Of ex-Cats turned college head coaches, who has best chance to make the NCAA tourney?

Mark Story

After the firings in recent seasons of Allen Edwards (Wyoming), Steve Masiello (Manhattan) and Scott Padgett (Samford), the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season tipped off with only four ex-Kentucky Wildcats players serving as NCAA Division I head coaches.

The ascension of former UK walk-on guard Dwight Perry to the position of Wofford interim head coach on Dec. 5 pushed that number back to five.

For the ex-Cats turned coaches, 2022-23 has been a mixed bag.

As March Madness draws near, none of the five former Kentucky players who are now head men are assured berths in the NCAA Tournament.

In alphabetical order, let’s check in on how 2022-23 is going for the former Wildcats who are now college head coaches and evaluate who looks to have the best chance of getting their teams into March Madness:

Travis Ford, the former Kentucky Wildcats point guard, appears to have a viable chance to coach Saint Louis to the NCAA Tournament for a second time.
Travis Ford, the former Kentucky Wildcats point guard, appears to have a viable chance to coach Saint Louis to the NCAA Tournament for a second time.

Travis Ford

School: Saint Louis.

2022-23 record: 18-10 (10-4, tied for second place in Atlantic 10).

Coach’s overall record: 130-86, one NCAA Tournament appearance (2018-19) at Saint Louis since 2016-17; 408-312, seven NCAA tourney trips (1-7 record) in 23 seasons overall.

UK days: Scored 951 career points in three seasons (1991-94) after transferring from Missouri.

NET ranking: 99 (third in Atlantic 10).

Season’s shining moment(s): Scored non-league victories over potential NCAA Tournament teams Memphis (90-84 on Nov. 15) and Providence (76-73 on Nov. 20).

Season’s darkest moment: Took a 73-65 home-court loss to VCU on Feb. 3, an outcome that is the reason the Rams, not Ford’s Billikens, are leading the Atlantic 10.

The road ahead: After games at Richmond and vs. Loyola Chicago, Saint Louis ends its season with contests against fellow-league leaders VCU (on the road) and Dayton (at home), so Saint Louis could still win the Atlantic 10 regular-season title.

Regardless, of the ex-UK players coaching, Ford is one of two who appears to have the best chance to win a league tournament and make the NCAA tourney in 2023.

John Pelphrey, the former Kentucky forward, is trying to lead Tennessee Tech its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1963.
John Pelphrey, the former Kentucky forward, is trying to lead Tennessee Tech its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1963.

John Pelphrey

School: Tennessee Tech.

2022-23 record: 13-16 (9-7, tied for fourth in Ohio Valley Conference).

Coach’s overall record: 36-81 at Tennessee Tech since 2019-20; 187-207, two NCAA Tournament trips (1-2 tourney record) in 13 seasons overall.

UK days: After a redshirt season (1987-88), scored 1,257 points from 1988 through 1992.

NET ranking: 293 (seventh in the OVC).

Season’s shining moment: Defeated current OVC leader Morehead State 79-62 on Jan. 12.

Season’s darkest moment: With Tennessee Tech riding a five-game win streak, the Golden Eagles lost an 84-77 double-overtime heartbreaker at Southeast Missouri State on Jan. 21 in a game in which a victory would have given Tech sole possession of first place in the OVC.

The road ahead: To earn only the third NCAA Tournament trip in Tennessee Tech history and the first since 1963, Pelphrey’s Golden Eagles will have to make an underdog run to the OVC Tournament championship.

Current Wofford College interim head men’s basketball coach Dwight Perry came to the University of Kentucky as a men’s hoops walk-on in 2006 with the idea of going into college coaching. The first cousin of former UK forward Bobby Perry, Dwight Perry has also worked as an aide to the men’s basketball programs at Stanford and VCU and as an assistant at Furman.

Dwight Perry

School: Wofford.

2022-23 record: Team is 15-14; coach is 10-10 (7-9, tied for fifth in the Southern Conference) since taking over as interim head man on Dec. 5.

Coach’s overall record: 10-10.

UK days: Scored five career points in three seasons (2006 through 2009) as a walk-on guard.

NET ranking: 227 (fifth in Southern Conference).

Season’s shining moment: Stunned Texas A&M (currently one game behind Alabama for the SEC lead) in College Station, 67-62, on Dec. 20. It is the Aggies’ only home-court loss to date this season.

Season’s darkest moments: Dropped back-to-back overtime games to Western Carolina (95-91 in double OT on Feb. 8) and at UNC Greensboro (89-87 in OT on Feb. 12).

The road ahead: To make the NCAA tourney, Wofford will have to win the league tournament. Perry is hoping to do well enough as interim head coach to earn the Terriers job on a full-time basis.

Mark Pope’s fourth season as head coach of the BYU Cougars has been punctuated by four close losses to West Coast Conference powers Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The former Kentucky Wildcats center is 84-40 in four seasons as BYU coach.
Mark Pope’s fourth season as head coach of the BYU Cougars has been punctuated by four close losses to West Coast Conference powers Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The former Kentucky Wildcats center is 84-40 in four seasons as BYU coach.

Mark Pope

School: Brigham Young.

2022-23 record: 16-14 (6-9, tied for seventh in West Coast Conference).

Coach’s overall record: 84-40, one NCAA Tournament trip (0-1 record) since 2019-20 at BYU; 161-96 in eight seasons overall.

UK days: Scored 546 points in two seasons (1994 through 1996) after transferring from Washington.

NET ranking: 94 (fourth in WCC).

Season’s shining moments: Beat archrival Utah 75-66 on Dec. 17. Upset then-No. 21 Creighton 83-80 on Dec. 10.

Season’s darkest moments: Took a pair of crushing, one-point home losses to WCC heavyweights Gonzaga (75-74 on Jan. 12) and Saint Mary’s (57-56 on Jan. 28).

The road ahead: The Cougars will have to make what would be a shocking run to the WCC Tournament title to earn the Pope coaching era’s second NCAA tourney trip.

Moving forward, the challenge of getting BYU into the NCAA Tournament will only increase when the Cougars move into what is currently the nation’s top basketball league, the Big 12, starting next season.

Southern University Coach Sean Woods led the Jaguars to an 8-1 start in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, but the Jaguars have gone 1-4 in the league since to stand at 9-5 in third place in the league.
Southern University Coach Sean Woods led the Jaguars to an 8-1 start in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, but the Jaguars have gone 1-4 in the league since to stand at 9-5 in third place in the league.

Sean Woods

School: Southern.

2022-23 record: 13-14 (9-5, third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference).

Coach’s overall record: 62-79 since 2018-19 at Southern; 189-229, one NCAA Tournament trip (2012, 0-1 record) in 14 seasons overall.

UK days: Scored 794 career points in three seasons (1989-1992).

NET ranking: 247 (third in the SWAC).

Season’s shining moment: Started conference play 8-1.

Season’s darkest moment: After winning eight of nine to open SWAC play, has subsequently lost four out of five, including defeats against Alabama State (6-8 in the SWAC) and Texas Southern (6-8).

The road ahead: Along with Travis Ford at Saint Louis, Woods appears to have the best chance among the ex-UK players turned coaches of winning a conference tournament in 2023 and participating in March Madness.

This winter, ex-Cat Dwight Perry has been thrust into a Division I head coaching job

Kentucky skyrockets up new NCAA Tournament bracketology boards. Is the top 25 next?

With four games to go, a look at the SEC men’s basketball standings and schedule

First Scouting Report: UK goes for another Quad 1 win and a season sweep of Florida

Advertisement