14 former Kentucky basketball players are competing in 11 foreign countries

Kentucky’s run of success at sending players to the NBA has been remarkable since John Calipari took over — there are 27 ex-Cats on league rosters, more than any other school.

But there are plenty of former Wildcats continuing their hoop dreams outside the league.

In addition to five players competing in the G League (listed below), there are 14 ex-Cats playing in 11 foreign countries, according to EuroBasket.com and its affiliated websites.

Several are household names in the Bluegrass — including Dominique Hawkins, Josh Harrellson, Kyle Wiltjer and Terrence Jones.

And some others might be harder to recall after their short stints with the Cats. Remember Alex Legion? Morakinyo Williams? Darnell Dodson?

Catch up with the former Cats playing overseas (statistics were as of Monday evening, Nov. 27, 2017):

Isaiah Briscoe, 21, Estonia: Briscoe, a first-year pro who spent time with the Portland Trail Blazers before being released before the season started, has averaged a team-high 24.5 points in two games since joining Kalev/Cramo earlier this month. He has also averaged 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal while committing 4.5 turnovers per game. He has shot 16-for-27 from the field (59 percent), 0-for-2 from three-point range and 17-for-19 from the free-throw line (89.5 percent).

Darnell Dodson, 28, Chile: Dodson has averaged 19.3 points and 11.8 rebounds, both team highs, in four games for Los Leones. That includes hitting 50 percent (8-for-9) of his three-point attempts. Dodson, whose collegiate stops included Miami-Dade Community College, Kentucky and Southern Mississippi, joined the squad in early November after playing three games for Panteras in Mexico. Dodson, a sixth-year pro, averaged 20.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.7 steals last season in Argentina.

Kevin Galloway, 29, Greece: Galloway, whose college career started at Twin Falls College of Southern Idaho before stints with Kentucky and Texas Southern, is averaging 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in a reserve role for Gymnastikos Larrissa-Faros BC.

Josh Harrellson, 28, Japan: Harrellson is third in scoring (9.3 per game) and first in rebounding (8.9) for Hitachi Sunrockers Tokyo-Shibuya. He has shot 33 percent (22-for-66) from three-point range in 17 games. He is 10th in Japan’s top-tier B League in rebounding.

Ramon Harris, 29, Greece: Harris, who has played several seasons in the NBA’s developmental league, elected to play this season overseas with Kolossos H Hotels. He is averaging 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Harris won a D-League championship with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2014.

Ryan Harrow, 26, Poland: Harrow, another former Kentucky player with multiple collegiate stops (including N.C. State and Georgia State), averages 14.5 points, 4.8 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 rebounds for Rosa Radom.

Dominique Hawkins, 23, Denmark: Due to a long break in the team’s schedule, the former Madison Central and Kentucky star has only played in one game with signing with Horsens IC in late October. He had five points, four rebounds and one block in 19 minutes in his pro debut on Nov. 9. The team’s next game is scheduled for Dec. 3.

Isaac Humphries, 19, Australia: Humphries is playing for his hometown Sydney Kings in his first season as a professional. He has averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 11 games. He has shot 61.9 percent from the field in a reserve role.

Terrence Jones, 25, China: Jones, who had played five NBA seasons before signing with the Qingdao Eagles this past summer, is averaging 22.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He ranks third in China’s top-tier CBA with 2.3 blocks per game. Jones scored 48 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in his team’s season opener. The stats from his most recent game: 38 points and 13 boards.

Alex Legion, 29, Italy: Legion, who only played six games at Kentucky before transferring to Illinois (and eventually Florida International), has been productive overseas as a pro. He is averaging a team-high 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist and shooting 44.7 percent from three-point range this season for Fortituto Kontatto Bologna. He averaged 15.3 points and 4.5 rebounds for the team last season.

Daniel Orton, 27, Japan: Orton is averaging 11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocks for SeaHorses Mikawa, which has started the season a league-best 16-1.

Eloy Vargas, 28, France: Vargas, who started his college career at Florida before transferring to Kentucky, is averaging 7.7 points and 5.2 rebounds for Boulazac Basket Dordogne. Vargas, part of Kentucky’s national championship team in 2012, also won a pro title with Metros de Santiago in the Dominican Republic in 2014. Vargas’ other pro stops have included Spain, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, France and Greece.

Morakinyo Williams, 29, Norway: Another former player with a short UK career (five games before transferring to Duquesne), Williams is averaging 19.4 points and 11.8 rebounds (both team highs) for Ammerud Basket Oslo. Williams ranks third in the top-tier BLNO in rebounding.

Kyle Wiltjer, 25, Greece: Wiltjer signing with Olympiacos was a bit of a surprise after it appeared he was going to play this season in the NBA’s G League. The second-year pro has averaged 2.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.0 assist in 8.5 minutes in league play for the Greek squad.

Some free agents of note

▪  Randolph Morris, who has starred in China since 2010 and teamed with Stephon Marbury to win league championships with the Beijing Ducks in 2012, 2014 and 2015. He was the CBA Finals MVP in 2014. He averaged 22.0 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Ducks last season.

▪  Archie Goodwin, whose four-year NBA career has included three seasons in Phoenix. He spent parts of last season with New Orleans and Brooklyn.

▪  Doron Lamb has spent time playing in the NBA’s developmental league and in countries including Montenegro, Turkey, France and Greece.

G League

Former Kentucky players on NBA G League rosters include: Aaron Harrison (Reno Bighorns/Sacramento Kings), Mychal Mulder (Windy City Bulls/Chicago), Derek Willis (Grand Rapids Drive/Detroit Pistons), Marquis Teague (Memphis Hustle/Grizzlies) and James Young (Wisconsin Herd/Milwaukee Bucks).

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 10:35 AM with the headline "14 former Kentucky basketball players are competing in 11 foreign countries."