All of John Calipari's McDonald's All-Americans at Kentucky

The 46th edition of the McDonald’s All-American Game tips-off Tuesday night in Houston at 9 pm on ESPN. As has become the norm during John Calipari’s tenure, Kentucky will be well represented with four future Wildcats suiting up — DJ Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard.

The 2023 class increases the tally to 47 McDonald’s All-Americans to play for John Calipari at Kentucky. In the 30+ years prior only 31 players from the prestigious All-Star game suited up for Kentucky. Four of Coach Cal’s “Burger Boys” finished their collegiate careers elsewhere, while a pair of posts with McDAAG pedigree transferred to Kentucky, Reid Travis and Oscar Tshiebwe.

KSR takes a look back at all of the McDonald’s All-American products that played for John Calipari and how they fared at the University of Kentucky.

2009

• DeMarcus Cousins: 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks per game

It may surprise you to see only one player in John Calipari’s first recruiting class on the 2009 McDonald’s All-American roster. Semantics kept John Wall out of the game. Eric Bledsoe was right on the fringe. Patrick Patterson was not recruited by Calipari, but did play in the All-Star showcase three years before Coach Cal arrived on campus. This group only lost three games, finishing the year in the Elite 8 after they were upset by West Virginia.

2010

• Terrence Jones: 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds per game
• Doron Lamb: 13.1 points, 1.6 assists per game, 47.5% 3FG
• Brandon Knight: 17.3 points, 4.2 assist, 4.0 rebounds per game

One of the most successful recruiting classes to ever play for Kentucky, they went to back-to-back Final Fours, carried by the heroics of Knight in 2011 before he was a selected in the top 10 of the 2011 NBA Draft. Jones and Lamb each earned second team All-SEC selections in 2012 as starters for the National Championship team. Lamb was the leading scorer in the title game against Kansas with 22 points. He is the best 3-point shooter in Kentucky basketball history, knocking down 47.52% of his attempts over two seasons.

2011

• Anthony Davis: 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 blocks
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals
• Marquis Teague: 10.0 points, 4.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds
• Kyle Wiltjer: 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 39% 3FG

Anthony Davis had arguably the best season ever by a college basketball player en route to Final Four MOP honors. Davis blocked 186 shots in 2012, a UK record that will likely never be touched. He was selected No. 1 in the 2012 NBA Draft, one spot ahead of MKG, a Consensus Second Team All-American. Marquis Teague was a first round pick after propelling the Cats to a title. Kyle Wiltjer was SEC Sixth Man of the Year in 2012. After an unsuccessful 2013 campaign, he transferred closer to home to Gonzaga but could not get Mark Few his first Final Four appearance.

2012

• Archie Goodwin: 14.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists
• Alex Poythress: 8.6 points, 5.3 rebounds

Similar to John Wall, semantics kept the star of Calipari’s recruiting class, Nerlens Noel, out of the McDAAG. Asked to provide all of the offense for the NIT Cats, Goodwin struggled shooting long-range shots, but still was picked at the end of the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft. Alex Poythress struggled to consistently be the beast that we saw against Duke during his freshman season, a performance that propelled him to No. 1 in Chad Ford’s NBA Draft Big Board. A season-ending knee injury in 2015 has left the BBN wondering ‘What If’ he could have been available to guard Sam Dekker in the 2015 Final Four.

2013

• Aaron Harrison: 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 33.5% 3FG
• Andrew Harrison: 10.1 points, 3.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds
• Julius Randle: 15.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, .8 blocks
• James Young: 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 34.9% 3FG
• Dakari Johnson: 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds
• Marcus Lee: 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds

Kentucky fans dreamed at a 40-0 season when the Harrison Twins, James Young and Julius Randle signed to play for John Calipari. Despite a tumultuous regular season, Randle was a double-double machine and a Third Team All-American selection. Aaron Harrison shot his way into history with clutch heroics that sent UK to the 2014 National Championship Game.

Randle was drafted with the seventh overall pick and developed into an All-Star. Young was also a lottery selection. The rest returned for a 2015 season that almost ended with the 40-0 record fans fawned for two years prior. Johnson was the missing piece for the 2016 Cats, Marcus Lee’s final season before transferring to Cal.

2014

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks
• Devin Booker: 10.0 points, 41.1% 3FG
• Trey Lyles: 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds
• Tyler Ulis: 11.3 points, 5.3 assists, 37.1% 3FG
• Reid Travis: 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds

Towns was a Second Team All-American that played his way into the No. 1 overall pick. Lyles and Booker were also first round selections, despite limited minutes in the Platoon system. Ulis scored more than 17 points per game as a sophomore when he was named SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year while earning Consensus First Team All-American honors. Travis began his career at Stanford before taking a grad transfer year at Kentucky and helping the Cats reach the Elite 8 in 2019.

