An incredible John Calipari streak in the NBA Draft could be coming to an end

John Calipari’s name is often synonymous with one-and-done. While that connection really took off when he got to Kentucky, Calipari was putting college freshman in the NBA several years before he came to Lexington.

In fact, every player that Calipari has ever coached that left after one year of college basketball has been drafted in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. That list dates back to Dajuan Wagner in 2002 and the streak has nearly ended on several occasions, but Coach Cal is currently 25 for 25 and looked to extend the streak another year.

Obviously Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will land in the first round, giving Calipari 27 consecutive 1st round selections from his one-and-done pool. But if either PJ Washington or Jarred Vanderbilt declare for the draft and do not go in the 1st round, then the streak is over.

The streak nearly ended during Cal’s first year at Kentucky when Daniel Orton snuck into the 1st round at the 29th pick, as Marquis Teague and Archie Goodwin did a few years later. The most recent scare was Skal Labissiere, who was selected as the 28th overall pick in 2016.

The entire list of John Calipari’s one-and-done 1st rounders:

Memphis

• Dajuan Wagner
• Shawne Williams
• Derrick Rose
• Tyreke Evans

Kentucky

• John Wall
• DeMarcus Cousins
• Eric Bledsoe
• Daniel Orton
• Enes Kanter
• Brandon Knight
• Anthony Davis
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
• Marquis Teague
• Nerlens Noel
• Archie Goodwin
• Julius Randle
• James Young
• Karl-Anthony Towns
• Trey Lyles
• Devin Booker
• Jamal Murray
• Skal Labissiere
• De’Aaron Fox
• Malik Monk
• Bam Adebayo

Regardless of whether this streak ends this year or not, it is still an amazing feat. Certainly nobody is going to fault Washington or Vanderbilt for leaving for the NBA if they end up with a guaranteed 2nd round contract, but it would be a shame to see this streak end.

If Washington and Vanderbilt return to Kentucky, it will obviously stay in-tact. But if either of them declares for the NBA Draft, we will have to wait until June 21st to see if Calipari can keep this perfect record alive.