Kentucky made history at the NBA Draft by becoming the first college team to produce five first-round picks.
In perhaps bit of runaway hyperbole, UK Coach John Calipari has suggested it was the beset day in Kentucky basketball history.
Radio host Dan Patrick questioned whether a NBA Draft could be the best day for a program that has won seven national championships and has more victories than any other Division I program.
“Depends on your frame of reference,” said Calipari, who appeared on Patrick’s show Friday.
Calipari went on to note that four players had graduated and that UK was in a “players-first program” that had seen the NBA Draft fulfill dreams.
“I’m going to encourage it,” Calipari told Patrick. “. . . I like coaching the best. That’s why I like goingn on a radio show with you. I like talking to the best.”
Later, Patrick asked Calipari a pointed question: Which would the UK coach prefer: a national championship or a night like the NBA Draft?”
Calipari avoided a direct answer. He said he’d won both. Then he said that having multiple first-rounders would lead to a national championship eventually.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
