DJ Jeffries talks Kentucky Visit
By SEAN BOCK DJ Jeffries, the 6-foot-7 small
The NBA won’t officially release statistics on which college programs feature the most players on opening-night rosters until later this week, but Kentucky announced Tuesday that it has the most — with 27.
Duke is in second with 20 former players and North Carolina and Kansas each have 16 on opening-day rosters, according to Kentucky.
John Calipari has made the statement before that he would like to see every NBA team have at least one Wildcat on its roster and half of the NBA’s annual All-Star Game hailing from the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats aren’t quite there yet, but with each passing season, as the number of UK players playing in the NBA continues to rise, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched. And the sheer volume of Wildcats in the NBA makes it seem plausible.
Of the 489 players in the NBA to start the 2017-18 season, more than 5.5 percent played and finished their college basketball careers at UK. Seven NBA teams feature multiple Wildcats.
The Rick Pitino Era at Louisville
Brian Bowen “primarily considered Arizona” in addition to Louisville, his mother told former FBI agent Carl Christianen, according to documents provided by Rick Pitino’s attorney Steve Pence.
“Tugs primarily considered playing for Arizona,” the document reads. “She stated the Arizona coach told Bowen that a couple of players were returning and their return was going to make it difficult for him to start at Arizona.”
Arizona had several returning wing players, including sophomores Allonzo Trier and Rawle Alkins, both projected NBA picks.
