Where the Cats stand in new NBA Draft big board

During the John Calipari era, Kentucky fans are used to seeing several Cats get drafted in the NBA Draft each season. However, there is a real possibility that we don’t see many from the 2019-2020 season get picked.

The Kentucky Wildcats have six (counting Kahlil Whitney) former players with their name in the draft pursuing their professional careers.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic is one of the best in the country when it comes to NBA mock drafts and he believes that we will only see two former Cats picked on draft night.

Tyrese Maxey is the only Kentucky player who’s a first-round prospect, as Vecenie has him ranked No. 15 overall.

Immanuel Quickley is the only other Kentucky player projected to be in draftable range, as Vecenie has him ranked No. 45 overall.

Right outside of the top 60 players was Nick Richards, who is listed at No. 65 overall. Ashton Hagans found himself further down the list at No. 80.

As many expected, neither EJ Montgomery nor Kahlil Whitney made the list of top 100 prospects.

The NBA recently released a list of 105 prospects that are being considered to get invited to the NBA Draft Combine. Maxey, Quickley, Richards, Hagans, and Whitney received votes to be considered for the 70 players that actually get invited to the combine, while Hagans and Whitney already confirmed that they had received their official invites.

Once again, EJ Montgomery was absent from the list and is not going to have the opportunity to impress at the event and will most likely have to hope for a training camp deal to try and play his way into the league there.

As of right now, the NBA Draft Combine is not yet scheduled due to the issues with coronavirus.

You can check out Sam Vecenie’s full Draft Big Board here.