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John Calipari went on record last year with some ambitious goals for his former players.
“Our goal is not just to help guys get in the league,” Calipari said. “We want guys to become All-Stars. … Our goal would be to say, ‘Hey, half the NBA All-Stars started with us.'”
Well, Kentucky isn’t there yet but the school does have more players in the All-Star Game than any other school: three.
DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, and John Wall – were selected for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game as reserves on Thursday night.
No college has more than two representatives in the NBA All-Star Game.
The NBA All-Star Game is set for the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Feb. 14. The game will be televised by TNT. It’s the third time Davis and Wall have been named NBA All-Stars, while Cousins will make his second straight appearance.
Cousins, who starred at Kentucky during Calipari’s inaugural season as UK’s head coach in 2009-10, is having a monster year. The Sacramento Kings’ big man is averaging 27.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, the only player to rank in the top five in both categories in the league. He’s coming off a historic 56-point outing on Monday night, the most in Sacramento history.
Davis, the No. 1 pick in 2012, has battled injuries (including a concussion) but will make his third straight NBA All-Star Game. He is currently averaging 22.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks – second in the NBA – for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Wall, the No. 1 pick in 2010, has cemented himself as one of the elite point guards in the NBA with his third All-Star appearance. He is averaging 19.6 points, 9.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
The trio has also posted a lot of double-doubles. Cousins ranks fourth in the league with 26 of them, Wall is seventh with 24 and Davis is tied for eighth with 23.
Karl-Anthony Towns, the former St. Joe’s-Metuchen star who was Kentucky’s third No. 1 draft choice in the last six years, leads all rookies with 23 doubles-doubles. He was named to the Rising Stars Challenge, which pits 10 of the best first- and second-year NBA players from the United States against 10 first- and second-year NBA players from around the world. Towns, who will play on the U.S. Team, is a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year with a 16.1 scoring average in addition to 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 boards per game.
Nerlens Noel will join Towns on the U.S. Team in the Rising Stars Challenge after a solid second season in the NBA (Noel did not play in 2013-14 as he recovered from knee surgery). He’s among the league leaders with 1.6 blocked shots per game while posting 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Rising Stars Challenge will take place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Feb. 12 on TNT.
