Kentucky's Kidd-Gilchrist Dancing & Other College Basketball Off-Court Talents

Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a possible second pick behind Anthony Davis in the 2012 NBA Draft, but did you know this talented college basketball player also loves to dance?

The 2012 NBA Draft is still about a month away, and the dust is beginning to settle on the college basketball recruiting front. As such, not a whole lot is going on in the college basketball world. So as a follow up to a post on college baseball dance-offs and Harvard’s “Call Me Maybe” video, I decided to look at the singing/dancing talent in college basketball. It was either that or analyze yet another way too early ranking.

I searched high and I searched low (really I just did a quick Google and YouTube search). I probably missed some good ones, but here are 11 videos of college basketball players singing and dancing their hearts out. 

What did I find? Well you’re going to have to keep reading to find out, but if a basketball career doesn't pan out for some of these players they could be on "Dancing With the Stars." Overall there is not a whole lot of singing talent in college hoops. And it doesn’t look like the 2012 recruit class will be doing much to change that.

Earlier this year players from the Jordan Brand Classic including: UCLA’s Kyle Anderson, Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Parker, Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, UNLV’s Anthony Bennett and UNC’s J.P. Tokoto sang a capella to the song “Like Mike”.

Keeping the UNC-Duke rivalry in mind, Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon gave props to Michael Jordan, but refrained from singing. I wouldn’t say he missed out on much, as while the basketball talent in this group is high, the singing talent is not so much. You can view that “Like Mike” video by clicking here. 

If there is a video out there that I missed with a recent college basketball player showing off some off-court talent please post it in the comments, as I love watching these things. 

So without further ado, here is some of the off-court talents coming from players and recent former players of the Ohio State, Tennessee, Kansas State, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and UNC basketball teams. 

Party in the Ohio State University

This viral YouTube video features Ohio State’s Jon Diebler, Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger singing along to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.” It’s rough, but you have to give them points for trying. 

Diebler was picked in the 2011 NBA Draft. Craft averaged 8.8 points while playing an average of 30.9 minutes per game in 2011-12. Sullinger averaged 17.2 points while playing an average of 31.7 minutes per game in 2011-12. Sullinger has declared for the 2012 NBA Draft.

Tennessee Rap

Tennessee's Ronaldo Woolridge (The Answer AKA Swiperboy) averaged 4.3 points while playing an average of 13.6 minutes per game in 2011-12.

Unlike pretty much every other recent college basketball player I came across, Woolridge is actually really good. Here’s a recording of Woolridge’s “Bluejay.” If you want to hear him sing an anthem to Tennessee athletics, you’re in luck. Woolridge’s “Yes I Can” is such a tune, and you can listen to it here.

Kansas State Tunnel Dance

Kansas State went 22-11 in 2011-12 and lost to Syracuse in the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Here’s a video of the Wildcats doing a little tunnel dancing prior to their February 13, 2012 game against Kansas. The Wildcats lost that game 59-53.

Indiana Sings Alma Mater

This video is not as recent (2009), but with Indiana basketball projected to enter the 2012-13 season ranked No. 1 in the polls it wouldn’t be fair to exclude them. Here you can watch Indiana players channeling their inner Ivy League-style a capella singing selves while belting out "Hail to Old IU." 

Wisconsin Gives It the Old College Try

Not to be out done in the Big Ten, Wisconsin gave the singing thing a shot. 

After Wisconsin beat Vanderbilt, 60-57, in the 2012 NCAA tournament the players did a little celebratory singing. Calling this singing may be a bit of a stretch as it sounds more like the type of mumbling some guy in an alley, after a St. Patrick’s drinking binge, may make. 

UNC "Sexy and I Know It"

I’ve never been to a Late Night with Roy event, but watching videos of it makes me a little jealous of UNC fans, as they look like a lot of fun.

Here’s a video for the ladies, with some Tar Heels letting the world know that they are sexy and they know it. From this video it's hard to tell if these guys are basketball players, or auditioning for the movie "Magic Mike".

Tar Heels Jump Around

While a little bit older, it would seem wrong to talk about UNC basketball dancing and to not include a video of Danny Green dancing to “Jump Around.”

The John Wall Dance

While we're on the topic former college players dancing, let's not forget John Wall. Wall may not have started the college basketball player dancing craze, but he did start the John Wall dance craze back when he played for Kentucky. 

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Dancing

Continuing in the tradition of dancing Kentucky players is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, seen here doing a little dancing at Kentucky's DanceBlue. Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 11.9 points in 31.1 minutes per game this season on the 2012 NCAA Championship team. 

Kidd-Gilchrist is also known to do a little dancing both on court and pre-game, seen here and here. 

WBA Final Four Winners

Thanks to b/r commenter Joshua Harris for pointing me in the direction of this Kentucky gem.

More Kentucky Dancing

Alright one more Kentucky dancing video for good measure. Anthony Davis even gets in on the action in this video.