Billy Donovan or Scott Drew

[BlueRunner11]

Donovan leaving the Bulls to go to the UK moves the needle and would be all the talk going into the season.

He would have no problem filling a roster and is 100 percent best shot at Reed returning.

 

[know1]

You don’t think high school kids and transfers wouldn’t wanna play for a coach that knows what it takes for you to be an NBA player?

I think we already had that and it didn't work out. We need a coach focused on college success.

 

[BluesDaddy]

LOL....some don't want him here, you don't speak for ALL fans.

Lol. Most do not want him here.

 

[know1]

Not taking Billy because Drew already has a recruiting class is short term thinking as well. Another half baked argument that keeps being bandied about by establishment connected individuals. So which is it? Can't have it both ways.

I've said nothing about Drew's class other than to make the same comment I made here. Next year's recruits are not something to base this decision on.

 

[BradleyCrawford08_rivals]

Would be good with either but slight edge to Billy Donovan. Multiple titles and Final Fours, knows how to win with multi year players, now with about a decade of NBA experience, he could sell that to potential recruits. My only issue is he’s been out of the college game for so long and the landscape has completely changed since he left with NIL and the transfer portal.

 

[L.O.D.]

Shocking how of 80 votes 30 are actually for Drew. Wow.. I'm for Donovan by all outside. Drew is behind Pearl an Beard for me

 

[Stretch98_rivals101536]

It seems to me that Donovan actually has the advantage when it comes to the transfer portal and NIL. It is a major part of his job with the Bulls to evaluate college veterans and foreign prospects and prepare for the NBA draft (and signing undrafted free agents) in terms of what his own roster needs to improve and be successful. Further, he is constantly negotiating and renegotiating player contracts. Third, the best portal transfers are often terrific mid-major players who are looking for higher visibility at a blueblood program and an NBA coach with back to back NCAA championships enhances UK as a destination.

 

[storm1507]

Both would be good but I’d offer the guy who hasn’t publicly rejected us….for the third time.

Yes, this. He (or his wife) doesn't want to be here.

 

[JPFisher]

I'd be ridiculously happy with either.

Same.

I think Billy might absolutely kill it here. At the same time, I think he has a higher chance of not doing well. And his college success is so long ago at this point...plus the college basketball realm has changed dramatically since then.

True.

I think more people are accepting of Billy at this point because you can't point to a recent college failure with him. At the same time, you can't really point to a recent success either.

I would consider a lengthy career as an NBA head coach to be success. Maybe didn't win any ships or titles, but that's nothing to sneeze at in my book. College has changed, but so has the NBA and American basketball in general.

Both coaches have their merits. I just think that Donovan has better long-term prospects versus Drew, but at the expense of short term success. It'll absolutely take Billy a bit to get back into the flow of college.

 

[mdlUK.1]

If, BIG IF, we could guarantee most of our current roster back and most of the recruits, I’d go with BD but without that, I’d have to go with Drew.

 

[USARMYWILDCAT]

I think we already had that and it didn't work out. We need a coach focused on college success.

I think if you have the right Coach, you can focus on both at the same time. The problem is our last Coach only focused on the NBA side.

 

[R.O.T.Muckinfush]

If, BIG IF, we could guarantee most of our current roster back and most of the recruits, I’d go with BD but without that, I’d have to go with Drew.

I think that would happen

 

[flacat22]

Lol. Most do not want him here.

Most want the unattainable long shot or the college retread that UK will not get anyway. It's a waste of time and energy.

 

[BluesDaddy]

Most want the unattainable long shot or the college retread that UK will not get anyway. It's a waste of time and energy.

Even without them, there are still better options. Pearl, Beard, Oats, Lloyd, Few, Otzelberger are all better options. Honestly, taking a young up and comer like Golden would be preferable to Drew. I know we should hope for the best, but I am telling you Drew is a horrible hire for this program. Absolutely among the worst hires we could bring in.

 

[know1]

Same.

True.

I would consider a lengthy career as an NBA head coach to be success. Maybe didn't win any ships or titles, but that's nothing to sneeze at in my book. College has changed, but so has the NBA and American basketball in general.

Both coaches have their merits. I just think that Donovan has better long-term prospects versus Drew, but at the expense of short term success. It'll absolutely take Billy a bit to get back into the flow of college.

Agreed. At the same time, I would say resurrecting a horrible college program from the ashes and winning a national championship is at least as successful as having a lengthy NBA career.

 

[know1]

Even without them, there are still better options. Pearl, Beard, Oats, Lloyd, Few, Otzelberger are all better options. Honestly, taking a young up and comer like Golden would be preferable to Drew. I know we should hope for the best, but I am telling you Drew is a horrible hire for this program. Absolutely among the worst hires we could bring in.

Put all those guys resumes up against Drew's and let me know what you come up with.

 

[JPFisher]

Agreed. At the same time, I would say resurrecting a horrible college program from the ashes and winning a national championship is at least as successful as having a lengthy NBA career.

