Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats
June 28th, 2010 | Uncategorized |
Speaking on a SEC teleconference Monday, Kentucuky Coach John Calipari spoke of the program having another big night in next year’s NBA Draft.
Besides the possibility of freshmen entering the draft, Calipari suggested Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins could be in the 2011 NBA Draft.
“Darius can put himself in position at the end of the year where he’s making a decision” to enter the draft, the UK coach said. “Maybe DeAndre, too.”
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.
UK sports headlines Mark Story columns John Clay columns
3 comments ↓
I’d have to reverse those two…if Liggins continues to defend like he did last year, he’ll be a better prospect than Darius.
[...] Calipari says he could see Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins in next year’s draft, reports Tipton. [...]
Sounds like Cal is measuring his success at UK by the number of NBA first round draft players he can produce. The goal has always been to win the SEC and go deep in the NCAA with a championship on occasion.
If Cal is going to encourage the players to opt for the draft each year then championships will be hard to come by. For example if Orton and Bledsoe had come back for another year would they have improved their draft potential? I think so. Orton is a lottery pick with another year or two of college competition. Bledsoe could have moved up to a top five pick in the lottery. I still think Cal should recruit the best players but allow them to mature at a slower rate with his counseling. One or two one and dones is enough.