Scott Drew to Remain at Baylor Following Kentucky Pursuit

The longtime Baylor coach will remain in Waco after a pursuit by Kentucky for its head coaching vacancy.

Feb 20, 2024; Provo, Utah, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew instructs against the Brigham / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Baylor coach Scott Drew will remain with the program after speaking with Kentucky about its vacant head coaching opening left by John Calipari, according to a report from ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.

Drew emerged as Kentucky's top target to replace Calipari when he left for the Arkansas job earlier this week, but Drew instead chose to remain in Waco where he has won 446 career games and a national championship in his 21 years at the helm.

The driver of Drew's decision, according to Borzello and Thamel, as well as Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68, was his family's disinterest in moving away from Waco. Drew has three children that are college and high school age, and have spent their entire lives in Waco.

After taking a big swing and missing on Drew, Kentucky will now look elsewhere. Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, as well as Auburn's Bruce Pearl, Illinois' Brad Underwood, Xavier's Sean Miller and BYU's Mark Pope are among the names to watch as the Wildcats look to regroup quickly in their coaching search.