Kentucky Basketball: 8 potential candidates to become next HC if John Calipari leaves

Brad Stevens

The coaching carousel is constantly turning, though there tend to be a few names that float to the top of these searches. Stevens was that name over a decade ago before he shocked many by heading to the Boston Celtics. Could he make another shocking move and return to the college game, taking over a program not too far from his native Indiana?

Stevens was an unknown player at DePauw who caught on at Butler as an assistant in the early 2000’s. He was promoted to head coach in 2007 and the rest is history, as he’d lead the Bulldogs to incredible runs to the national championship game in both 2010 and 2011. After six incredible seasons at Butler, Stevens took over the Boston Celtics, spending eight prosperous seasons before becoming the team’s president of basketball operations in 2021.

This move works out if Stevens wants to get back into coaching. Kentucky likely wouldn’t be the first or last program to try to lure him back to college basketball, though there’s also no guarantee he could repeat that insane success from Butler. One thing we do know is that Stevens is a genius who knows basketball and has worked with NBA players for 11 years; something that Kentucky and their prospects would find intriguing.

We’ve barely scratched the surface on the potential names for this coaching hunt, but we’ve presented eight candidates for Kentucky to consider if they decide to part ways with Calipari. Would it be a wise decision for the Wildcats to move on and which of these coaches would be the best to lead this program?