This is a new one – John Calipari’s entire Kentucky team, walk-ons included, will be submitting their names into the NBA Draft pool.
Calipari said so on Twitter, but don’t read too much into it – under the rules, this can be done up to three times, and it doesn’t mean the entire team is going to enter the draft and not come back.
With that being said, every player who is eligible for the draft, including our walk-ons, will submit their names for the NBA Draft …
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
… in hopes of being invited to the combine in May.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
The new rule states they can submit their name a total of three times. If they choose to withdraw, they have until 10 days after the combine
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
By rule, players can attend the combine and still withdraw from the draft within ten days of its conclusion, so there’s really zero reason not to do this. A number of players won’t even be invited to the combine and will return to school, so this is just sort of a grandiose statement on Calipari’s part for no obvious reason. Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis, and Skal Labissiere are likely gone, along with senior Alex Poythress. The rest of the team is likely to be back, augmented by a strong recruiting class, including a kid that could guarantee keeping the coach in Lexington for at least four more years.
