PORTLAND, Org.– Kentucky suffered a mass exodus last week when its top seven scorers– 6-11 freshman Karl Antony Towns, 7-0 junior center Willie Cauley, 6-9 freshman forward Trey Lyles, 7-0 sophomore center Dakota Johnson and sophomore guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison– all declared for the NBA draft.
The nucleus of a 38-1 team that left just short in its pursuit of perfection, could became the first program to produce seven players selected in one draft, breaking their own record of six after the 2011-2012 season.
Towns could be the first pick in the draft. Cauley- Stein’s stock may have dropped him to low lottery, but he, Lyles and Booker should be first round picks. The twins should go in the second round along with Johnson.
The players made their decision in a giant news conference, with Calipari asking the seven to indicate by a show of hands whether or not they would enter their names and then asked them to stand up.
When the magnificent hesitated, the next word out of Calipari’s mouth was “Really?”
All seven rose to say good bye.
“It was a tough decision, but all seven wanted to pursue our dreams,” Aaron Harrison said.
At any other school, including Duke, this might have been devastating.
But never sell Calipari short. He likes challenges and has track record on his side, having already sent 19 players to the NBA in just four years in Lexington. Kentucky has enough good players remaining and incoming freshmen to actually make another run at the NCAA Final Four..
Calipari has enough pieces with of 6-8 junior Derek Willis, 6-9 Marcus Lee 6-8 senor forward Alex Poythress and a backcourt of sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis and junior Dominique Hawkins to make a run at another SEC title. Aside from Ulis they have just been waiting their turn.
And while it is unclear how many blue chip recruits Kentucky will eventually bring in, but the three he has signed could help the Cats make a run at a fifth Final Four in six years. Skilled 6-11 forward Skal Labissiere (No. 4 in Rivals rankings) from Haiti and RYD Prep in Tenn. , who has been the best looking prospect on the World Select team at the Nike Hoop Summit this week; high-scoring guard Isaiah Briscoe (No. 10) from New Jersey Tournament of champions winner Roselle, N.J. Catholic and 6-4 wing Charles Matthews (No. 58) of Chicago St. Rita’s each signed in the fall.
And the prospect of immediate playing time should make the Wildcats more attractive to some of the elite prospects they’re pursuing this spring and could put them over the top.
If Kentucky can land one more big man and a wing guard, they could make another deep run in March.
Calipari, a recent selectee to the Naismith Hall of Fame, is arguably one of, if not, the best recruiter of his generation and, at age 56, he will loves the chase.
Kentucky is heavily involved with two impact guards– Jaylen Brown, Rivals.com’s No. 2 prospect from Wheeler, Ga. High and guard Malik Newman, Rivals.com’s No. 3 prospect, from Jackson Miss. Callaway. Among the other top 20 prospects Kentucky is targeting this spring are forwards Thon Maker, a 6-10 reclassified Sudanese star who playing basketball in Australia, the United States and Orangeville Prep in Ontario, Canada; 6-9 forward Cheick Diallo of Our Savior New American, 6-9 forward Caleb Swanigan of Ft. Wayne, Ind. Homestead; and 7-0 center Stephen Zimmerman from Bishop Gorman in Vegas.
But everything is not a slam dunk anywhere, judge we are to judge by the Nike Hoop Summit.
Duke Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose Devils just won the NCAA tournament; and Cal coach Cuonzo Martin have become major players in the race nine major prospects still on the board from the national select team and the World Select team.
Krzyzewski has already signed 6-8 Chase Jeter– a Grant Hill clone from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas; and 6-5 Luke Kennard from Franklin, Oh. High, who is arguably the best pure shooter in the country and are right there with Carolina for 6-9 forward Brandon Ingram of Kinston, N.C. High and has just called 6-5 Jamal Murray of Orangeville Prep in Ontario.
Martin is the leader for 6-9 Ivan Rabb of Bishop O’Dowd IN Oakland, Swannigan, because of his close connection with his guardian Rosevelt Barnes when he was an assistant at Purdue; and Jaylen Brown.
Kentucky is one of eight wth Brown. Newman, the MVP of the U16 and U17 gold medal teams from Jackson, Miss. is likely to choose beteen Kenutcky, LSU, Mississippi State and Kansas.
Diallo is suddenly more interested in St. John’s after Chris Mullin took the job.
Zimmerman sounds likely to stay on the West Coast.
And there is a chance Maker could skip college all together to sing a professional contract for a year in a Canadian pro league before declaring for the draft.
Calipari, a recent selectee to the Naismith Hall of Fame, is arguably one of, if not, the best recruiters of his generation and, at age 56, he will loves the chase. In the end, the Cats may not have the same overwhelming size as they did this year, but they also won’t have to worry about platooning in order to make everyone happy.
The Cats don’t rebuild. They just reload.
