Wildcat Blue Nation
Fansided

NBA Playoffs a showcase for former Kentucky Wildcats, John Calipari players

By Paul Jordan

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next

More from Kentucky Wildcats News

The NBA Playoffs start on Saturday and you will be hard-pressed to not find a matchup that does not feature a former Kentucky Wildcat or a John Calipari player.  It is well documented the success that John Calipari has had in sending players to the pros and after this season, the NBA rosters will be even more stocked with former Wildcats.  Not all of the NBA credit goes to John Calipari, however.  Nazr Mohammed, who was coached by Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith, recently became the first former Kentucky Wildcat ever to play in 1000 games in the NBA.

All in all, 11 former Wildcats / John Calipari players are on NBA playoff rosters.  

"New Orleans’ Anthony Davis (Kentucky, 2012) and Tyreke Evans (Memphis, 2009), and Boston’s James Young (Kentucky, 2014) will be making their first appearances in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Chicago’s Nazr Mohammed (Kentucky, 1996-98) and Derrick Rose (Memphis, 2008), Toronto’s Chuck Hayes (Kentucky, 2002-05) and Patrick Patterson (2008-10), Washington’s John Wall (Kentucky, 2010), Houston’s Joey Dorsey (Memphis, 2005-08) and Terrence Jones (Kentucky, 2011-12) and Dallas’ Rajon Rondo (2005-06) will all be making return trips to the playoffs this year. In total, seven of the 16 teams in the postseason will have either a UK or Coach Cal product on its roster, or both."

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Well, this one kind of hurts.

For John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, the focus now turns to Mike Thorne and the other remaining targets in the 2015 class.  24/7 Sports’ Jerry Meyer has had a pretty bleak view of Kentucky landing one of the last five targets but did say that he expects Mychal Mulder to become a Wildcat.  Thon Maker is  also a possibility, but he would need to reclassify.

"Meyer predicted on his 247Sports Crystal Ball page Wednesday that Mulder will ultimately commit to Kentucky. He currently has offers from Wichita State, Minnesota, Missouri and several others, with serious interest from Louisville and Indiana. UK’s chances with some of its other top recruiting targets aren’t looking so great, according to Meyer, at least. He has all five of their longtime class of 2015 targets going elsewhere: Malik Newman (Mississippi State), Jaylen Brown (UCLA), Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Brandon Ingram (Duke) and Cheick Diallo (Kansas). Meyer is predicting that five-star 7-footer Thon Maker will choose the Wildcats, though Maker is still working on reclassifying to 2015 and he is not expected to make a college decision anytime soon."

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Now let’s focus on the guys that will be in Lexington next year. Isaiah Briscoe is currently preparing for the Jordan Brand Classic and he took the time to talk about a couple of his future team mates.

"The 6-foot-3 Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard has been most intrigued by 7-footer Skal Labissiere, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. During Thursday’s practice, Labissiere flashed a left-handed hook shot over Michigan State-bound Caleb Swanigan with personnel from all 30 NBA teams watching. “I think Skal’s a great player,” Briscoe told SNY.tv. “I really mean that. I haven’t seen him play in a while but I mean Skal, I’m very excited to play with him next year.” He added: “He’s just so versatile. He can shoot, he’s just good. He’s better than anything I’ve ever seen in our class.” They have only had a couple of practices together leading into Friday’s Jordan Brand Classic, but the two are already developing a chemistry. “A little bit, on and off the court,” Briscoe said. Charles Matthews, the 6-6 Kentucky-bound wing from Chicago (IL) St. Rita, sat out Thursday’s practice because he was sore after taking a bad foul on Wednesday, but Briscoe liked what he saw on Wednesday. “His length, he’s very versatile, too, he can jump,” Briscoe said. “I can’t wait to get out there and play with Charles, Skal and Tyler [Ulis] at Kentucky, I just can’t wait.”"

Home/Kentucky Wildcats News