Everyone expected John Wall and Demarcus Cousins to enter the NBA draft after last season.
Some speculated that Eric Bledsoe would join them, but that wasn't for sure.
Very few probably predicted that the block specialist Daniel Orton would join them.
Well they all ended up declaring for the NBA draft, including senior Patrick Patterson who definitely did his time as a Wildcat and did it well.
In all only five players will return next year for the Wildcats, leaving Calipari with a huge rebuilding project. However, Calipari does already have some great prospects lined up to make up yet another stellar recruiting class.
All of these players have about a month to change their minds and pull out of the draft, but that's highly unlikely.
This is the compromise you make as a coach when you recruit these top tier players. Calipari should be use to this by now. It happened to him at Memphis with Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, and both of those players are flourishing in the NBA right now.
It really goes back to the recent rule that was passed down by the NBA that forces players to attend at least one year of college before being eligible for the NBA.
This just teaches bad work ethic and wastes the time of these college professors. It also makes somewhat of a mockery to the institution of higher learning.
You know John Wall could've cared less about what he was learning in the classroom or what kind of grades he was receiving. He was just thinking about how many points and assists he was going to dish out next game, and can you really blame him? It's not his fault that he was forced to attend college to chase his dream.
These guys are adults and deserve to make whatever decision that want to make to chase their dream. If that means skipping college to do that then so be it. And if you are going to force them to attend college then requiring just one year is pointless.
With all of that aside, it will be interesting to see how next year's Wildcats will look as compared to last year's richly talented team that came up just a few steps short.
They'll probably make another run next season, but youth will be something Calipari will be dealing with for the rest of his time at Kentucky until this stupid rule of "one and done" is uplifted.
Returning Wildcats
- DeAndre Liggins: 3.8 ppg, 15 min/game
- Darnell Dodson: 6 ppg, 14.5 min/game
- Darius Miller: 6.5 ppg, 21.1 min/game
- Jon Hood: 1.2 ppg, 4.4 min/game
- Josh Harrellson: 1.3 ppg, 4 min/game
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