Kentucky Basketball: 8 potential candidates to become next HC if John Calipari leaves
By Joey Loose
Mick Cronin
Prominent names will likely be the target for Kentucky and what’s more prominent than the current head coach of a fellow Blue Blood program. Cronin has done relatively solid work on the West Coast at UCLA but likely wouldn’t be against a return to Kentucky, where he’s worked and lived before.
Cronin was born in and graduated from Cincinnati, later serving on Bob Huggins’ staff with the Bearcats. A former Rick Pitino assistant at Louisville, he had great success as head coach at Murray State and across 13 years at Cincinnati before UCLA hired him in 2019. The highlight of his time with the Bruins was a shocking run to the Final Four in 2021, though his team did underachieve and miss the Big Dance this season.
With UCLA heading to the Big Ten next season, Cronin will be back in familiar country more often, but the Kentucky job would have to be too good to pass up on. Cronin has been a rumored name for openings at Louisville and Michigan and a return to the Midwest makes a lot of sense. He’s shown he can win at several programs and would be a pretty solid name to land in Lexington, even if he isn’t necessarily at the top of the list.