Kentucky Basketball: 20 candidates to replace John Calipari as Head Coach

Scott Drew

Architect of one of college basketball’s greatest rebuilds, Drew is certainly going to be a name connected to this Kentucky coaching search. There are no direct connections between him and the state or the SEC, but he did spend more than a decade nearby in Indiana and has shown to be a winner.

Drew graduated from Butler before coaching under father Homer at Valparaiso for nearly a decade before succeeding him. He’d leave Valparaiso after just one season to take over a program Baylor program in 2003. Inheriting a Bears squad with little talent or history of success, Drew built it across the last twenty-one years, culminating in that national championship victory in 2021 and several other big wins.

Baylor is a menace in the Big 12 because of Drew and you bet Kentucky wants someone like that running their basketball program. Drew could succeed with the resources in Lexington and likely get quite the pay raise. However, he did turn down Louisville a few weeks ago and hasn’t left Baylor for any other more prominent positions over the years. It’s a potential home run hire for the Wildcats, but it requires Drew wanting to leave Waco.