Late in the first round, sitting at a table with Skal Labissiere's family, Kentucky coach John Calipari held his head in his hands late Thursday and looked totally stressed. The picks were coming off the board at the Barclays Center, one after another. But Labissiere was still available. And the Raptors, an Eastern Conference contender who could afford to take a big swing on this night of fulfilled dreams, had already passed on him twice -- first with the ninth pick, then with the 27th.
Yikes.
Eventually, though, Labissiere's name was called.
The Kings took him with the 28th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Granted, that's not where anybody had the Kentucky product projected, and it's nowhere near where analysts thought the 6-foot-11 forward would be selected this time last year. But Labissiere still became a first-round pick who will now sign a two-year guaranteed contract worth roughly $2.1 million. And by becoming a first-round pick, he kept Calipari's one-and-done streak alive.
Labissiere makes it 22-for-22.
More specifically, it's 22-for-22 overall, 18-for-18 at Kentucky. And what I mean by this is that all 22 recruits who have signed with Calipari, spent one year in his program and then entered the NBA Draft after just that one year have been selected in the first round. There is literally no exception. It's 22-for-22. And counting.
The string started in 2002, after Calipari had already bounced from UMass to the New Jersey Nets and back to college basketball at Memphis. He signed a five-star prospect named Dajuan Wagner, used him to win the NIT, then watched Wagner become the sixth pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Four years later, Shawne Williams was a one-and-done Tiger who went 17th in the 2006 NBA Draft. Two years after that, Derrick Rose played one year under Calipari, then went first in the 2008 NBA Draft. A year later, Tyreke Evans used a strong freshman season to become the fourth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Then Calipari moved to Kentucky.
And that's when things really started popping.
John Calipari's freshman in draft
School | Player | Draft |
Memphis | Dajuan Wagner | 6th pick in 2002 |
Memphis | Shawne Williams | 17th pick in 2008 |
Memphis | Derrick Rose | 1st pick in 2008 |
Memphis | Tyreke Evans | 4th pick in 2009 |
Kentucky | John Wall | 1st pick in 2010 |
Kentucky | DeMarcus Cousins | 5th pick in 2010 |
Kentucky | Eric Bledsoe | 18th pick in 2010 |
Kentucky | Daniel Orton | 29th pick in 2010 |
Kentucky | Enes Kanter | 3rd pick in 2011 |
Kentucky | Brandon Knight | 8th pick in 2011 |
Kentucky | Anthony Davis | 1st pick in 2012 |
Kentucky | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | 2nd pick in 2012 |
Kentucky | Marquis Teague | 29th pick in 2012 |
Kentucky | Nerlens Noel | 6th pick in 2013 |
Kentucky | Archie Goodwin | 29th pick in 2013 |
Kentucky | Julius Randle | 7th pick in 2014 |
Kentucky | James Young | 17th pick in 2014 |
Kentucky | Karl-Anthony Towns | 1st pick in 2015 |
Kentucky | Trey Lyles | 12th pick in 2015 |
Kentucky | Devin Booker | 13th pick in 2015 |
Kentucky | Jamal Murray | 7th pick in 2016 |
Kentucky | Skal Labissiere | 28th pick in 2016 |
In Calipari's seven years at Kentucky, he's now had 18 -- or an average of 2.57 per year -- freshmen enter the NBA Draft, and all 18 have been first-round picks. There was John Wall (No. 1), DeMarcus Cousins (No. 5), Eric Bledsoe (No. 18) and Daniel Orton (No. 29) in 2010. There was Enes Kanter (No. 3) and Brandon Knight (No. 8) in 2011. There was Anthony Davis (No. 1), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (No. 2) and Marquis Teague (No. 29) in 2012. There was Nerlens Noel (No. 6) and Archie Goodwin (No. 29) in 2013. There was Julius Randle (No. 7) and James Young (No. 17) in 2014. There was Karl-Anthony Towns (No. 1), Trey Lyles (No. 12) and Devin Booker (No. 13) in 2015. And now, in 2016, there's Jamal Murray (No. 7) and Skal Labissiere (No. 28).
That's 18-for-18 at Kentucky.
That's 22-for-22 in Calipari's entire coaching career.
To be clear, this doesn't mean every prospect who plays for Calipari will be a first-round pick. That's silly. It just means that every Calipari freshman who has ever decided to forgo the final three years of his college career to enter the NBA Draft has subsequently been selected in the first round. In other words, the freshmen who are setup to get guaranteed millions typically take it, and the freshmen who might not get guaranteed millions typically return to school for at least a sophomore season. And isn't that how it should basically work?
Either way, Thursday night did not go as expected.
That's undeniable.
But it still went OK.
Calipari had two freshmen in the draft.
Both were picked in the first round.
And now we'll see if Coach One-and-Done can extend that streak again next year.