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John Calipari says 4 Kentucky Wildcats left for NBA too soon; Let's guess who they were

Calipari says that four Cats went pro too soon, so we guess who they were and ask who you think Cal is referring to.

By Jason Marcum

John Calipari made an interesting comment Friday at a coaches clinic.

While talking about former Kentucky Wildcats in the NBA, Cal revealed that he's had four Cats leave for the NBA sooner than he thought they should have.

Given how much of a players-first coach Cal is, anytime he tells a player not to go pro, it really speaks to how much said player needs to remain in college and develop for 1-2 more years. He's been more willing to push guy into the pros and get them millions of dollars than tell them to come back and possibly see their stock drop.

As soon as I saw Calipari said this, Marquis Teague and Daniel Orton immediately came to mine. Those two clearly needed a lot more work before going to the pros, especially when it came to Orton. He barely played as a freshman on that memorable 2009-10 squad, but still managed to be a late first-round pick to the Magic before quickly flaming out of the league.

Teague showed a lot of potential during UK's championship-winning season, but not enough to warrant him being a one-and-done player. Doron Lamb going pro as a sophomore in 2012 also has to be considered as going pro too early, even though there wasn't much left for him to prove by coming back as a junior.

Dakari Johnson also has to be part of this four-man group. He showed a lot of potential and promise over his first two years, but was nowhere close to being ready for the NBA after declaring as a sophomore.

The final name could go a lot of different directions. Some will argue for one or both of the Harrison Twins, but I thought they both had reached their ceiling and were as pro-ready as they ever were in college. You could argue that's the case for Teague based on how his pro career has gone.

So who do you think the four were?

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