One of the top jobs in college basketball opened unexpectedly on Sunday with Kentucky coach John Calipari expected to take the vacant job at Arkansas after 15 seasons with the Wildcats. Kentucky will have a coaching vacancy just weeks after UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart met with Calipari to confirm he would be returning for his 16th season with the program.
CBS Sports Matt Norlander reported that Calipari leaving Kentucky has been on the table since February. Norlander also reported that Calipari privately expressed “significant and serious” interest in the Ohio State job, but the timing wasn’t right. The Buckeyes elected to elevate interim coach Jake Diebler after he helped turn around the program immediately after former coach Chris Holtmann was fired.
There should be a long list of high-major coaches that check most of the boxes Kentucky is looking for. One of them is recruiting at a high level. Kentucky finished with a top-five recruiting class every cycle since 247Sports started tracking team rankings in 2010. The Wildcats landed the No. 1 recruiting class in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2020, and 2023 under Calipari’s watch.
The last time the program embarked on a coaching search, UK poached Calipari from Memphis. Who will Kentucky decide on this time? It’s too early to tell, but we’ve come up with some potential candidates Kentucky should consider to replace Calipari.
Nate Oats, Alabama coach
Since Oats took the job at Alabama five years ago, he’s elevated the program to new heights. The Crimson Tide reached the Final Four for the first time in program history this season, less than a year after losing seven of their top nine scorers on a team that was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Due to his style of play, Oats will remain one of the most attractive coaching names in the carousel even though he just signed a contract extension that was designed to keep him at UA…
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