Almost every year, Kentucky lands highly rated, five-star recruits who go on to be one-and-done prospects. Head coach John Calipari can be seen mingling in the green room on draft night, sitting at the table of one of his prized recruits. In the last nine NBA drafts, Kentucky has had 14 players selected in the first round and there are currently 28 former Wildcats in the NBA or G League. Kentucky has the most active NBA players with Duke second (24) and UCLA third (15).
It's not just about quantity for Kentucky, as a handful of former Wildcats are producing at an extremely high level in the NBA.