Rob Dillingham is 'as good as there is in the country' when he's locked in

Kentucky freshman Rob Dillingham, once again, proved why he’s in consideration for a top-five pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. 23 points on 9-15 shooting (3-4 3PT) against Vanderbilt was just another day in the life. His individual scoring run during the second half demoralized the Commodores to the point of no return.

It wasn’t just the way he got buckets that stood out though. Dillingham was in his playmaking bag. Five assists for the 6-foot-2 guard. Even his defense was above his usual standard. When he’s locked in on both ends like he was on Wednesday night, there might not be a better player in all of college basketball.

John Calipari will co-sign that statement.

“If he is choosing to play that way,” Calipari said postgame. “He’s as good as there is in the country. He really is.”

Kentucky freshman Rob Dillingham off the bench against Vanderbilt:

◾️ 23 PTS
◾️ 9-15 FG
◾️ 3-4 3PT
◾️ 5 AST pic.twitter.com/VjE2rI44bw

— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 7, 2024

No argument over here. Especially with the ball in his hands, when Dillingham gets on a heater, there’s no cooling him down. He was impressive all-around against the ‘Dores, but there was a five-minute stretch after halftime he engineered that helped Kentucky put away Vanderbilt for good. From the 14:13 mark to the 9:25 mark, here is what Dillingham did for the ‘Cats:

• 14:13 – Assist to Aaron Bradshaw
• 13:20 – Made second-chance jumper
• 13:01 – Made jumper
• 12:34 – Turnover
• 12:19 – Steal
• 10:59 – Made jumper
• 10:28 – Made layup
• 9:25 – Made 3-pointer

That’s 11 points, one assist, one steal, and one turnover in under five minutes of play — the full Rob Dillingham experience bottled up into one short second-half span. Kentucky’s lead grew from five to 10. Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse, who spent some time playing in the NBA (nearly 20 years, in fact), could only describe him as “shifty”. He says he sees shades of Kyrie Irving, arguably the best handler in the history of the game.

“He’s a tough cover for anybody,” Stackhouse said of Dillingham. “He’s a guy that is literally capable of exploding and going for 25 or 30 (points) on any given night. I think that’s why you’re seeing him projected on the draft boards that he’s on because he has that type of ability. You know, being able to play one-on-one, create off the dribble, kind of Kyrie Irving-like.”

Again, no argument over here. All of the above attributes are what make Dillingham so exciting to watch for fans and so enticing to scout for NBA teams. You simply never know what he’s going to do next — and that’s part of the show.