catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 06-23-2018 11:15 AM
Another NBA draft has come and gone, and it probably surprised no one that Duke and Kentucky, along with national champion Villanova, led the way in terms of number of players selected, with four apiece. But while ’Nova having four players drafted was a program record, both the Blue Devils and (Lexington-based) Wildcats have been here before. Who could forget the whopping six players Kentucky had drafted back in 2015?
The NBA draft success of Duke and Kentucky makes sense; after all, John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski have absolutely dominated the college basketball recruiting landscape in recent years. Per the 247Sports Composite, the two schools have had the top two incoming recruiting classes for four straight years (with Duke being No. 1 for three of them), and are once again set to bring in the top two 2018 classes.
Here are the combined numbers for the last five NBA drafts (2014–2018) and how Duke and Kentucky have fared:
SCHOOL
TOP-FIVE PICKS
LOTTO PICKS
FIRST-ROUNDERS
TOTAL PICKS
DUKE
5
8
12
14*
KENTUCKY
2
11
13
18
As you can see from the chart, Duke has excelled at the top of recent drafts. In fact, Krzyzewski has had one of his players drafted in the top three for a whopping five years in a row now, the most recent being big man Marvin Bagley III, who went No. 2 to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. Kentucky, meanwhile, has the only No. 1 pick from either school in the last five years, that being Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015 (Duke's most recent No. 1 pick was Kyrie Irving in 2011).
Despite the top-five disparity, the Wildcats have the edge in the total number of lottery picks—including that memorable 2015 draft where three other UK players joined Towns within the top 14—and also narrowly win the first-round battle and win the total number of players drafted by four. The last time Kentucky didn't produce a lottery pick was back in 2009, not coincidentally the last draft before Calipari's arrival.
Link
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http://www.ukfightsong.com/
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