Getty Image / Jacob Kupferman
There is no coach in college basketball that has had as much success recruiting in recent years as John Calipari.
Over the last decade, he has put together some of the most talent-laden rosters in college basketball.
During that stretch, the Kentucky Wildcats once had a roster that was so loaded Devin Booker was the team’s 6th man during his only college season.
The recruiting landscape has changed a bit since then thanks to NIL.
However, according to Calipari, NIL shouldn’t change anything for Kentucky.
He told Dan Patrick that players looking at Kentucky shouldn’t be thinking about NIL deals because his program has sent so many players to the NBA that have earned themselves max contracts.
"You talk about name, imagine and likeness.. I don't like to get into that with players because you don't come to #Kentucky, I call that tripping over nickels to try to get to an #NBA max contract. We probably have 12-13 guys right now that have max deals"
-John Calipari on NIL pic.twitter.com/zrNCl7GQq1
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 4, 2023
This should be the real appeal of going to play for John Calipari at Kentucky.
The program hasn’t always lived up to the expectations that come with the talent it attracts year after year, but there are a ton of Wildcats in the NBA.
Right now, there are 27 players in the league who spent their college years playing for Calipari.
Some of those players are among the biggest stars in the league.
Those names include Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, Jamal Murray, DeAaron Fox, and Bam Adebayo.
There are also a couple of younger Wildcats in the league that have been showing star potential over the last couple of years in Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley.
This season, the Kentucky Wildcats are expected to have another lottery pick in the NBA Draft.
NIL deals have been a great thing for college athletes, but for anybody considering heading to Kentucky, John Calipari is right that they should be thinking about the possibility of landing a big deal at the next level.