Kentucky Basketball: The three best Wildcats of the 2010's
With not only the year but the decade winding down, Cats Illustrated writers are continuing with a series of superlatives that touch on a range of topics.
We've already unveiled lists of the best Kentucky football players of the last ten years, which can be found here.
Here below you will find our rankings for the three best Kentucky basketball players of the last decade.
Travis Graf
1. Anthony Davis
2. John Wall
3. Karl-Anthony Towns
Justin Rowland
1. Anthony Davis
2. Jamal Murray
3. Tyler Ulis
Jeff Drummond
1. Anthony Davis
2. John Wall
3. Karl-Anthony Towns
Anthony Davis is the unanimous number one choice for the participating Cats Illustrated writers. That makes sense, as he was National Player of the Year, National Defensive Player of the Year, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft during and following his only season in Lexington. There could be a case for Davis as the greatest player in the history of the Kentucky program, although that would likely be more controversial.
John Wall is the No. 2 choice for two CI writers. Like Davis, he was the No. 1 pick in the draft following his only season at Kentucky. Wall was the SEC's Player of the Year and a consensus first team All-American during the 2009-10 season, during which he and four other first round picks won 35 games before losing to West Virginia in the Elite Eight.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the No. 3 choice for two CI writers. Towns was the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after starring for Kentucky's historic 38-1 team which lost to Wisconsin in the Final Four. Towns was SEC Freshman of the Year, a first team all-conference choice, and a consensus second team All-American during his only year at Kentucky.
Jamal Murray posted the highest single season scoring average for a John Calipari player at Kentucky, and is the only player during the last two years to average 20 points per game. He shot 40.8-percent on 277 three-point attempts, was a first team All-SEC player, and a third team All-American for a UK team that lost to Indiana in the Round of 32. He was the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Tyler Ulis was part of Kentucky's 2014-15 platoon system but took on a much greater role in his second year with the Wildcats. During the 2015-16 season he became the second Calipari player under Davis to win both the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was a first team All-American according to several publications.