It was a short, but eventful search for Hunter Yurachek to fill the men’s basketball head coaching vacancy left behind by Eric Musselman.
Short lists that included the likes of Chris Beard, Jerome Tang and Will Wade, leaked reports of interviews with Chris Jans and Darrell Walker, and growing concern that Yurachek was in over his head dominated the first 72 hours.
Fast forward to Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena and he was introducing Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer John Calipari as Arkansas’ 14th men’s basketball coach in program history.
Yes, of course, John Tyson is owed a large portion of the credit, but Yurachek deserves his flowers as well.
Yurachek had the opportunity to set the record straight during a post-ceremony press conference and made sure to let it be known that while he did his due diligence throughout the process, Calipari was always in his crosshairs.
“You guys have been with me through two men’s basketball searches and one football search, and I’m very thorough in that search process,” Yurachek said.”
“It is a very tight, closed search process, but I don’t just zero in on just on one person.”
“I didn’t know for sure if he was going to take the job. So, I had to keep my search ongoing while he was taking into consideration the opportunity that was in front of him.”
Naturally, Yurachek spoke with a number of candidates about the open position, but the only official offer that was extended went to the man who ultimately accepted the job.
“I talked to 8-10 different coaches about this job,” Yurachek said. “And here is what I want to be clear about: In spite of the reports, there was only one person offered this job. And he is sitting right next to me.”
Beard and Tang were able to parlay sweeter deals at their respective schools when they were engulfed in the carousel rumors in Fayetteville.
As Yurachek pointed out, part of the reason why Calipari’s name stayed under wraps as long as it did was because his interest in Arkansas was genuine and not a leverage play with Kentucky.
“I think it is interesting that his name never got out during the process because he wanted this job in the end,” Yurachek said. “He wasn’t looking for something else at the institution he was at.”