Compiling a 38-1 record in the 2014-15 basketball season, Kentucky averaged 74.4 points per game. Those top scorers won’t be with the Wildcats next year.
Seven Kentucky players recently announced their intentions of leaving the school for a chance at playing in the NBA. The seven (Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker) were also the top seven scorers from the Final Four team, which was ousted by eventual runner-up Wisconsin.
For Kentucky fans, a national title was the dream. But for those now-former Wildcats leaving early, the dream is to make millions of dollars. The goal is always the NBA for the nation’s top high school players, many of whom find their way to Kentucky to play collegiately.
Cauley-Stein has the best chance of being taken No. 1 overall during the draft in June. He averaged over eight points and six rebounds each game. He’s been compared to a young Tim Duncan.
Aaron Harrison was the team’s leading scorer with 11 per game. He also was second on the team with 43 steals. Harrion’s twin brother, Andrew, averaged 9.3 points per game and led the Wildcats with three assists per game. Towns blocked 88 shots this past season and with Cauley-Stein helped dominate in the paint. Booker didn’t start any games for Kentucky, but was one of the hottest 3-point shooters in the county, finishing with a .411-percent mark from behind-the-arc. Johnson wasn’t a starter, either, averaging just 16 minutes per game. A strong force inside, though, he was one of the top rebounders on the team. Finally, Lyles can develop into a Karl Malone-like power forward with a soft shooting touch and quality rebounding skills.
The superb seven could have been the ecentric eight, had Alex Poythress not injured his leg just eight games into the season. If the 6-foot-8 junior had been able to play down the stretch, the Wildcats almost assuredly would have been national champions, not Duke. Poythress may still declare his intentions for the draft. Though NBA scouts may sour on his recent ailments.
The current situations for the ‘Cats isn’t despairing, even as half the team is gone. Like the five-in, five-out substitutions, another all-star team is on its way to the Bluegrass State. Haiti-native Skal Labissiere is a 7-foot scorer who will undoubtedly be the starting man in the middle for Kentucky next season. There’s also the top prep point guard in the country, Isaiah Briscoe. The New Jersey-native will have the benefit of playing alongside a Wildcat veteran guard in Tyler Ulis. The 5-foot-9 rising sophomore did not start in his freshman season, but scored crucial points in the tournament run. Then, Charles Matthews, a guard from Chicago, will be looked to as a go-to scorer as he comes in as one of the best shooters at the high school level.
This is the John Calipari way. In his six years at Kentucky, Calipari has ushered off 19 players to the NBA, with 15 being first round draft picks. Including stops at Massachusetts and Memphis, Calipari has coached 33 eventual NBA players. In a few months, that total will reach 40.