catmandoo
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posted 07-31-2019 03:29 PM
3. 2011 Kentucky
Players: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, Kyle Wiltjer
John Calipari’s 2011 class is the one that fortified his reputation as the king of recruiting for the modern era. Calipari pulled three top-five recruits out of the high school ranks and used them as the foundation for the most dominant national championship team of the decade. Anthony Davis will likely go down as the greatest player Cal ever coached, a brilliant two-way big man who won every national Player of the Year as a true freshman before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a tough and athletic wing, gave the team a versatile defender and rebounder who would go on to be selected one pick after Davis. It’s the only time in history teammates have gone with the top two choices in the NBA Draft.
Kentucky’s 38-2 season was so iconic that its most memorable moment might have been a loss, when Christian Watford hit a buzzer-beater to give Indiana a shocking December win. Calipari will continue to put together monster recruiting classes, but he’ll be hard pressed to ever field a more successful one than this.
2. 2014 Kentucky
Players: Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Tyler Ulis
The most unforgettable college basketball team of the decade didn’t win a national championship, but it did captivate the country by coming tantalizingly close to perfection. The story of Kentucky’s chase for history started way back when John Calipari agreed to coach the Dominican Republic national team as a way of getting in tight with 16-year-old Karl Towns. Towns would go on to become a freshman superstar at Kentucky, the eventual No. 1 overall draft pick, and one of the most talented players Calipari ever coached. That Towns was only seventh on his own team in minutes per game during his lone year on campus is the ultimate testament to just how loaded his Kentucky team really was.
We’ll remember the 2014-2015 Wildcats for their platoon system, their impossible size, and their 38-0 start. Wisconsin ended Kentucky’s dream season in a Final Four classic, but the memory of this team lives on as a rare example of when one roster and one coach seemed bigger than the sport, if only for a moment.
Link
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http://www.ukfightsong.com/
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