For the first time since 2009, Kentucky is looking for a new head men’s basketball coach. The Eddie Sutton coach to be named later trade was completed on Sunday night when John Calipari decided to leave Lexington for Arkansas after 15 seasons in the Bluegrass. After a 410-122 (198-65) run with four Final Four appearances and six SEC regular-season titles, Calipari has found a new home.
Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart is now tasked with finding the program’s next head basketball coach. For the third time during his tenure, Barnhart will be conducting a search. The Calipari hire was an absolute home run but the Billy Gillispie hire was the worst in program history. Every possibility in this search appears to be on the table.
As soon as Calipari made his move to Northwest Arkansas, some candidates have started to emerge. We are not 100 percent sure who is on Barnhart’s list, but we do know that Baylor head coach Scott Drew has always been near the top of the list. The 53-year-old has won 466 career games at places without much history.
Why is Drew a candidate for the Kentucky opening? We’re diving into that right now.
Midwest native became lifer in Waco
Scott Drew is the son of a coach and grew up in a coaching family. Drew’s father, Homer, was an NAIA head coach from 1976 to 1988 before leaving for Valparaiso. The older Drew spent 22 seasons leading the Crusaders to 371 wins, eight conference titles, and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. While leading Valpo and coaching son Bryce Drew, Scott was building his coaching resume.
Scott Drew attended Butler and spent two seasons as a student assistant under Barry Collier. Drew then returned to Valpo to work for his dad for nine seasons. In 2002, at age 31, Drew was promoted to head coach. After leading Valpo to 20 wins, a regular-season conference title, and an NIT appearance, Drew landed a big job at 32 years old.
Baylor tabbed Scott Drew to be the program’s next head coach in August after Dave Bliss resigned with practice just two months away. The Bears were left in shambles after the program was investigated by the NCAA following the murder of player Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson. There were pay-for-play and recruiting violations. Baylor did not place Dennehy on scholarship, and Bliss was paying out of pocket for his tuition. The Bears were placed on NCAA probation for a half-decade and could not play non-conference games in 2005-06.
Scott Drew inherited a mess with a broken culture as Baylor sat at the bottom of the Big 12 Conference.
After going 36-69 (12-52) through his first four seasons in Waco including the conference games only season in 2005-06, Drew turned Baylor into a consistent winner.
The Bears made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years in 2008. Drew had the program in the Elite Eight two years later. From 2012 through 2019, Drew led the Bears to eight consecutive top-40 finishes in KenPom, six NCAA Tournament appearances, one NIT title, and three second weekend appearances. The 2012 squad was his first 30-win team. Through his first 15 years, Drew proved that Baylor could be a top 25 program, but he would hit another level in the coming years.
From 2020-22, Drew produced three consecutive top-five KenPom teams at Baylor. The Bears went 81-13 (38-8) and beat undefeated Gonzaga in the 2022 national championship game. Baylor has now finished in fourth place or better in the best conference in basketball in each of the last six years, and Drew has accumulated a 17-9 NCAA Tournament record with two Big 12 regular-season titles (2021 and 2022).
Since that top-five run, Drew has produced consecutive top-20 teams at Baylor earning a No. 3 seed in both years on Selection Sunday. The Midwest native is set to enter year 22 in Waco and has built an arguably top-10 program at Baylor.
No one saw this coming when he was hired two decades ago.
Elite Offense with Defensive Adaptation
Baylor has now had four consecutive offenses finish inside the top 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom. The Bears have not been in the top 100 in adjusted tempo since 2013, but Scott Drew’s offenses can shoot finishing inside the top five in three-point shooting percentage in two of the last four seasons.
The Bears also had top-10 offenses in 2010 and 2014. Baylor has only had one offense finish outside of the top 25 in the last 12 years. Scott Drew’s teams are typically very good on offense. If you are looking for a weak link, that is on the defensive end of the floor. However, he has crafted good defenses in the past.
From 2017 to 2022, Baylor produced five top-25 defenses in six seasons. The Bears were in the top five in 2020 and the top 15 in 2021. Throughout his time in Waco, Drew has not been afraid to utilize different zone looks to mix things up throughout his career but has leaned more into no-middle, man-to-man defense in recent years. Some would call this adaptation.
Baylor’s defense has fallen off the last two seasons with sub-70 finishes. That tells us some more adaptation could be needed from Drew on this end of the floor, but he has shown the ability to adjust previously in his career and has produced numerous good defenses during his tenure at Baylor.
Recruiting Flexibility
Even in the transfer portal and NIL era, college basketball remains a talent accumulation game. At Kentucky, head coaches must be able to get high-level recruits and mine the portal for good fits. Scott Drew has done both at Baylor.
In each of the last three high school recruiting classes, Drew has signed a top-10 prospect. Keyonte George was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and is averaging 12.8 points per game for the Utah Jazz. Ja’Kobe Walter is a likely one-and-done after leading the Bears in points (14.5) and starting every game for the Bears. V.J. Edgecombe was a massive recruiting win in the 2024 cycle.
Drew has proven that he can land big high school recruiting wins. He also manages the transfer portal very well.
RayJ Dennis (Toledo) and Jayden Dunn (VCU) were instant starters in Baylor’s backcourt in 2023-24. Jared Butler (Alabama), Davion Mitchell (Auburn), MaCio Teague (UNC Asheville), and Adam Flagler (Presbyterian) each played a big role on Baylor’s 2022 national title team. Each stayed at Baylor for multiple years.
Drew has shown flexibility in roster building and that is needed in the modern landscape. Kentucky’s new coach must be able to recruit both the high school and transfer markets well. Drew can check this box.
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