Who is Joe Craft and why are UK basketball fans frantically tracking his private jet?

Every story has its characters.

In the case of University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball coaching search, the main players are clear. Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart, former coach John Calipari and the various candidates to replace him all take up much of the oxygen.

But UK fans have recently fixated on an inanimate object and what its whereabouts could mean for the search: a private jet owned by Joe Craft, the university’s biggest athletic booster and a powerful coal magnate in the state of Kentucky.

The jet, a 2009 Cessna Citation Sovereign Model (“the best combination of size, comfort, range and price in aviation history,” according to aircraft.com), has stirred constant news, social media and fan forum attention — and for good reason.

The plane was used to transport members of Baylor coach Scott Drew’s family to Lexington, according to a report from a television station that staked out the airport in Temple, Texas.

From Wednesday on social media site X: “There are now over 2,000 people tracking this flight. Cal was right. We are crazy.”

Drew reportedly did not take UK’s offer, so the plane’s travels have continued to generate tons of intrigue on social media. It’s been on the move, and as of mid-day Thursday was parked in New York City, not too far from the University of Connecticut where coach Dan Hurley just completed a back-to-back national title run.

“Crafts private Jet landed just seconds ago in NYC. Things are getting interesting. Is the Kentucky coaching search over? I think not,” one user said.

“Gonna be awesome if that flight is somebody interested in buying the Crafts’ jet and just taking it out for a test drive,” another X user joked Thursday.

Hurley ended up declining the chance to be Kentucky’s coach. He later appeared on “The Jim Rome Show” three days after leading the Huskies to a second consecutive national championship, Hurley was asked by Rome if there was a salary number that could “get your attention” and lead him to take the UK job opening this offseason.

“No,” Hurley replied. “I think being who you say you are at your core — I know how much UConn and the state of Connecticut and the university, how much they value me and my staff and the program staying where they are. I know all those things are in place for us to press for the three-peat and show people who you are. …

“Once you make a certain amount of money, it doesn’t make that much of a difference in your life. I couldn’t be happier than I am here and knowing that the people that are — with the portal, we’re going to have to be strategic there. We’ve got some outstanding recruits coming in, we’re going to return some guys that are going to help us keep it where we are. I’m going to be here going for a three-peat.”

On Thursday evening it was reported that BYU head coach and former Kentucky player Mark Pope would be the next head coach of the Wildcats. No official announcement has been made but the report was confirmed by multiple media outlets at the local and national level.

With so much attention directed toward the Craft’s plane, it went dark on at least one flight tracking website, FlightRadar24, during the saga. At one point, it was the most tracked plane in the world.

Who are the Crafts?

Kentuckians who watch TV probably remember the Craft name from Kelly Craft’s 2023 run for governor. Kelly and Joe Craft are married.

She came in third in a GOP primary race that ended up with former attorney general Daniel Cameron as the Republican candidate against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s successful re-election. Craft’s run was largely self-funded, with the candidate loaning herself more than $10 million and Joe Craft supporting a political action committee backing her with $1.5 million.

A longtime Lexington resident, Kelly Craft has been a major political fundraiser for decades. She also served as U.S. ambassador to Canada and the United Nations under former Republican president Donald Trump.

Joe Craft is one of the most powerful men in Kentucky and is among the wealthiest in the United States. A billionaire philanthropist and coal magnate from the Eastern Kentucky city of Hazard, Craft has been deeply involved in the University of Kentucky and its athletic programs for years as a booster.

In 2012, Herald-Leader columnist Linda Blackford dubbed Craft “one of the most powerful non-elected individuals” in the state. At the time, Forbes put his net worth at $1.4 billion.

“Craft’s name is well-known in Kentucky, even if his face is not. He sits at the nexus of three things about which Kentuckians care a lot: UK basketball, coal and politics. In all three venues, as his business empire has grown, so have his donations, spending and influence, making Craft one of the most powerful non-elected individuals in the state,” Blackford wrote in a profile.

He coordinated donations for a basketball practice facility bearing his own name as well as the “Wildcat Coal Lodge,” a dorm for players.

Many of Craft’s coal mines are still in Kentucky operating under the Alliance Resource Partners umbrella, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company that he leads.

Craft has recently been involved in state legislation that would benefit his industry, including Senate Bill 349, which would make it harder for utility companies to retire fossil fuel-fired plants even when they say it would help them keep rates low.

Kelly Craft’s name is still floated for higher office in Kentucky. She’s among several potential candidates who could make a run at replacing U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell should he announce he’s not running again in 2026.

Both Kelly and Joe Craft were recently tapped for high-ranking posts in the effort to elect Trump, who lost a 2020 reelection bid, to the White House again. They are co-chairs of the Republican National Committee’s Presidential Trust, and they kicked it off with an $826,000 joint donation.

Last year, Trump endorsed Cameron in the GOP gubernatorial race. Though he made the endorsement before Craft entered the fray as a candidate, the former president stuck with Cameron throughout the race.

Baylor’s Scott Drew will not be the next Kentucky basketball coach. UK’s search continues.

Who’s next? Here’s the latest news in the Kentucky basketball coaching search.

How would UConn coach Dan Hurley respond to an offer of more money from Kentucky?

Cal the Hogs: Former Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is introduced at Arkansas