Absolutely. I don't think UK comes away from this mess in worse shape if either of the two options here are chosen.

 

[flacat22]

Even without them, there are still better options. Pearl, Beard, Oats, Lloyd, Few, Otzelberger are all better options. Honestly, taking a young up and comer like Golden would be preferable to Drew. I know we should hope for the best, but I am telling you Drew is a horrible hire for this program. Absolutely among the worst hires we could bring in.

We can agree to disagree then. Few is not leaving Gonzaga, Oats has already stated publicly that he's not interested, Beard just signed a contract extension at Ole Miss, Pearl has not expressed any interest in the job (that anyone knows of). How would Lloyd be a step up, he's won what? A weak-*** PAC 12?

 

[4UK4life1]

Scott Drew, Billy Donovan can’t bring his players with him and if he doesn’t come for a month there will be no players on the team next year.

I’ll give up next year to get the better coach long term.

 

[FltDoc]

The bad thing about Billy is we start way behind next year. Drew starts better. Long term I may prefer Billy.

Delayed gratification....

 

[flacat22]

Delayed gratification....

What makes you so sure? He's 10 years removed from the college game with NO NIL or transfer portal experience. As I stated in another thread he won't have a GM around to construct his roster for him. He's not bringing anyone with him transfer wise so we lose that aspect of the roster rebuild as well.

 

[know1]

Absolutely. I don't think UK comes away from this mess in worse shape if either of the two options here are chosen.

We agree. I'd be jumping up and down yelling with glee if any of Hurley, Drew or Donovan are the coach. They are all three solid home run hires.

 

[jbne222]

I think most would agree Billy is a slightly better option, but waiting for him to make a decision runs a huge risk. If we wait on him and he turns us down, it could be too late for our other top candidates and we could be stuck with someone much worse than either of them.

Obviously ideally he could give us a decision now but I highly doubt that happens

 

[BluesDaddy]

Put all those guys resumes up against Drew's and let me know what you come up with.

I already have. Consistently, they are all better sans Golden. Drew has 1 F4 in 20 years at Baylor. 0 tournament championships. Has shared the Big 12 conference title twice.

In the last 12 years, he has been past the sw16 once! That was in a year when his team only had to play half of a schedule and literally had almost all of Feb off to rest up for the tournament. Teams pulled out of the tournament due to covid. Other teams had several major players miss due to covid. There were no fans, limited media and little to no pressure. Not many people care about that tournament because it was a anomaly.

His Resume is awful! Sans 2021, what on Drew's resume are you most impressed with? The 2 E8's?

 

[FltDoc]

What makes you so sure? He's 10 years removed from the college game with NO NIL or transfer portal experience. As I stated in another thread he won't have a GM around to construct his roster for him. He's not bringing anyone with him transfer wise so we lose that aspect of the roster rebuild as well.

With his budget at UK, he can construct his staff in anyway, to do anything... He's a successful NBA coach for gawd's sake... He was a winner at FL when FL was a nothing...

I think he'd do just fine!

But, I don't really care because I'm just happy we're having this conversation....

 

[BluesDaddy]

We can agree to disagree then. Few is not leaving Gonzaga, Oats has already stated publicly that he's not interested, Beard just signed a contract extension at Ole Miss, Pearl has not expressed any interest in the job (that anyone knows of). How would Lloyd be a step up, he's won what? A weak-*** PAC 12?

Cal wasn't publicly interested either until he announced he was leaving Memphis.

What coaches have ever publicly said they were interested in interviewing for another job while being employed by their current one?

Lloyd has been a coach all of 3 years and has already had more consistent tournament results than Drew. Drew has been past the 2nd rd once in the last 7 - 8 years. Lloyd has 2 Sw16 in the last 3. Drew has never won a conference tournament or outright championship.

Have any of those guys been offered to say no?

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Live look at "Drew's team" monitoring this board to check the pulse of the BBN.

 

[flacat22]

Have any of those guys been offered to say no?

With all of the talent on his recent teams and the yearly easy path to the dance from the weak PAC 12, you have to admit that Lloyd has underperformed in the tournament. The Sweet 16 is simply getting past the 1st weekend, not a very high bar when you're speaking of coaching success. Who knows what Drew could accomplish at Kentucky with all of the resources and support that I doubt he enjoyed at Baylor?

Who knows who has been offered at this point, not us, the fans that's for sure. It's all conjecture.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

Billy Donovan.

 

[BluesDaddy]

With all of the talent on his recent teams and the yearly easy path to the dance from the weak PAC 12, you have to admit that Lloyd has underperformed in the tournament. The Sweet 16 is simply getting past the 1st weekend, not a very high bar when you're speaking of coaching success. Who knows what Drew could accomplish at Kentucky with all of the resources and support that I doubt he enjoyed at Baylor?

Who knows who has been offered at this point, not us, the fans that's for sure. It's all conjecture.

Anyone not winning it all can do better, but 3 years of coaching and having conference titles snd 2 Sw16 is much better than 0 conference titles in 20 years and not making past the 2nd rd 6 out of 7 years.

