentucky Wesleyan, and he coached our biggest rival Southern Indiana. The guy can coach. He has at every place he’s been. He finished ahead of UK in his two seasons at Tennessee. He took over a 14-17 UT squad that lost its two leading scorers and was pretty much Chris Lofton and a bunch of nobodies. They won the SEC East his first year. With UK having a thin roster next year, a coach who can win with little talent would be handy. He’s already putting together top recruiting classes, and hiring him not only means they’ve got a good coach, it means UT doesn’t have him. I think the sky is the limit for him at UT. It would be even higher at UK.

But it’s not just coaching. Pearl’s personality indicates that he can handle the pressure that comes with coaching UK. The fact that he would go to a woman’s game with his chest painted gives me the impression that he won’t shun the fishbowl existence. He’ll embrace it. That was half Tubby’s problem. He found his media responsibilities to be a chore (although happily accepting the part of his pay that comes from media responsibilities), and fans to be a hindrance. The fact that he said he thought UK had a good season after the SEC tournament shows he was really out of touch with his base. Pearl won’t be. He’ll promote the Hell out of the program, and he’ll also do something that made Pitino quite popular here. He’ll tell the fans what they want to hear – UK is the greatest job on earth. He may not mean it, but he knows how to play the game. So, you have a guy who can recruit, win and win early, and keep the fan base happy. Why doesn’t he get more mention?