Kentucky leads schools that produce most impactful NBA players

I know most members of Big Blue Nation will look at this and scoff, but it is a tad closer than most think.

ESPN just dropped an article that lists the top 10 schools who have produced the most potentially impactful NBA players, and yes, Kentucky is at the top. Here’s the list in full.

1. Kentucky Wildcats
2. Duke Blue Devils
3. Kansas Jayhawks
4. North Carolina Tar Heels
5. Syracuse Orange
6. UCLA Bruins
7. Arizona Wildcats
8. Texas Longhorns
9. Michigan Wolverines
10. Washington Huskies

While Kentucky is far and away ahead of the schools on this list, there is one school who is starting to narrow the gap: Duke.

Kentucky has had 35 total draft picks in the Calipari era, and 19 of those have been lottery picks. Those numbers are staggering, and no school really comes close to those numbers in that same time span.

However, as far as actual impact goes, Duke is starting to inch closer.

There are some really great NBA Cats out there like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Karl Anthony-Towns, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Julius Randle, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and others. Duke is slowly starting to catch up, though, with guys like Kyrie Irving, Brandon Ingram, and Jayson Tatum. They are also projected to have the No. 1 pick in Zion Williamson, the No. 3 pick in RJ Barrett, and a likely top-10 pick in Cam Reddish.

Even so, Kentucky should remain atop this list for the foreseeable future, especially with guys like Towns, SGA, Davis and Booker in their prime.