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Where were you when the streak was broken?
Hopefully safely at home.
The Kentucky Wildcats have failed to produce a lottery pick for the first time in 10 years, as lottery hopeful Tyrese Maxey fell out of the top-14 picks of the 2020 NBA Draft.
Kentucky had the longest streak of producing a lottery pick dating back to 1985, when the lottery system began, at 10 years straight.
In fact, this is the first time since 2000 that none of the blue-blood programs — Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and North Carolina — did not produce a lottery draft pick.
This is the first time Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke did not have a player drafted in the lottery since 2000.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 19, 2020
Kentucky had a lottery pick in each of the previous 10 Drafts entering 2020, the longest streak by any school since the lottery began in 1985.
It was a pretty remarkable streak by Coach Cal and the Wildcats program, as they became the premier college basketball program and “NBA Factory” when Calipari was hired in 2009.
While it saddening, that just goes to show the disparity that college basketball had this past season. Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Alabama all had a player taken before the blue-blooded programs.
Kentucky’s lottery streak will start up again next year, where they have a chance to send two, maybe three players to the lottery.