Is it time for Billy Ball?
OK, now that Tubby is officially a Golden Gopher is it going to be Billy Donovan?
My first thought is that there is no way that Billy Donovan will make the move to Lexington, but after listening to him after their win over Butler he is at least considering. I do think he also does not want to be a Nick Saban and make a comment that he will later regret. I do think it is going to be hard for him to leave Florida but he does have that Pitino ego that could lure him to Lexington.
He would be my first choice, but I am afraid if we can’t buy him the Alabama version is on! I also think if we can land him we will land Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas; if we don’t we will definitely lose Patterson. I think we have a real good shot at Lucas regardless of the coach. I would not be surprised either to see Jasper transfer somewhere on the West Coast if we don’t land Donovan.
My personal choices
If I were Mitch Barnhart here are my choices in order:
Billy Donovan — I think he would be what all the fans want and would have a longer honeymoon period that any other coach we could get. I also think he would be the quickest fix because of the recruits we are trying to land.
Ben Howland (UCLA) — Why not? From what I hear he does not get paid very well at UCLA so why not take a shot at him. He has definitely put them back on the map and can apparently handle a prestigious program. I have not seen his name on any of the short lists, why not? I would think if he is good enough for UCLA, why would he not be good enough for UK?
John Calipari — I am not real wild about him, but he is another guy that has the ego necessary to handle the pressure of UK. I don’t think his graduation rate at Memphis has been real good and he flirts in the gray area. But lets be realistic, that is what UK fans want — win at all cost and if we don’t get caught he is great. He obviously can recruit, but can he win the big one?
Thad Motta (Ohio State) — This guy is proving that he can recruit and win. Just watching on TV, his players seem to love him.
Tom Crean (Marquette) — I think he is a good coach but not sure he could handle the pressures of UK.
Rick Barnes (Texas) — He can obviously recruit.
This is just a list of coaches that would be on my short list if I were Barnhart. I love Tom Izzo at Michigan State, but he is cut from the same mold as Tubby so I don’t think UK fans would be satisfied with him. I also like the coach at Oregon, Ernie Kent, and Bruce Pearl at Tennessee but I doubt very seriously that UK would hire either one of those guys.
No Pitino on my list
If you noticed I did not include Pitino in my list. In my opinion, he had his opportunity and decided he wanted more fame and money. Not to mention he has a top five team coming back at Louisville and he would not leave the talent base he has there.
It won’t be long until this will pan out, and big blue nation will either be buzzing or there will be a search committee for Barnhart!
On a high school note
Did anyone mention that when LCA won the girls Sweet 16 that, it is now 7 years in a row that a private school has won the tournament. Guess what? LCA only had one senior. I still say until it starts happening in boys basketball it will stay the way it is — because it is just GIRLS BASKETBALL!
I also went to the Friday session of the boys Sweet 16 and it just seems the KHSAA puts more into that tournament than the girls. The atmosphere was totally different and it has been several years since I have been to the boys tournament. Apparently Houchens has given them a pretty nice check so it will stay at Bowling Green as long as they are willing to sponsor, but I have wondered why can’t they host the girls at the same time they do the boys just like the all “A” does. I am sure girls teams would like to play in front of 15,000 fans vs. 1500 fans. Unless the team is from the Western part of the state there is not much fan base there because of the travel time. But once again it is just: GIRLS BASKETBALL!
Let me know your thoughts and your short list.
Go Big Blue!
Would you consider adding Pat Riley to your short list? I have only seen his name mentioned a couple of times. I know that he is quite busy in the NBA right now, but he could be considered. He is closer to retirement now, and he might consider leaving the faster paced pro life for the college that brought him to fame!! He is Kentucky legend and it would be a great way to close out his career… if he would only see it that way!
Chris,
Would quickly agree with several points. Here goes:
1) If Billy D decides to remain a Gator, which I hope he does not, then I definitely feel we will be riding the “Crimson” wave and on the same path as the Alabama Football program. Yikes!
