From James Pennington of KYForward.com: “The unique context of playing college basketball at Kentucky has, over the past five years since John Calipari's been in town, tweaked the stigma of what it means to stay in school. Aren't we all supposed to stay in school? Weren't we taught to stay in school sine the first day any of us knew what school was?
But if you stay in school and just so happen to play basketball at Kentucky, that's a little different nowadays. Several of the most successful players to have suited up for the Wildcats since Calipari was hired in 2009 have left school after one year: John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Archie Goodwin.
Of course, just as many players have benefited from sticking around for extra time, but players like Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb likely could have left after a season and been fine. And this all goes without mentioning players like Josh Harrellson and Darius Miller, those who stuck around for a full four years and were rewarded handsomely for it with NBA careers that may not have, likely would not have, happened otherwise.”
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.