When Kentucky hired Tubby Smith 10 years ago, Smith became the first black coach in UK's history.  Kentucky now has a chance to make history again, not only for itself, but for all Division I men's basketball teams and schools.  They could do this by hiring the most successful coach of all time in the history of college basketball:  Pat Summitt.

While it seems as though Kentucky is biding its time for Florida to finish its season so it can offer the head coaching job to Billy Donavan, purportedly for as much as $2.5 to $4 million a year.  I believe that Donavan, even if offered the job, will ultimately decide to remain at Florida.  An offer from Kentucky will provide him with the opportunity to collect at least as much money from his current employer, virtually guaranteeing an increase of between $1.5 to $2.5 million in his current salary.  UK is, for Donavan, a bargaining chip, and when all is said an done he will probably stay where he is.

Who does that leave for Kentucky to pursue?  Here is the rundown in my opinion:

Rick Pitino has said unequivocally that he is not interested in returning to UK.

John Calipari has (thankfully in my opinion) signed a long-term extension with Memphis.  One would think this would preclude him from taking the Kentucky job, and that is fine with me, given his troubled past with the University of Massachusetts.

John Pelphrey and Travis Ford, though alumni of UK's basketball program and loved by Wildcat fans because of this, are still very early in their coaching careers and are not the marquee coach that UK is seeking or deserves.

Pat Riley would probably not leave the NBA for college hoops, though I wouldn't mind him coming to UK. 

Mark Few, highly successful at Gonzaga, may not be ready or willing to leave a very comfortable situation where he is for the fishbowl that is Kentucky basketball.

Rick Barnes, though successful overall at Texas, has never been too successful in NCAA tournament play, and this was one of the knocks against Smith.