Odds Were Against UK Winning NCAA Title After Losing Multiple Undergrads
Kentucky faces the same dilemma next season after seven undergraduate members of its regular rotation appear to want to display their wares in the NBA. Each Final Four since 1995 had at least one school promptly lose a minimum of one player early to the NBA, including all four participants in 2007 (Florida, Georgetown, Ohio State and UCLA). But what happened to those national semifinal schools such as Kentucky last season with multiple players declaring early for the NBA?
The first 15 "star light" schools with multiple defectors failed to reach an NCAA regional final the next season until Kentucky reversed the trend with a national championship in 2012 after losing Brandon Knight and DeAndre Liggins in 2011. But UK, after freshmen Julius Randle and James Young were among the top 17 NBA draft choices in 2014, couldn't duplicate that feat this campaign. It would have been one of the greatest achievements in college basketball history if UK returned to the 2013 Final Four after losing five undergraduates from the 38-2 NCAA titlist although two of them (Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague) have had virtually no NBA impact. The perils of losing so much young talent was reflected in the Wildcats' failure to reach the NCAA playoffs and losing in the opening round of the NIT against Robert Morris.
The only team in this category other than UK to lose fewer than seven games was Duke (29-5 in 1999-00). After the first 13 squads thus far this century suffered an average of nine defeats in the wake of such pro defections, Kentucky won 38 in a row before bowing against Wisconsin in the national semifinals, a significant departure from the following chronological look at how Final Four schools fared the year after having multiple players renounce their college eligibility:
| Year | Final Four Team | Multiple Undergraduates Lost to NBA Draft | Record | Postseason Outcome Next Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arkansas (2) | Scotty Thurman, Corliss Williamson | 20-13 | Lost regional semifinal |
| 1995 | North Carolina (2) | Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace | 21-11 | Lost in second round |
| 1996 | Mississippi State (2) | Erick Dampier, Dontae' Jones | 12-18 | Did not qualify |
| 1998 | North Carolina (2) | Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison | 24-10 | Lost in first round |
| 1999 | Duke (3) | William Avery, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette | 29-5 | Lost regional semifinal |
| 2000 | Florida (2) | Donnell Harvey, Mike Miller | 24-7 | Lost in second round |
| 2001 | Arizona (3) | Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright | 24-10 | Lost regional semifinal |
| 2001 | Michigan State (2) | Zach Randolph, Jason Richardson | 19-12 | Lost in first round |
| 2004 | Connecticut (2) | Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor | 23-8 | Lost in second round |
| 2005 | Illinois (2) | Dee Brown, Deron Williams | 26-7 | Lost in second round |
| 2005 | North Carolina (4) | Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants, Marvin Williams | 23-8 | Lost in second round |
| 2007 | Florida (4) | Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford, Joakim Noah | 24-12 | Reached NIT semifinals |
| 2007 | Ohio State (3) | Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook, Greg Oden | 24-13 | Won NIT |
| 2008 | Kansas (3) | Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush | 27-8 | Lost regional semifinal |
| 2008 | UCLA (3) | Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Russell Westbrook | 26-9 | Lost in second round |
| 2011 | Kentucky (2) | Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins | 38-2 | Won national title |
| 2012 | Kentucky (5) | Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb, Marquis Teague | 21-12 | Lost in NIT first round |
| 2013 | Michigan (2) | Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. | 28-9 | Lost regional final |
| 2014 | Kentucky (2) | Julius Randle, James Young | 38-1 | Lost in national semifinals |
NOTE: Arkansas' Scotty Thurman went undrafted in 1995.