Jamal Crawford's NBA season is over. Will he join Kentucky now?

While Kentucky pursues Milan Momcilovic to complete its 2026-27 roster, Mark Pope is in pursuit with an empty seat on staff. Kentucky still hasn’t filled one of the assistant coaching spots left open by the departures of Jason Hart and Alvin Brooks following last season, with only Mo Williams joining Pope’s staff this past spring.

One reason for the delay in making a new hire is Kentucky’s offer to Jamal Crawford, who has been busy with his NBA broadcasting duties lately. Crawford has been a pipe dream throughout Big Blue Nation since word leaked of his candidacy during the recruitment of Tyran Stokes. It’s now too late for Crawford to help there; however, he was still considering the position as of two weeks ago.

KSR confirmed Crawford’s interest at the Nike EYBL’s stop in Memphis, where he was there coaching his son, JJ Crawford, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2029. He told Jack Pilgrim and Jacob Polacheck that he is serious about becoming a coach one day.

[Jamal Crawford still mulling Kentucky assistant job]

Crawford’s obligations to NBC’s NBA coverage stood in the way of his coaching aspirations the last couple of months. However, NBC’s NBA programming ended over the weekend with the completion of the Western Conference Finals, as ESPN and ABC will carry the Finals. Thus, Crawford’s time as a broadcaster is done for the season, opening the door to take Pope up on his offer to coach with the Wildcats next season.

Assistant coach opening still listed on UK Jobs

The official job listing for Assistant Coach/Basketball has been active on the UK Jobs website for several weeks, with the deadline being pushed back to June 3, 2026, potentially to accommodate Crawford’s timeline.

The hope is that Crawford, now free from his TV duties, will soon take Pope up on the offer. The longtime NBA vet would be an excellent hire, especially to help with UK’s struggling recruiting efforts.

If not Crawford, then Kentucky went through all of April and May down an assistant coach for no apparent reason, leaving Pope to pivot from Crawford after the transfer portal window and the beginning of summer high school recruiting. Teams report to summer camp in the next couple of weeks, so it may be too late to pull another assistant away from another college staff.

The gamble makes sense if Crawford is the prize. If he arrives in Lexington, nobody will care that the position sat vacant for two months. If not, the delay becomes much harder to explain.

Either way, Kentucky needs an answer soon before the team arrives in Lexington in a couple of weeks.