A week ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was tabbed a 2024 NBA All-Star Game starter. Tonight, an unprecedented six additional Wildcats were selected by the league's 30 coaches to the annual game showcasing the NBA's best players. Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns will join Gilgeous-Alexander on the Western Conference team, while Bam Adebayo, Tyrese Maxey and Julius Randle will represent the Eastern Conference squad.
The game is set to take place on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse airing at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
Maxey will make his debut in the NBA All-Star Game, while Adebayo and Randle are making their third appearance, Booker and Towns were both selected for the fourth time and Davis was tabbed an All-Star for the ninth time in his career.
Wildcat players will represent nearly 30% of the 24-player rosters in this year's annual game. With seven total selections, it is the most All-Stars in one season from one college in the game's history. Duke, with two selections, was the only other program to have multiple honorees in 2024.
UK's seven selections bests the previous All-Star Game record of four players from one collegiate program. UCLA had four players in the 1983 game, while Kenutcky had four players in 2023 and 2018.
Kentucky has enjoyed unprecedented success at putting players in the NBA under Calipari. In the 14-plus seasons of the Calipari era, 47 players have been selected in the NBA Draft, more than any other school. Included in the recent run are 35 first-round picks, three No. 1 overall selections (Davis, Towns and John Wall) and 23 lottery selections. A staggering 26 players from Kentucky were on 2023-24 NBA opening-day rosters (including two-way and inactive lists), the most of any school.
Calipari's players are not only reaching the next level, but they are also succeeding when they do. Since 2010, nine Calipari-coached players have garnered 39 All-Star selections with the latest picks. Derrick Rose (from Memphis) was named league MVP in 2011. Nine of his players have been tabbed All-NBA (Booker, DeMarcus Cousins, De'Aaron Fox, Gilgeous-Alexander, Randle, Rose, Wall, Davis, and Towns), three have been named NBA Rookie of the Year (Rose, Tyreke Evans and Towns), Randle was tabbed the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2021, Tyler Herro won NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2022 and 15 players from Calipari's first 12 teams at Kentucky have made the NBA All-Rookie teams.
Among all active collegiate coaches, Calipari has more total players (10) and more total All-Star selections (39) than any other coach.
In one season with the Wildcats, Adebayo was the only player to start all 38 games for a squad that won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight. He was an All-SEC Second Team and All-SEC Freshman Team honoree. Adebayo averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game before being selected 14th overall by the Heat in 2017.
A four-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection, Miami's Adebayo is averaging a career-high 20.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
Booker was the SEC Sixth Man of the Year during UK's magical 2014-15 season. He averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, while also sinking 58 3-pointers. He won four straight SEC Freshman of the Week honors and earned a league-high five overall awards. He was drafted 13th overall by the Suns in 2015.
An All-NBA First Team honoree in 2022, Booker is charting a career-best 28.3 points and 7.3 assists per game. He was named the January Western Conference Player of the Month for the Phoenix Suns.
Named the 2012 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player after leading Kentucky to the 2012 national championship, Davis has already put together a long list of accolades in the NBA during his career. Among his most noteworthy achievements, he's a four-time All-NBA First Team selection (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020) and a 2020 champion. Davis was named the MVP of the All-Star Game in 2017.
Davis helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the inaugural in-season tournament championship. He's posting 24.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Maxey was selected 21st overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, after earning second-team All-SEC and SEC Freshman Team honors for the Wildcats. He averaged 14.0 points per game and played a team-high 34.5 minutes per game. Maxey scored in double figures in 22 games and hit the game-winning shot in his collegiate debut to help the Wildcats defeat No. 1 Michigan State in the season opener.
Enjoying a breakout season as a fourth-year player, the Philadelphia 76ers' guard is recording career bests in points (25.7), assists (6.6) and rebounds (3.6).
Randle led the 2013-14 team with 15.0 points per game and 10.4 rebounds. He was an All-America Third Team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, United States Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. He was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Year and was an All-SEC First Team selection. He was also a member of the Midwest Region NCAA All-Tournament Team and the Final Four NCAA All-Tournament Team.
A two-time All-NBA selection and 2021 NBA Most Improved Player, Randle is posting 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. The New York Knicks' star is not slated to take part in the All-Star Game after suffering a dislocated shoulder that will keep him out for multiple weeks.
Towns joined Booker as one of the centerpieces of the historic 2014-15 team that flirted with a perfect season. He was an NCAA Consensus Second Team All-American and SEC Freshman of the Year. Towns averaged 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He was a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection and registered the most 15-plus point games with eight that season.
The 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-NBA performer, Towns is logging 22.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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.
