After the 2012 NBA draft, University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari boasted: “In three more years, we'll have 10 percent of the league (that) will have played for us. It's crazy.” It sounded absurd, but is it?
The venerable Guy Ramsey, author of UK's “Cat Scratches” blog, dug up some eye-popping numbers for the NBA's opening night Tuesday: Kentucky has 22 former players on league rosters, more than any other program by far.
Duke and North Carolina are tied for second with 15 apiece. Former Wildcats represent 6.1 percent of the maximum number of players on NBA rosters.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.