John Calipari will attend the NBA Draft with Cason Wallace
John Calipari will be back in the Green Room tonight. Kentucky’s head coach tweeted that he is attending the NBA Draft with Cason Wallace. The freshman is one of 25 players invited to the Barclays Center and one of four former Wildcats hoping to hear his name called tonight.
“I’ll be with Cason and his family tonight at the NBA Draft,” Calipari wrote on social media. “Every year, it’s a very anxious time for the family and player (and me!). As history has shown, our guards usually outperform their draft position. I remember making statements that teams would regret passing on some of our guys. Knowing what I know about Cason, he’s in the same mold. You don’t want to pass on him!!”
Wallace is projected to go anywhere from No. 8 to No. 18, with most mock drafts penciling him in right at the end of the lottery, No. 14 to the New Orleans Pelicans. Fellow freshman Chris Livingston is expected to go in the second round, while a growing number of mock drafts have Oscar Tshiebwe also being drafted in the late second round. Jacob Toppin is not expected to be drafted, but Calipari said don’t count any of the Wildcats out.
“I’m also excited to see tonight how it plays out for Oscar, Chris and Jacob. My guess is that they’ll all be drafted because they are all built to succeed and know how to be great teammates and impact winning!!”
This will be the first NBA Draft Calipari has attended since 2019, when PJ Washington (No. 12, Charlotte Hornets), Tyler Herro (No. 13, Miami Heat) and Keldon Johnson (No. 29, San Antonio Spurs) were all selected. He was unable to attend in 2021 to see Isaiah Jackson be drafted and, as you may recall, was in New York on Draft Day last year but did not go to the Barclays Center, instead wishing Shaedon Sharpe and TyTy Washington good luck beforehand.
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During John Calipari’s tenure at Kentucky, 45 Wildcats have been drafted, 34 in the first round and 22 in the lottery. That’s 12 more than the next closest school, Duke.
Cason Wallace thanks BBN for support
Ahead of his big day, Wallace sent this video message to the Big Blue Nation through Kentucky’s social media team.
“I want to say thank you, BBN, for all the love and support. Y’all were always there, still here, and next year’s team will just go after it and cook everybody that steps in front of y’all.”
Oscar Tshiebwe did the same on his Twitter account:
Kentucky also posted tribute videos for Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe.
The NBA Draft begins at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. If you can’t watch live, make sure you’re signed up for our breaking news alerts to find out where the Wildcats land. Just text “KSR” to 41372.
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