The Happy Day follow-up post

OK. I've had some time for the euphoria to subside. Tubby is gone.

I've spent the evening thinking about how UK should handle the situation. First off, Mitch needs to take a hard look at how Notre Dame and Alabama mishandled their recent football coaching vacancies. I'm not saying that either school didn't end up with a good coach, but they both made the same mistakes. Mitch needs to try to keep his coaching search quiet and as secretive as possible. Both Notre Dame and Alabama let out the names of the coaches they were pursuing and both schools looked pretty bad when those coaches denied interest in the prospective jobs. I think it's fair to say that the UK basketball job and the football jobs at Notre Dame and Alabama are similar in stature. With that said, let's take a look at who I think UK should quietly to contact to gauge their interest.

#1) Billy Donovan - I don't think Billy will be interested but I don't see the harm in contacting him. Rumor has it that Billy has an out clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for the UK job. If nothing else, it would probably force Florida to offer him some big bucks to stay at UF.

#2) Rick Pitino - Again, I don't think Rick will be interested. But, he still says that leaving UK was the worst thing he has ever done. The UK fans say they don't want him back, but that's not true. I think it would take some big money to even get him to consider leaving UL, but imagine what that would do to the rivalry.

#3) Rick Majeras - I don't think he would be interested because of his health. This is unfortunate because I think he has the perfect personality for the job and I think UK fans would love his style of ball. He might be thinking, "If you can't beat them, join them." If you don't understand what that means, you're not a UK fan.

#4) John Calipari - I'm not sure Mitch will want to talk to him. John's a fun coach who would probably be successful at UK, but there were a lot of questions about his integrity when he was at Umass. All UK fans know that we don't need another scandal in the Bluegrass State.

#5) Thad Motta - He might be a guy who would be interested, but I don't know much about him. He seems like a good guy, and I do think he is a great coach. He is also a great recruiter, which is what I think was ultimately Tubby's downfall. Thad will always be second fiddle at the football school of Ohio State. I think he is worth pursuing.

#6) Mark Few - I hear there are some ties between him and Mitch. If I were a betting man, I would bet that Mitch goes after him. I don't think this would be a good hire. Let's not forget that Tubby is going to Minnesota to replace Dan Monson who failed miserably after leaving Gonzaga. I'm not sure that hiring Mark Few at UK would be smart since Mark is a disciple of Dan's. I don't think recruiting at Gonzaga would be quite the same as recruiting at UK.

#7) Tom Crean - Again, I think he would be interested but I also think he would be a dumb hire. His record is worse than Tubby's and I don't think he could handle the pressure at UK. If I were a betting man, I would bet this is MItch's number two choice.

#8) Travis Ford, John Pelphrey, etc. You could throw a whole bunch of names in here. These are all the young coaches without a proven track record at a big school. You know all of these guys will be interested, but do you really want to hand the UK basketball program to one of these guys? I wouldn't be surprised if this is where UK ends up.

I know I didn't mention all the names that are being thrown around by the media. I have heard Billy Gillespie and Steve Lavin's name out there to name a few. I'm sure both of those guys would be interested but I just don't think they are big enough for this job, or young enough to take a chance on. They both have track records but I don't think they will be serious contenders. I'm sure I missed some other people, but all the names I mentioned above are where I would start if I was in control. I'm sure I won't get too many comments on this post because I don't think anybody even reads this blog.

The interesting thing to consider is that the recruiting and signing period is upon us. I would imagine that Mitch is in a bit of a hurry to get somebody in the coach's position before all the good recruits disappear. I would also imagine that it is too late now to get Patterson and Lucas to sign, but it might not be too late to get some quality guys if Mitch gets his ass in gear.