Kentucky AD Tries To Save Face After Brutal Coaching Search With Humiliating Comparison To UConn

University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart was the laughing stock of college basketball for a few days last week as he struggled to land a new head coach. He made things even worse with an embarrassing comparison to UConn.

The reigning national champions are in a much better spot than the Wildcats right now.

However, Barnhart tried to use an unbelievably irrelevant spin zone to boost the optics of his university’s most important athletics program. It was focused around social media impressions.

All of the chaos and humiliation began when Kentucky fans ran John Calipari out of town after 15 years. The 65-year-old head coach left Lexington for the same job at Arkansas after winning six SEC championships, reaching four final fours and winning the national championship in 2012. If those optics weren’t bad enough, he took a pay cut to do so.

That left the Wildcats with a vacancy. Mitch Barnhart immediately went to work.

However, he missed on three of the top candidates. Scott Drew, who Barnhart long said would one day replace Calipari, said no. As did Dan Hurley and Nate Oats.

Tough look.

Barnhart ultimately hired Kentucky alumnus Mark Pope away from BYU. While Pope could end up being a winner (it is hard not to win in Lexington), it was a pretty big let down considering that he has never won an NCAA Tournament game. Wildcats fans melted down after the hire was first announced.

To try and save face, Barnhart pointed to social media. He explained that Kentucky saw more impressions on their posts during a coaching search than UConn after a national championship during an appearance on local radio.