Brown: Scott Drew chose comfort over challenge of Kentucky basketball — many of us would

Scott Drew's decision to stay at Baylor and reject an offer to become the Kentucky men’s basketball coach isn't an indictment on the program, just as it wasn't when he turned down overtures from Louisville.

What it does indicate, especially in this post-COVID day and age, is given the choice between staying comfortable and accepting a challenge, most of us will choose the path that ensures the best quality of life.

Most of you reading this column are probably doing so during office hours and possibly from the comfort of your own homes. (Some of y'all might be in pajamas or not even wearing pants, but keep that to yourself.)

We’ve all seen what change has done to college basketball in the past few years. The transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) played a part in causing a few legendary coaches like North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Villanova’s Jay Wright to walk away from the game rather than adapt to the new realities.

Drew’s move is staying in line with that.

Why leave the cocoon of comfort he created in Waco through 21 seasons with the Bears? He took them from one of the worst jobs in NCAA Division I basketball when he took over for disgraced coach Dave Bliss, to the national championship pinnacle in 2021.

Before Drew, the program had just four NCAA Tournament appearances. (Ironically, its first Final Four was in 1948 when Baylor lost to Adolph Rupp and UK in the title game.)

With Drew, the Bears made 12 of the last 16 tournaments after his first few years were spent wading through NCAA sanctions caused by Bliss, including a postseason ban, recruiting limitations and scholarship reductions.

If a bronze mold for a statue hasn’t already been ordered at Baylor, it’s certainly on the way for both what he was able to accomplish and the way he achieved it.

Drew has defined Baylor basketball in a way he could never at UK. He would always be chasing records set by Rupp, Rick Pitino or John Calipari.

He didn’t have to leave for UK. There was no pressure from a micro-managing athletics director nor big money boosters who wanted him gone.

The university just completed Foster Pavilion, a new, state-of-the-art arena in January that the Bears now call home.

He has everything he needs, if not wants, in Waco.

UK could have also provided all the accoutrements he wanted, but would come with an added layer of scrutiny and attention he really didn’t need.

Drew doesn't have the ego the head coach of UK needs to be successful. That's not to say he was too laid back for the job. Underneath the easy-going personality of Drew is a fierce competitor.

Baylor doesn’t have any inherit advantages for basketball, yet Drew proved he could sign high-level recruits there and win on the biggest stage.

The latest example was V.J. Edgecombe, a 6-foot-5 wing from Long Island, N.Y., ranked No. 5 in the class of 2024 and committed to Drew at Baylor. Edgecombe is the centerpiece of Baylor's top 10 class, according to 247 Sports.

Drew was so good recruiting he had to shed the narrative that’s all he could do when he led the Bears to the national championship.

He’s also shown he can develop players for the NBA. The Bears have had six first-round draft picks during his tenure including Keyonte George last year, Jeremy Sochan in 2022 and Davion Mitchell in 2021.

Those aren’t Kentucky numbers to be clear, but again, he did this at Baylor, where the program only produced three first round picks in its history before his arrival.

Baylor hasn’t made it out of the first weekend of the NCAAs since winning it all. Three straight seasons of second-round exits — once as a No. 1 seed and two, including last month’s loss to Clemson, came as a No. 3 seed.  

Those are the kind of results that moved Calipari from being safe and secure in his job to needing to seek a new destination.

There aren’t many coaches who would ask for that kind of heat. In not taking the Kentucky job, Drew chose to stay in his comfort zone, and really, who could blame him for that?

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to change out of these pajama pants.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.