Kentucky, John Calipari see historic draft streaks end in 2025

NBA: NBA Draft — June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari (middle) greets former players Anthony Davis (left) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (right) before the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky had seen at least one player come off the board in the first round of every NBA Draft dating back to 2010 — the start of the John Calipari era in Lexington. As for Coach Cal specifically, he had a streak of his own dating back to 2008 at Memphis when Derrick Rose was selected No. 1 overall by the Chicago Bulls.

Both of those runs came to an end Wednesday evening in Brooklyn, the Wildcats nor Arkansas Razorbacks under Calipari seeing a player walk across the stage to shake Commissioner Adam Silver’s hand in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. To this point, Kentucky had the longest active streak among schools at 15 years while Coach Cal had the longest individual streak among coaches at 17 years.

Calipari’s picks by year — which also include Kentucky’s over the last decade-and-a-half:

2008 – Memphis (Derrick Rose – No. 1)
2009 – Memphis (Tyreke Evans – No. 4)
2010 – Kentucky (John Wall – No. 1, DeMarcus Cousins – No. 5, Patrick Patterson – No. 14, Eric Bledsoe – No. 18, Daniel Orton – No. 29)
2011 – Kentucky (Enes Kanter – No. 3, Brandon Knight – No. 8)
2012 – Kentucky (Anthony Davis – No. 1, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – No. 2, Terrence Jones – No. 18, Marquis Teague – No. 19)
2013 – Kentucky (Nerlens Noel – No. 6, Archie Goodwin – No. 29)
2014 – Kentucky (Julius Randle – No. 7, James Young – No. 17)
2015 – Kentucky (Karl-Anthony Towns – No. 1, Willie Cauley-Stein – No. 6, Trey Lyles – No. 12, Devin Booker – No. 13)
2016 – Kentucky (Jamal Murray – No. 7, Skal Labissiere – No. 28)
2017 – Kentucky (De’Aaron Fox – No. 5, Malik Monk – No. 11, Bam Adebayo – No. 14)
2018 – Kentucky (Kevin Knox – No. 9, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – No. 11)
2019 – Kentucky (PJ Washington – No.12, Tyler Herro – No. 13, Keldon Johnson – No. 29)
2020 – Kentucky (Tyrese Maxey – No. 21, Immanuel Quickley – No. 25)
2021 – Kentucky (Isaiah Jackson – No. 22)
2022 – Kentucky (Shaedon Sharpe – No. 7, TyTy Washington – No. 29)
2023 – Kentucky (Cason Wallace – No. 10)
2024 – Kentucky (Reed Sheppard – No. 3, Rob Dillingham – No. 8)

Both sides will be able to continue their overall streaks in round two of the NBA Draft on Thursday, Kentucky projected to see both Koby Brea and Amari Williams come off the board while former Wildcat Adou Thiero — a potential first-rounder going into the event — is expected to hear his name called very early on day two representing Coach Cal and Arkansas. Kentucky has had at least one player selected in the draft overall dating back to 2008, the only school in the country with a run that long and expected to extend to 18 straight drafts tonight.

Brea and Williams are joined by Jaxson Robinson, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor as draft-eligible Wildcats in 2025.

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

One other streak lived on Wednesday, too, as Duke picked up three first-round picks — but not quite enough to beat Kentucky’s overall total of 60 such picks dating back to the NBA Draft’s inception in 1947. The Blue Devils are up to 59 — one short of the winningest program in college basketball history.

Kentucky has a chance to get back in the first-round column in 2026 with likely lottery pick Jayden Quaintance and All-SEC guard Otega Oweh seen as the top possibilities. Don’t rule out Brandon Garrison, Jaland Lowe, Jasper Johnson or Kam Williams, either — plenty of options for the Wildcats next cycle.

Hopefully those selections go hand-in-hand with No. 9 next spring.