All signs point to Mitch Barnhart sailing off into the sunset as the Kentucky Wildcats' long-time athletic director at the end of the academic year. Barnhart has seen the end of two iconic eras with his school's two biggest revenue sports in basketball and in football. Over the last few years, he has seen John Calipari walk away to Arkansas, and had to move on from Mark Stoops. Can he do it again?
While moving on from Mark Pope this soon is not likely to happen, Billy Donovan could be had soon...
The former Florida Gators and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach seems to be on his way out with the Chicago Bulls. He may step down at the end of the season. With the North Carolina Tar Heels moving on from Hubert Davis on Tuesday evening, Donovan seems to be at the top of the Tar Heels' wishlist. Of course, the NBA regular season still has a few more weeks left to be played before it ends.
Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 communicated earlier this week with Donovan about the situation.
"I was texting with Billy Donovan earlier... He's got a lucrative contract with the Bulls right now, but there are a ton of people in his circle that have told him to get out of there"@GoodmanHoops on the North Carolina search 👀
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 25, 2026
🎥: https://t.co/Cm0rEC8no0 pic.twitter.com/G7JZNbvdWC
While the chances of Barnhart actually moving on from Pope in favor of courting Donovan seem rather slim, who is going to want to take this job with Pope and Will Stein at the helm of the school's most important athletic teams? Pope and Stein may be up-and-comers, but Donovan is a legend in the college game from his time at Florida. Rick Pitino's greatest disciple may be back in college soon.
Again, Barnhart is not going to pull the trigger on this, but it could set Kentucky up for a bright future.
Mitch Barnhart could surprise everyone at UK by pursuing Billy Donovan
Look. Pope only just finished up his second season leading his alma mater. He has won three tournament games since coming back home to Lexington from over at BYU. In most instances, that should be more than good enough to give him additional runway beyond just another season. That being said, the way Kentucky looked vs. Santa Clara, and especially vs. Iowa State, was so damning.
To put it as bluntly as possible, how are Kentucky fans going to feel when other traditional powers such as North Carolina and potentially Kansas end up landing incredible coaches this offseason? Not to say that Donovan, Todd Golden, or anyone is destined for those jobs, but that is who those blue-bloods could be targeting. If Kentucky were to run it back with Pope, then it will get what it deserves...
Even though Donovan has an interesting history at best with Kentucky, we have seen plenty of coaches leave one program and go coach a rival later on. Pitino did it going from Kentucky to Louisville, with the Boston Celtics in between. Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas. Mike White went from Florida to Georgia. These things happen all the time! Kentucky has some big things to consider.
No, Barnhart is never going to do this, but some members of Big Blue Nation will wish that he would.