Drew refuses UK interest, remains Baylor coach

Pete Thamel Jeff

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with Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart however eventually chose to stay at Baylor, where he has actually coached for 21 years and gone 446-244. He validated his plan to stay the Bears coach in a declaration Thursday. “We genuinely believe God has actually called my household and I to continue our work here at Baylor,

surrounded by the best individuals and community anyone might be blessed to have,”Drew said.” We are grateful for the assistance of [AD] Mack Rhoades, President [Linda] Livingstone and the entire Baylor household, and we eagerly anticipate working together to bring more champions to Waco.”The Drew household has actually developed deep roots in main Texas, which loomed big in the

choice to remain. Drew likewise listened to Louisville in its search last month before eventually handing down that opportunity.The courtship with Kentucky buckled down enough that KWTX, a tv station in main Texas, shot members

of Drew’s household getting off a personal plane with ties to a Kentucky donor that flew back from Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday night.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Drew deliberated for about a day, as he had long thought about Kentucky among the few tasks he would think about leaving Baylor for.Drew’s decision to

stay in Waco leaves Kentucky’s administrators looking at a various tier of prospects. Before the job even opened, nationwide title-winning coaches Jay

Wright, previously of Villanova, and Dan Hurley of UConn decreased interest. Bulls coach Billy Donovan, who won 2 national titles at Florida, said openly that he is dedicated to Chicago, which plays in the NBA play-in tournament on April 17. Alabama’s Nate Oats also launched a declaration stating that he is not interested. Names such as Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Illinois’Brad Underwood, Xavier’s Sean Miller, Florida’s

Todd Golden, Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger and BYU’s Mark Pope would appear to become the next tier.Drew is not thought to have actually met with Kentucky face to face, sources said. But the depth of the relationship with Barnhart didn’t make that a necessity. Throughout the 2021 NCAA competition, which was kept in a bubble due to the fact that of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnhart was the competition committee chair and saw practically every Baylor game and practice. Essentially, Drew offered him a monthlong in-person interview three years ago.The winningest coach in Baylor history, Drew is one of simply seven active guys’s college basketball head coaches to have actually won a national championship. He also assisted the Bears to their first-ever Big 12 regular-season title, ending up atop the conference standings in 2021 and 2022. Drew, 53, led among the greatest rebuilding efforts in college sports history considering that taking control of at Baylor in 2003, when he inherited a program mired in scandal. Baylor forward Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson during an argument, and taking place examinations exposed that then-coach Dave

Happiness attempted to avoid NCAA violations by declaring Dennehy was dealing drugs in order to pay his tuition.Further NCAA investigations revealed a number of major infractions devoted by Bliss, who resigned and received a 10-year show-cause charge from the NCAA. Baylor was struck with probation, considerable scholarship decreases and a ban on nonconference games throughout the 2005-06 season.Just two years after the penalty, Drew had Baylor in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years– and the Bears have now gone to 12 of the previous 16 NCAA competitions. They have actually won a minimum of one game in five consecutive tournaments, getting knocked out in the 2nd round in each of the previous 3 seasons because the title win.Prior to taking over at Baylor, Drew invested one season as the head coach at Valparaiso, where he served 9 seasons as an assistant coach under his father, Homer. Throughout his one season at the helm, Drew led the Crusaders to 20 wins and the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season title.