2015

• Isaiah Briscoe: 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists

A point guard that was forced to play off the ball, Briscoe found his niche in 2017 and recorded just the school’s third ever triple-double, tallying 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Ole Miss. Bounced in the second round in 2016, he helped the Cats reach the Elite 8 in 2017.

2016

Ls down 👇🏽🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/c9AuciPl8Q

— sacha (@SKJ) March 30, 2016

• De’Aaron Fox: 16.7 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds
• Malik Monk: 19.8 points, 2.3 assists, 39.7% 3FG
• Bam Adebayo: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks
• Sacha Killeya-Jones: 3.2 points, 2.7 rebounds

Malik Monk’s 754 points are the most in a single-season in the Calipari era, highlighted by a 47-point performance against North Carolina. He was almost outdone by Fox, whose 39 points in the Sweet 16 against UCLA are the most by a Calipari player in the NCAA Tournament. Along with Bam Adebayo, all three were lottery picks in the 2017 NBA Draft. SKJ transferred after two seasons to NC State, but never played for the Wolf Pack, ultimately began a professional career overseas.

2017

• Quade Green: 9.0 points, 2.6 assists
• Nick Richards: 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks
• Kevin Knox: 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 341.% 3FG
• Jarred Vanderbilt: 5.9 points, 7.9 rebounds
• PJ Washington: 12.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks

Proof that quantity is not greater than quality, Vanderbilt was injured for most of his only season at Kentucky, while Green ultimately transferred to Washington after two seasons. Knox has his moments, scoring 34 points in a come from behind win at West Virginia, before he was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Richards developed into an All-SEC by year three. Washington was the greatest success story, earning Third Team All-American honors as a sophomore, en route to an Elite 8 appearance and a first round NBA Draft pick by the Hornets at No. 12 overall.

2018

• Keldon Johnson: 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 38.1% 3FG
• Immanuel Quickley: 10.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 39.7% 3FG
• EJ Montgomery: 4.8 points, 4.6 rebounds

Johnson was a solid contributor to the 2019 Wildcats, albeit never the first option behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and PJ Washington. Quickley found his grove as a sophomore, earning All-SEC honors and tabbed SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. The two eventually heard their names called in the first round of the NBA Draft. Montgomery’s one shining moment was a tip-in in the final seconds to defeat Florida in the regular season finale, the final Kentucky basketball game played in the 2020 season.

2019

• Kahlil Whitney: 3.3 points, 1.7 rebounds
• Tyrese Maxey: 14.0 points, 3.2 assists
• Oscar Tshiebwe: 16.9 points, 14.4 rebounds

Tyrese Maxey is in the middle of an odd dichotomy in the 2019 MCDonald’s All-American Class. An excellent, albeit streaky scorer, we only saw a glimpse of his best stuff before he turned into a beloved Philadelphia 76er. Whitney played in 18 games before he left the team, eventually entering the G League. Oscar Tshiebwe started his career at West Virginia and left the Mountaineers in the middle of his second season. At Kentucky he became the greatest rebounder college basketball has seen in 40 years. He was a two-time Consensus All-American and UK’s first ever Unanimous National Player of the Year, yet he never could lead his team to a deep NCAA Tournament run.

2020

• BJ Boston: 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 30% 3FG
• Terrence Clarke: 9.6 points, 2.6 rebounds

Kentucky fans anticipated an immediate impact from Boston, but the three-level scorer struggled to produce consistently during his one season in Lexington that featured only nine wins. Injuries sidelined Clarke from all but eight games during the COVID-plagued season before his tragic death in the summer of 2021.

2021

• Daimion Collins: 2.4 points, 2.0 rebounds

In the midst of assistant coaching turnover, Jai Lucas’ signee helped steer the Wildcats’ recruiting efforts back in the right direction. Light in the shorts, few expected immediate contributions during his freshman campaign. After an explosive summer with highlight-producing plays in the Bahamas, expectations were high in year two, but all of that changed following the sudden passing of his father right before the start of the season. His future with Kentucky is unclear entering the offseason.

2022

• Chris Livingston: 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds
• Cason Wallace: 11.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 34.6% 3FG

Livingston started in every game for the Wildcats but struggled to find a role until mid-February. He averaged 11.4 points and 6.6 boards over a 5-game stretch, including a pair of double-doubles. His decision is up in the air, but most expect Cason Wallace to declare for the NBA Draft. He was shooting around 50% from three until Sahvir Wheeler’s absence forced him into starting point guard duties. The Wildcats’ best perimeter defender, Wallace was asked to do a little bit of everything in what will likely be his only season at Kentucky.