Top 10 players under John Calipari who made it to the NBA ft. Anthony Davis
With John Calipari expected to take the Arkansas coaching job, it's time to have a look at his Hall of Fame career.
Calipari has taken three different schools to the Final Four and won the 2012 NCAA title at Kentucky. But perhaps a more impressive summary of his career than his record or accomplishments is the parade of great players he has sent to the NBA.
From his days at UMass to his outstanding Memphis teams, and from Kentucky now onto Fayetteville, Calipari gets players and pumps them out into the NBA at a dizzying rate. Here are the 10 best players he has sent to the NBA.
Top 10 players who played for John Calipari and made it to the NBA
#10 Marcus Camby
Camby starred at UMass for Calipari, helping him reach the 1996 Final Four. He went second in the following NBA Draft.
A four-time NBA blocks leader and four-time All-Defensive team pick, Camby was a solid pro. His career averages of 9.5 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game back up his accomplishments.
#9 Bam Adebayo
A member of Calipari's 2016-17 team, Adebayo was taken 14th in the NBA Draft. He has thrived with the Miami Heat, earning three All-Star picks and four All-Defensive team honors.
For his career, Adebayo is averaging 15.4 ppg and 8.8 rpg. Adebayo, 26, is one of the best centers in the NBA today.
#8 John Wall
Calipari's first superstar at Kentucky, Wall scored 16.6 points per game on the 2009-10 team that reached the Elite Eight.
The first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, he was a five-time All-Star pick and was named an All-NBA in 2016-17. Despite being devestated by injuries, Wall's career totals are 18.7 ppg and 8.9 assists per game.
#7 DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins was a star on Calipari's first Kentucky team in 2009-10, scoring 15.1 ppg and grabbing 9.8 rpg.
A four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA pick, Cousins averaged 19.6 ppg and 10.2 rpg in his pro career. Injuries derailed Cousisns's career by his late 20s, or he would have had an even better pro career.
#6 De'Aaron Fox
Fox spent a season at Kentucky in 2016-17, scoring 16.7 ppg. After going fifth in the 2017 NBA Draft, Fox has steadily improved in the NBA. Averaging 23.2 ppg and 6.7 assists per game for his career, Fox was an All-Star and an All-NBA pick last season. At just 26, his future remains bright.
#5 Karl-Anthony Towns
Towns played a year at Kentucky, leading the 2015 Final Four team in scoring with 10.3 ppg.
He made two 3-pointers that season and has made 973 of them in the NBA. A four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA pick, Towns is averaging 22.9 ppg for his career. He's just 28.
#4 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gilgeous-Alexander played a season at Kentucky, scoring 14.4 ppg in 2017-18, but in the NBA, his production has steadily climbed.
Taken 11th in the 2018 Draft, the 25-year old Gilgeous-Alexander is finishing a second consecutive season of averging over 30 ppg. A two-time All-Star and all-NBA pick a year ago, he's still developing.
#3 Devin Booker
Like Reed Sheppard this season, Booker didn't even start at Kentucky. But he played on the uber-talented 2015 team that reached the Final Four, scoring 10.0 ppg.
In the NBA, he's a four-time All-Star, who's averaging 24.3 ppg for his career. He's only 27 and is having a great pro career.
#2 Derrick Rose
Rose was a one-and-done for Calipari at Memphis. He helped the Tigers reach the NCAA title game and went first in the following NBA Draft. Injuries have kept Rose from reaching his true pro potential, but he has shown flashes of greatness.
A three-time All-Star, he won the MVP Award in 2011. Rose has played for six teams and scored over 12,000 points in the NBA. Had he stayed healthy, he might have been even better.
#1 Anthony Davis
Davis only played a season at Kentucky for Calipari, but he won the Naismith Award and led UK to the national title in 2012. After that, he went first in the NBA Draft to New Orleans.
Davis is a nine-time NBA All-Star and a member of the league's prestigious 75th Anniversary Team. He won a title in 2020 and has been an All-NBA and All-Defensive team pick four different times. Still only 31, Davis is en route a Hall of Fame career.
How soon will John Calipari produce an Arkansas player worthy of this top-10 list, or has he left his best days behind in his earlier years at Kentucky?