Right there in the middle of Thursday night’s 2018 NBA Draft, up popped the following tweet from Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel:
“John Calipari has coached 26 first-round picks at Kentucky since arriving in 2009. Same number as Nick Saban at Alabama since 2007. (National Titles: Saban 5-1).”
It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison, however. College football players must wait three years before they can enter the NFL Draft. Teams can build through experience. College basketball players must wait just one. The best are gone after that. And for Calipari, 23 of those 26 first-round picks have been one-and-done.