Kentucky Is Going Pro

Not a huge shock, but Kentucky's Top 7 scorers from last year's Final 4 squad have declared for the NBA Draft.  (Don't feel bad, they'll be fine next year with Ulis, Poythress, Lee, and 4+ McDonald's All-Americans on the way.)

As of April 9th, here are my very specific guesses (without knowing the teams) of where these guys will get picked.

Karl-Anthony Towns, PF/C, freshmen (#1)

Willie Cauley-Stein, PF/C, junior (#10)

Trey Lyles, SF, freshmen (#14)

Devin Booker, SG, freshmen (#20)

Aaron Harrison, SG, sophomore (#25)

Andrew Harrison, PG, sophomore (#30)

Dakari Johnson, PF/C, sophomore (#50)

All-Time Lineups: Final Four Edition

What kind of NBA talent have these teams produced?

KENTUCKY:
C - DeMarcus Cousins
PF - Anthony Davis
SF - Jamal Mashburn
SG - Eric Bledsoe
PG - John Wall

(Dan Issel, Antoine Walker, Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo)

WISCONSIN:
C - Greg Stiemsma
PF - Jon Leuer
SF - Marcus Landry
SG - Michael Finley
PG - Devin Harris

DUKE:
C - Elton Brand
PF - Carlos Boozer
SF - Grant Hill
SG - J.J. Redick
PG - Kyrie Irving

(Luol Deng, Corey Maggette, Christian Laettner, Jabari Parker)

MICHIGAN STATE:
C - Kevin Willis
PF - Zach Randolph
SF - Jason Richardson
SG - Steve Smith
PG - Magic Johnson

(Draymond Green, Scott Skiles, Morris Peterson, Alan Anderson)

Kentucky's "If They Stayed" Roster

Center:

Anthony Davis, Senior

Karl-Anthony Towns, Freshmen

Dakari Johnson, Sophomore 

Power Forward:

Nerlens Noel, Junior

Julius Randle, Sophomore

Willie Cauley-Stein, Junior

Small Forward:

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Senior

James Young, Sophomore

Trey Lyles, Freshmen

Shooting Guard:

Aaron Harrison, Sophomore

Archie Goodwin, Junior

Devin Booker, Freshmen

Point Guard:

Marques Teague, Senior

Andrew Harrison, Sophomore

Tyler Ulis, Freshmen

Feel free to mix and match for the perfect, unbeatable lineup.  

Thursday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser has a better ring to it, but what can you do. 

The 4 point tease is in...

ARKANSAS (+14.5) at Kentucky

OHIO STATE (-2) at Penn State


I don't love taking two road teams in college basketball, but the Hogs are getting A LOT of points. 


---------------------------

UPDATE:  Friggin Ohio State.  Jesus.  Never bet the Big 10, cause it sucks. 

Penn State beat Ohio State 65-63.

Worst.

Kentucky's (Could Have Been) 2012 Roster

We all know Kentucky is absolutely loaded. However Coach John Calipari gets guys to go to his schools is of no concern to me (right now). The players are there, and they will continue to be there going forward so just deal with it. I love how he has embraced the NBA's rule of One Year Post High School. He says fine and rolls out McDonald's All-American after McDonald's All-American.

How about his last 5 point guards?

Derrick Rose, Memphis (One and Done, #1 overall pick in 2008 Draft)
Tyreke Evans, Memphis (One and Done, #4 overal pick in 2009 Draft)
John Wall, Kentucky (One and Done, #1 overall pick in 2010 Draft)
Brandon Knight, Kentucky (One and Done, #8 overall pick in 2011 Draft)
Marquis Teague, Kentucky, Freshman

Good Lord. Rose & Evans were both Rookie of the Year, and Rose was last season's MVP... when he would have been a senior at Memphis.

So, clearly all of these point guards would not have followed Coach Cal had the previous guy stayed in school, but take a look at what Kentucky's roster could have looked like this season (and it doesn't count Tyreke Evans who may have transferred a la Scoonie Penn/Jim O'Brien ha).

2011-2012 Ketucky Wildcats

PG John Wall
SG Eric Bledsoe
SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF Anthony Davis
C DeMarcus Cousins

BENCH:

Brandon Knight
Enes Kanter*
Terrence Jones
Daniel Orton
Marquis Teague
Doron Lamb
Darius Miller

Hey now!

*Kanter committed to Kentucky last season and was set to be a Freshman along with Knight and Jones, but was ruled ineligible. Let's just say they ironed this out for the hypothetical squad.

Not only is this team perhaps the greatest of all time, but they would all be back for NEXT year as well (minus Miller). Just crazy.

Even still, Coach Cal has the most talented team left in the tournament. Will he win his first ever title? I say yes.

-Keefe

UK + UNC = Ridiculous

#1 Kentucky and #5 North Carolina squared off on Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. UK won the game 73-72. It was a great college basketball game, but the NBA fanatic in me could not get over the number of legit 1st round talent participating in the game. We know both these schools have storied histories and both coaches (John Calipari - UK and Roy Williams - UNC) can recruit as well as anyone in the country.

(The last few years Calipari has coached: Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, and more.)

Check out the NBA prospects (with ESPN's Chad Ford's rankings) that played in this game.

1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky, Freshman
2. Harrison Barnes, North Carolina, Sophomore
9. John Henson, North Carolina, Junior
11. James McAdoo, North Carolina. Freshman
12. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky, Freshman
13. Terrence Jones, Kentucky, Sophomore
17. Tyler Zeller, North Carolina, Senior
18. Marques Teague, Kentucky, Freshman
29. Doron Lamb, Kentucky, Sophomore
40. Kendall Marshall, North Carolina, Sophomore
45. P.J. Hairston, North Carolina, Freshman
96. Reggie Bullock, North Carolina, Sophomore

That's insane. As you can see, 12 of the Top 100; 11 of the Top 50; and 8 of the Top 20 players in the country play for either Kentucky or North Carolina. What a game. Won't be surprised if we see this one again in late March/ early April.

-Keefe