Ranking the Most Talented Kentucky Basketball Teams of All Time

College basketball history is full of great teams. Legendary squads that make you wonder how it all worked to such perfection on the hardwood.

This is not about those teams.

This is about the ones that make you squint at the roster years later and wonder how it all fit in one locker room—squads where the talent level bordered on absurd and future pros were sometimes stacked two-deep.

You can win a title without that kind of depth. You can even dominate a season without it. But when it's there, it leaves a different kind of imprint.

So we set out to find those instances.

Bleacher Report writers and editors started with a massive pool of candidates and cut it to 68 via a staff vote, enforcing a simple rule along the way: No overlapping cores. That meant no two teams from the same school could share more than one rotation player.

From there, we focused on what these rosters became, counting only players who actually reached the NBA or WNBA, and weighing how many made it, how long they lasted and how much they accomplished as pros. Individual NCAA accomplishments were also considered, but amateur team success was not.

A first-place vote garnered 68 points, on down to 1 point for a last-place vote.

The result isn't a ranking of the best college teams ever. It's a catalog of talent at its most concentrated—rosters that, in hindsight, feel almost unreasonable.

Below is a collection of Kentucky's most stacked teams that appeared in our overall ranking.

Team summaries by Andy Bailey

7. 1953-54 Kentucky Men (25-0)

Overall Rank: 49

Pro Seasons (26): Cliff Hagan (13), Frank Ramsey (9), Lou Tsioropoulos (3), Jerry Bird (1)

Hall of Famers: 2 | Pro All-Stars: 1 | Top-10 Picks: 1

NCAA Tournament: Did not participate after Hagan, Ramsey and Tsioropoulos were deemed ineligible

The story of why this team didn't compete in the NCAA tournament is an interesting one, but that's not why we're here today.

This is about the pros who were on the roster, and two of them went on to be Hall of Famers.

Over a seven-year stretch with the St. Louis Hawks, Hagan averaged 21.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He won a championship in 1958, the only non-Boston Celtics title in a decade.

And his former teammate, Ramsey, was a big part of that Celtics dominance. He won seven championships with Boston before retiring as a career double-digit scorer.

Kentucky may have been denied a chance to win that 1954 title in college, but having two Hall of Famers is a different and maybe even more impressive form of glory.

High Vote: 26

Low Vote: UR

6. 2016-17 Kentucky Men (32-6)

Overall Rank: 43

Pro Seasons (35): Bam Adebayo (9), Malik Monk (8), De'Aaron Fox (8), Wenyen Gabriel (5), Mychal Mulder (3), Isaiah Briscoe (1), Isaac Humphries (1)

Pro All-Stars: 2 | Top-10 Picks: 1

NCAA Tournament: Lost Elite Eight

Current NBA fans will certainly recognize at least three of the names above.

All of Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox are still active in the league. Fox and Bam are still starters. And Bam, of course, just dropped 83 points in a single NBA game, giving him the second-highest total in league history.

The other four were all in and out of the league in relatively short order, but producing a total of seven pros, two of which (Adebayo and Fox) would go on to make All-Star teams is obviously impressive.

High Vote: 25

Low Vote: 56

5. 2017-18 Kentucky Men (26-11)

Overall Rank: 32

Pro Seasons (46): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (8), Jarred Vanderbilt (8), P.J. Washington (7), Kevin Knox (7), Hamidou Diallo (6), Nick Richards (5), Wenyen Gabriel (5)

Pro All-Stars: 1 | Top-10 Picks: 1

NCAA Tournament: Lost Sweet 16

The biggest name here is obviously the soon-to-be-two-time NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Less than a decade into his career, he already has a championship, a Finals MVP, the aforementioned league MVP, a scoring title, four seasons over 30 points per game and the all-time record for consecutive regular-season games with at least 20 points.

If SGA was the lone alumnus from this team to make it to the league, it'd have a strong legacy. But of course, he's not.

Jarred Vanderbilt and P.J. Washington are both still role players currently getting minutes for NBA teams. And four others lasted at least a half decade.

High Vote: 11

Low Vote: 47

4. 2011-12 Kentucky Men (38-2)

Overall Rank: 22

Pro Seasons (40): Anthony Davis (14), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (8), Terrence Jones (6), Darius Miller (6), Marquis Teague (3), Doron Lamb (2), Kyle Wiltjer (1)

Pro All-Stars: 1 | Top-10 Picks: 2

NCAA Tournament: Won National Title

You could tell in the moment that this Kentucky team was absolutely loaded with talent. And though all but one is already out of the NBA, that last hanger-on is one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history.

Anthony Davis won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, and he currently boasts career averages of 24.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals.

Today, it's easy to think of AD as the guy on the other side of the Luka Dončić trade or an oft-injured big man, but he is, without question one of the most productive players in league history. Davis is 18th all-time in career box plus/minus.

High Vote: 18

Low Vote: 40

3. 1995-96 Kentucky Men (34-2)

Overall Rank: 10

Pro Seasons (79): Nazr Mohammed (18), Antoine Walker (13), Derek Anderson (11), Tony Delk (10), Walter McCarty (10), Ron Mercer (8), Mark Pope (7), Jeff Sheppard (1), Wayne Turner (1)

Pro All-Stars: 1 | Top-10 Picks: 2

NCAA Tournament: Won National Title

Having nine pros is one thing. Having five last a decade and another two last at least seven years is what sets this group apart.

Antoine Walker was this group's only NBA All-Star, but players don't typically last in the league as long as these ones did without providing some positive contributions.

And by the time all nine were in the league, Walker, Nazr Mohammed and Derek Anderson had all captured NBA championships.

High Vote: 7

Low Vote: 27

2. 2009-10 Kentucky Men (35-3)

Overall Rank: 9

Pro Seasons (62): Eric Bledsoe (12), John Wall (11), DeMarcus Cousins (11), Patrick Patterson (11), Darius Miller (6), DeAndre Liggins (5), Daniel Orton (3), Josh Harrellson (3)

Pro All-Stars: 2 | Top-10 Picks: 2

NCAA Tournament: Lost Elite Eight

The 2009-10 Kentucky Wildcats were another team absolutely loaded with professional talent.

And, had injuries not significantly affected the longevity of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, this group might have an even greater legacy.

But even with their runs being cut short, this Kentucky roster sent some big-time producers to the league.

Wall finished his career with averages of 18.7 points and 8.9 assists. Cousins was at 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks. And Bledsoe put up 13.7 points and 4.7 assists.

High Vote: 4

Low Vote: 28

1. 2014-15 Kentucky Men (38-1)

Overall Rank: 7

Pro Seasons (52): Karl-Anthony Towns (11), Devin Booker (11), Trey Lyles (10), Willie Cauley-Stein (7), Aaron Harrison (3), Andrew Harrison (3), Tyler Ulis (3), Alex Poythress (3), Dakari Johnson (1)

Pro All-Stars: 2 | Top-10 Picks: 2

NCAA Tournament: Lost Final Four

Another team with the sheer volume of nine NBA players, the 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats had a lot of stars who didn't last long in the league.

But the two who are still going are among the NBA's very best at their respective positions. And they'll likely be building their professional resumes for several more years.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who trails only AD among Wildcats in career wins over replacement player, has averaged 22.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 threes for his career.

Devin Booker's career averages are up to 24.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.1 threes.

Kentucky having both, plus longtime role player Trey Lyles and six other pros, at the same time, gave it one of the most impressive collections of talent the NCAA has ever seen.

High Vote: 1

Low Vote: 17