Ten Years of Coach Cal: Ranking the best Kentucky players one through 10
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Ten Years of Coach Cal
A vote by the Herald-Leader Sports staff has generated lists of the biggest shots, the top individual performances and the best players of the Calipari era, along with the toughest losses and the biggest disappointments. We also ranked each of Calipari’s 10 teams, re-visited some of his biggest recruiting hits and misses and recalled the most indelible Cal memories of the past decade.
We hope you’ll have as much fun tapping into your Big Blue memories as we did compiling these lists as you read them in the coming days on Kentucky.com and in the Herald-Leader.
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Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of 12 stories ranking the most memorable moments, teams and players of John Calipari’s 10 years as University of Kentucky head coach. Rankings were compiled through voting conducted by members of the Herald-Leader Sports staff. Watch for a new story every day between today and July 27.
If there is one thing you know about John Calipari’s initial decade as the commander of the battleship known as Kentucky basketball, you know the man can recruit. Five-star after five-star. Top recruiting class stacked on top of another top recruiting class.
We’d mention that during his time in the Bluegrass, Calipari has coached 38 players selected in the NBA Draft, including 29 in the first round. We’d mention that if it were not for the fact that in this installment of the Cal Decade, we picked the top 10 college players — albeit most one-and-done college players — during the past 10 seasons.
Spoiler alert: Many of these players went on to be pretty fair professional players, as well, including the fine fellow at the top of the list.
1. Anthony Davis (2011-12) — As Calipari himself loves to point out, possibly the greatest player in Kentucky basketball history averaged just 8.4 field goal attempts per game his lone college season (2011-12), and yet he was the most dominant player of the Cal Decade. The Chicago native averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and a stunning 4.7 blocked shots per game in leading UK to the program’s eighth national championship. Remember that in the title game, a 67-59 win over Kansas, Davis went 1-of-10 from the floor and still earned MOP honors after grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking six shots.
2. John Wall (2009-10) — If Anthony Davis was the best college player under Calipari, Wall may have been the most important. He was part of Cal’s first recruiting class as the Cats’ coach, showing that the ex-Memphis coach could deliver on his promise to recruit the best players. Wall averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 assists in his only UK season, but made as much, if not more of a mark with his style, speed and personality.
3. Tyler Ulis (2014-15/2015-16) — At 5-foot-9, he is the smallest of Calipari’s players at Kentucky, but Ulis stood among the tallest. He was a vital sub on the 2014-15 team that went 38-1, losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four. He took over as the starter in 2015-16 and averaged 17.3 points and 7.0 assists per game. Ulis was an iron man (36.8 minutes per game his sophomore season) and unquestioned leader, not to mention a fan favorite.
4. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2011-12) —The Somerdale, N.J., native was a jack-of-all trades on UK’s 2011-12 national championship team. MKG averaged 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He scored 24 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in UK’s win over archrival Louisville that season. And his intensity and lock-down defense helped set the tone for Calipari’s best Kentucky team.
5. DeMarcus Cousins (2009-10) — If we picked the Most Entertaining Player during the Cal Decade, Boogie would be the top of the list. The 6-11 center from Alabama wore his heart on his sleeve, sometimes to his detriment, but Cousins could be a joy to watch. Tremendously athletic for his size, he averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds in his only UK season, 2009-10.
6. Brandon Knight (2010-11) — The 6-3 guard from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was the leading scorer on UK’s 2010-11 Final Four team. Knight averaged 17.3 points and 4.2 assists per game. Knight hit the shot that beat Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and the key shot that helped take down No. 1 seed Ohio State in the East Region semifinals. The Cats went on to beat North Carolina in the regional finals to reach the Final Four in Houston.
7. Julius Randle (2013-14) — The 6-9 forward from Dallas was a double-double machine for the 2013-14 Cats, averaging 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds. Randle set the tone early, posting double-doubles in his first seven college games, including 27 points and 13 rebounds against Michigan State in the Champions Classic. He had four double-doubles in the Cats’ postseason run to the NCAA Tournament title game, a 60-54 loss to Connecticut.
8. Karl-Anthony Towns (2014-15) — Forget the numbers. The 6-11 center from the Dominican Republic averaged just 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, thanks to Calipari’s platoon system on the ultra-talented 2014-15 team. Despite playing an average of 21.1 minutes per game, Towns showed the skills that would make him the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. His best college game was the 25-point effort in UK’s win over Notre Dame in the finals of the Midwest Region, a game in which Towns made 10 of 13 shots.
9. Doron Lamb (2010-11/2011-12) — The third player on this list from UK’s 2011-12 national title team, the 6-4 guard from the Queens shot a stunning 47.5 percent from three-point range over his two years as a Wildcat. Lamb averaged 12.3 points in 28.4 minutes as a freshman on the 2011 Final Four team. He averaged 13.7 points and 31.2 minutes per game while earning a title ring as a sophomore. Lamb was UK’s leading scorer in the championship game win over Kansas with 22 points.
10. Terrence Jones (2010-11/2011-12) — The fourth place on this list from UK’s 2011-12 national title team, the 6-9 forward from Washington averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds over his two seasons as a Cat. Jones averaged 15.7 points and 8.8 rebounds as a freshman on the 2010-11 team. With Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist joining the team the next season, Jones averaged 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds as a sophomore. He scored a career-high 35 points as a freshman against Auburn.
Other players receiving votes: De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray, Malik Monk, Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Harrison, PJ Washington, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nerlens Noel and Devin Booker.
About this series
A vote by the Herald-Leader Sports staff has generated lists of the biggest shots, the top individual performances and the best players of the Calipari era, along with the toughest losses and the biggest disappointments. We also ranked each of Calipari’s 10 teams, re-visited some of his biggest recruiting hits and misses and recalled the most indelible Cal memories of the past decade.
We hope you’ll have as much fun tapping into your Big Blue memories as we did compiling these lists as you read them in the coming days on Kentucky.com and in the Herald-Leader.
This story was originally published July 18, 2019 at 8:00 AM.