I love this ignorant argument about resources. He coached a P5 team in a good conference. He was at a very wealthy, private school with tons off donor money. He has recruited very well the last decade +, has solid facilities and solid resources. TX is the most talent rich state in the nation. More top ranked players come out of that state than anywhere. He has even beat out UK and Cal for multiple players. He literally built the teams he wanted and still had horrible results all but the covid year. Yet, you all think something is going to magically change because he comes to UK?

This is an awful hire! There is no way around it.

 

[OldFuk]

Even without them, there are still better options. Pearl, Beard, Oats, Lloyd, Few, Otzelberger are all better options. Honestly, taking a young up and comer like Golden would be preferable to Drew. I know we should hope for the best, but I am telling you Drew is a horrible hire for this program. Absolutely among the worst hires we could bring in.

Care to explain why other than just an opinion?

 

[OldFuk]

Donovan is not coming to UK. So you might as well get off of that train. He's already stated he likes it where he's at. He has games and the playoffs remaining. A possible extension coming up. NBA coaches have stated Donovan is not good at x's and o's. He's never really wanted to be here, doesn't like the college process and I don't think we would get his best. IMO his recruiting would be on par with Tubby's.

Right now the UK coaching position is Scott's to turn down. He's the only coach that has been quiet. I feel confident that UK is working with him on a contract that will get him here. The boosters stated they would be happy with either Hurley or Drew. I don't think Hurley is leaving or even considering it.

 

[Kybluedude]

Donovan’s best college days are long gone. He might just be looking for a soft landing spot to ease into retirement

 

[BluesDaddy]

Care to explain why other than just an opinion?

Dude, I have explained it like 100 times already on here. Just look at the records. Aside from 2021, Scott Drew hasn’t done **** at Baylor. And 2021 is a year no one considers relevant because you had teams and players having to sit out of the tournament due to covid. Baylor literally played 3 games all of February leading into the post season.

These other coaches have more consistent records and upside.

 

[meteordealer]

Drew couldn't carry Donovan's jock strap. The guy is a combination of Tubby, and Saggy Cal. Yet some people seem completely enamored with him. My guess is for the same reason Mitch likes him.

 

[logiUK]

Is there a rule or law that says Donovan can't be employed as a coach at Kentucky AND still coach the Bulls?

Obviously he can't coach them at the same time... but Kentucky is not playing right now.

Why can't Donovan be hired at Kentucky and finish out the season with the Bulls?

Sure, he won't be able to do much recruiting while the Bulls are still playing, but could he not hire some assistants to do recruiting, video conference recruits, all while still coaching the Bulls?

Are we to the point to where recruits can't understand why the head coach is not visiting them personally while coaching an NBA team?

 

[meteordealer]

Dude, I have explained it like 100 times already on here. Just look at the records. Aside from 2021, Scott Drew hasn’t done **** at Baylor. And 2021 is a year no one considers relevant because you had teams and players having to sit out of the tournament due to covid. Baylor literally played 3 games all of February leading into the post season.

These other coaches have more consistent records and upside.

Drew sucks. Apparently nobody on this board bothers to research his record at Baylor. "But but but, he has a Title!". He also has 3 Conference Titles in 21 years, and an overall record of .522

 

[R.O.T.Muckinfush]

Is there a rule or law that says Donovan can't be employed as a coach at Kentucky AND still coach the Bulls?

Obviously he can't coach them at the same time... but Kentucky is not playing right now.

Why can't Donovan be hired at Kentucky and finish out the season with the Bulls?

Sure, he won't be able to do much recruiting while the Bulls are still playing, but could he not hire some assistants to do recruiting, video conference recruits, all while still coaching the Bulls?

Are we to the point to where recruits can't understand why the head coach is not visiting them personally while coaching an NBA team?

Because he isn't Barneys friend

 

[BluesDaddy]

Drew sucks. Apparently nobody on this board bothers to research his record at Baylor. "But but but, he has a Title!". He also has 3 Conference Titles in 21 years, and an overall record of .522

Only 2 conference titles IIRC, they were both shared.

 

[flacat22]

Anyone not winning it all can do better, but 3 years of coaching and having conference titles snd 2 Sw16 is much better than 0 conference titles in 20 years and not making past the 2nd rd 6 out of 7 years.

I love this ignorant argument about resources. He coached a P5 team in a good conference. He was at a very wealthy, private school with tons off donor money. He has recruited very well the last decade +, has solid facilities and solid resources. TX is the most talent rich state in the nation. More top ranked players come out of that state than anywhere. He has even beat out UK and Cal for multiple players. He literally built the teams he wanted and still had horrible results all but the covid year. Yet, you all think something is going to magically change because he comes to UK?

This is an awful hire! There is no way around it.

Hardly an ignorant argument, if you think Kentucky doesn’t offer a coach more in terms of support and backing then I don’t know what to tell you. Besides, it hasnt happened yet so I don’t understand the angst and again, we can agree to disagree.