2) I sadly feel lots of programs have a fan base which is very willing to turn a blind eye to the gray area …. as long as it isn’t detected. No question UK has more than their fair share of these. Of course, I’ll enjoy the wins too!
3) Speaking of recruiting, you are quite correct in your view of what’s happening in Girl’s Basketball. Let’s see, a private school has won it 7 years in a row and 10 out of the last 12? Huh!?! Only Girls Basketball? Doubt it! Football is not much different anymore. Think Mercer was the ONLY school of all 4 classes to be a NON-private school to win.
In Girls Basketball, it will be Sacred Heart, Lexington Catholic and now LCA … year in — year out.
In Football, it will be Trinity or St. X in Class 4A …. year in — year out.
KHSAA needs to listen to their constituents … AGAIN. They’ve already RESOUNDINGLY voiced their collective opinion once. The beat goes on and on and on …..
Go Kats …. C’mon Billy, do us right!
Greg
Chris,
Here’s what I am looking for in a UK coach:
1. Integrity. I want Kentucky to run a clean program.
2. Style of play. Kentucky basketball is fast-break basketball. That’s how it made a name for itself and that’s how it should be known. We should be the Running Wildcats. Teams playing Kentucky should be ready to run up and down the court for 40 minutes.
3. Recruiting ability. Tubby has already shown us that, no matter how good of a bench coach you may be, you have to have the horses to win the race. I think style of play will make a big difference in recruiting. It is the one thing that recruits look for that Kentucky has not been able to offer. If Kentucky gets up and down the floor for 40 minutes, there is no reason it can’t recruit some of the top high schoolers.
Sadly to say it looks like there might be a chance of “little Rick” being swayed to come to UK. Notice I said “sadly to say”. I know Billy D. can coach, he can recruit, he is pretty for all of the women to goo over. Here is the question, do we want the ego that he will bring in? Do we want chest thumping, long haired, loud mouths as players. I have been around Billy D. several times during the SEC tourney over the past few years. We have stayed in the same hotel as Florida 4-5 years. I as well as others that have been with us have tried to make conversation with both Billy and his players to get nothing more than a nosed up turn of the back. Is that what we want as a coach? I have actually seen Billy do the same thing with some of the Florida fans. Personally that is not what I want to represent the UK program.
I have heard all of the talk of “we want to run and gun”. Show me one team out there that “runs and guns” for 40 minutes anymore. There are too many team now that can and do play defense especially playing the schedule that we normally play. I do think we need changes in our half court offense. It has been a stagnant, stand around offense and that is all I can really blame Tubby for. We ran the ball about as much as most teams, our problem was if we had to hold up and go into a half court offense.
I guess I have rambled about this too much. My choice would be someone that can run a clean program, like it has been since Sutton era. Plays good defense. Has a crisp half court offense. Someone mentioned Pat Riley. That would probably be my first choice if we had any chance of getting him, which I doubt. Howland, maybe a good choice. Calipari, has signed a new contract and I am not sure he would be what we want. Rick Barnes, probably a good thought and might would come. I think we need to have someone if we can get them that has been closely involved with the program, like a former player. Maybe Pelfrey or Ford if they had more experience. Back to Pat Riley. Would he want to do it at the age he is now. Wait he is not that old, same age as me. Back to Pat Riley. Guess who I would like to see hired.
Coach,
I enjoy reading your blog from time to time. I am a Campbellsville native, but played my HS ball at Lincoln County, Kentucky.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for about ten years and did my graduate work at UCLA. As a result, I’m a big Bruin fan. I hadn’t even thought about Ben Howland being a candidate at Kentucky, but now that you mention it, he’d be a great choice. Thing is, I just don’t see that happening. If I’m not mistaken, he’s originally from the southern California area and spent his formative years on the west coast. I’d be surprised if he left Westwood. I don’t know him personally (but I did meet Steve Lavin a few times…
but he seems like he’d be a perfect fit for UK. But being a UCLA grad, I kind of hope he stays out here.
Keep up the good work.
- Jonathan Moore