Odds on Who Becomes the Kentucky Wildcats Next Head Coach as Calipari Heads to Arkansas

Monday's solar eclipse might have been eclipsed by the bombshell that hit college basketball last night.

John Calipari is reportedly headed to Arkansas to become the Razorbacks next head coach.

Calipari has spent 15 years as head coach at Kentucky. His close ties with John Tyson (billionaire heir to Tyson Foods) and his family, likely led to the move as the Tyson clan is Arkansas's biggest donor.  Calipari's contract with Kentucky does run through 2028-29 and but, importantly, he is not owed a buyout for exiting early.

"Our crew quickly set odds on who will replace Coach Cal at Kentucky," BetOnline advised.  "There are some obvious candidates near the top, but don't overlook some of the darkhorses on the 26-man list."

Early action has been on Scott Drew and Nate Oats, and the below lines have moved quite a bit, so you’ll want to check the latest odds via the link below.

Drew is the head coach of the Baylor Bears while Oats serves as head coach for an Alabama team that made its way all the way to the Final Four.  While Drew has the second shortest odds of landing the Kentucky job at 5-1, Oats is listed as a relative long shot at 9-1.

Rick Pitino comes in as the odds-on favorite at 3-1.

Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News points out the one obstacle that could get in the way of a Pitino selection.

"If Pitino were 61 and not 71, the deal might be done by Monday morning. In this case, there might be others to consider, but he’s one of the few people equipped to do the job on every level."

Kentucky Next Basketball Coach

Rick Pitino               3/1

Scott Drew                    5/1

Billy Donovan                6/1

Mark Pope                    7/1

Kelvin Sampson             9/1

Nate Oats                     9/1

Rick Pitino                    12/1

Sean Miller                   12/1

Chris Beard                   16/1

Jamie Dixon                  16/1

Shaka Smart                 16/1

Scott Padgett                20/1

Anfernee Hardaway      25/1

Bruce Pearl                   25/1

Dan Hurley                   25/1

Jay Wright                    25/1

TJ Otzelberger               25/1

Will Wade                     25/1

Brad Under                   33/1

Jerome Tang                 33/1

Mark Few                     33/1

Mick Cronin                  33/1

Shaheen Holloway        33/1

Tommy Lloyd                33/1

Bill Self                         50/1

Mike Krzyzewski            50/1

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com