I’m not going to lie to you: despite how slow the offseason can get, I really wanted to avoid being in the middle of a head coach rumor storm. And that’s exactly where we appeared to be headed today. . .

But the storm appears to have passed.

Here’s what happened:

1:15 a.m. I write three things of note in my Morning Coffee post: (1) Brian and Dave absolutely knocked the Michigan coaching search coverage out of the park, (2) my gut feeling was that Billy Donovan was going to entertain offers from Kentucky and – in my estimation – head to Lexington, and (3) we needed to keep an eye on this situation, but it looked like we had plenty of time before worrying about whether Rick Barnes was going to be involved in this.

12:30 p.m. Florida head coach Billy Donovan announces that he will not interview with Kentucky.

12:30 p.m. In the same ESPN article, Andy Katz reports that his sources are telling him that Rick Barnes is at the top of Kentucky’s Plan B list. I’m now imagining myself immersed in the craziness that is a head coaching search involving Kentucky and, if Barnes leaves, then Texas.

12:45 p.m. I’m not sure exactly when this UK Rivals article was published (CatsPause does not timestamp articles), but it was up right after I read the ESPN piece, so they were roughly concurrent. In it, the UK Rivals staff confirms that Barnes is – at least for now – at the top of the list.

2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Orangebloods basketball writer Gerry Hamilton – who I noted earlier this morning is outstanding – posts a series of updates as he gets information from around the country. We learn that there have been discussions of some sort between Barnes and Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt, but Gerry can’t get to anyone close enough to figure out if there’s fire or just smoke.

6:30 p.m. Orangebloods editor Geoff Ketchum posts a cryptic note in which he says he’s heard some unbelievable news that he doesn’t care to explain to the board, but that Texas fans should basically buckle up for a rough ride. No two ways about it – the post was scary.

7:04 p.m. The original Orangebloods update post is removed from the site and a new one pops up, this time with news from Gerry again, who says that sources as close as he can get to the situation are confirming that Rick Barnes is staying at Texas .

<collapses on floor in exhaustion>

Yowzers! What a freaking day. . .

Assuming Gerry is right, Rick Barnes is staying at Texas, the PB "Kevin is staying in Austin" theory is still alive, and we can all rest assured that there won’t be an exhausting and potentially painful head coaching search for the men’s basketball team.

I’ll have a Makers Mark, please.

Make that a double. . .

--PB--