NFLNBAMLBNHLWNBASoccerGolf
Featured Video
🚨 Mitchell Headed to 1st Conference Finals
Anthony Davis, John Calipari and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Anthony Davis, John Calipari and Michael Kidd-GilchristBill Kostroun/Associated Press

CBB Programs with the Best NBA Draft History of the Last Decade

Kerry MillerMay 9, 2016

With three No. 1 overall picks and a total of 13 lottery selections in the past decade, Kentucky's men's basketball team has had the most success on NBA draft night by a country mile.

The 2016 NBA draft (June 23) is less than two months away. Before it arrives, though, we took a look back through the past 10 drafts to mathematically rank college programs by draft picks. 

The scoring system for ranking these 20 teams is as follows:

  • Seven points for a top-three pick
  • Five points for a player drafted in the Nos. 4-7 range
  • Four points for a player drafted in the Nos. 8-14 range
  • Three points for a player drafted in the Nos. 15-30 range
  • One point for a player drafted in the second round

As dumb luck would have it, Kentucky ended up with a score of 100, so every other school's score can be read as a percentage of how well it has done compared to head coach John Calipari's superhighway to the pros. Though, if we were ranking coaches instead of schools, Calipari would be even further ahead of the pack than he already is, because he was also responsible for more than half of the points that Memphis scored to tie for 12th place on the list.

Honorable Mentions

1 of 21
Blake Griffin
Blake Griffin

Oklahoma Sooners

There were a couple of schools that produced top-three picks without making it into our top 20, but Oklahoma feels like the biggest disappointment, churning out Blake Griffin and not much else. In fact, until Buddy Hield presumably goes in the lottery next month, Griffin is the only Sooner in the past decade to be drafted No. 46 or better.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan just barely missed the cut, which is quite impressive for a school that didn't have a single player drafted from 2005-10. In Nik Stauskas, Trey Burke, Mitch McGary and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Wolverines have produced a good number of first-round picks in the past few years. However, getting completely shut out of the first five drafts considered for this list didn't do them any favors.

Stanford Cardinal

Stanford had a great showing in the 2008 NBA draft with Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Robin Lopez (No. 15) both going in the first round. Since then, though, it has just been three second-round picks and Josh Huestis, who was shockingly taken with the 29th pick in the 2014 draft before appearing in just five NBA games in the past two seasons. 

Maryland Terrapins

In the early 2000s, the Terps were regularly sending guys to the NBA. Steve Francis and Chris Wilcox were both top-10 picks. Juan Dixon was a first-rounder, and there were five other players taken early in the second round. But Maryland hasn't been nearly the NBA factory it once was, with Alex Len the only player taken No. 27 or earlier in the past decade. The Terrapins would fare better on this list in a few months, though, after Diamond Stone, Jake Layman, Robert Carter Jr. and (if he stays in the draft pool) Melo Trimble have their names called.

Baylor Bears

Not including Isaiah Austin being drafted by the NBA in 2014, Baylor has had six players selected in the past decade. The crown jewel of that sextet is Ekpe Udoh. The shot-blocker extraordinaire spent his first two collegiate seasons at Michigan before transferring to Baylor and becoming the No. 6 overall pick in the 2010 draft.

Boston College Eagles

There weren't many surprises on the list, but Boston College has been so bad for the past half-decade that I had almost forgotten how good the Eagles were in the mid-2000s with the likes of Sean Williams, Jared Dudley and Craig Smith. Between that trio, Reggie Jackson and Olivier Hanlan, Boston College scored more points in this exercise (11) than it has ACC wins in the past three seasons combined (eight).

Florida State Seminoles

Though they have been substantially more successful on the court than Boston College, the Seminoles were the most surprising team to record at least 10 points in this exercise.

Did you know Florida State has had seven players drafted in the past decade? For real, here's the list: Al Thornton, Chris Singleton, Toney Douglas, Bernard James, Alexander Johnson, Solomon Alabi and Ryan Reid. Douglas was the only one to appear in a single game this season and the only one to appear in more than 300 NBA games in his career, but at least draft night has treated the Seminoles well.

20. Michigan State Spartans

2 of 21
Tom Izzo (left) and Gary Harris
Tom Izzo (left) and Gary Harris

Draft Picks: 8

Top Pick: No. 15 (Adreian Payne)

Score: 16

Though Michigan State been one of the most successful college basketball programs in the country, winning an average of 26.2 games from 2006-15, it's incredible the Spartans made the list.

They have not produced a single lottery pick since Jason Richardson in 2001, and their players usually stay for four years. Of the eight guys Michigan State has had drafted in the past decade, the average number of years of college experience is 3.625. Only Gary Harris (two years) and Shannon Brown (three years) jumped to the next level before they had to leave school.

For the college basketball purists, Michigan State has been a breath of fresh air in the one-and-done era—both winning a ton of games and retaining players for all four seasons before sending a good number of them off to the NBA.

Then again, Deyonta Davis just left after his freshman season in East Lansing, and head coach Tom Izzo's incoming recruiting class is arguably the best of his entire career and likely to produce a one-and-done player or two. The four-year star is quickly going the way of the dodo bird.

18. (tie) LSU Tigers

3 of 21
Tyrus Thomas
Tyrus Thomas

Draft Picks: 8

Top Pick: No. 4 (Tyrus Thomas)

Score: 17

The Tigers have only been to two of the past 10 NCAA tournaments, but that hasn't kept them from being well-represented on draft night. Nor will it be a problem this June, when Ben Simmons is expected to be selected with a top-two pick, despite playing for a team that missed the Big Dance.

Tyrus Thomas got the party started with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, skyrocketing up the draft boards during a surprising run to the Final Four in his freshman season. Anthony Randolph (No. 14 in 2008) was also a lottery pick after just one collegiate season.

In fact, not one of LSU's eight draft picks stayed in school all four years, which probably explains why the Tigers have had so much difficulty consistently winning games. Marcus Thornton, Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey each left after two years. Glen Davis and Johnny O'Bryant stuck around for three years before going pro. And Justin Hamilton played two seasons at Iowa State and one at LSU before the Philadelphia 76ers selected him in the middle of the second round in 2012.

TOP NEWS

With Jayson Tatum sidelined, Celtics' fourth-quarter comeback falls short in Game 7 loss to 76ers
DENVER NUGGETS VS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS, NBA

18. (tie) Louisville Cardinals

4 of 21
Rick Pitino and Terrence Williams
Rick Pitino and Terrence Williams

Draft Picks: 7

Top Pick: No. 11 (Terrence Williams)

Score: 17

Louisville has won at least 20 games in 14 consecutive seasons, but that hasn't led to much NBA successneither on draft night nor in the years to follow.

At No. 11 in the 2009 draft, Terrence Williams is Louisville's top draft pick of the past two decades, but he didn't do much with it. Williams appeared in 78 games as a rookie and just 75 thereafter.

Earl Clark didn't fare much better, as he was taken just three picks after Williams at No. 14 in 2009. Clark had a few months in the sun with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012-13, but even in his best season, he only ranked eighth on the team in scoring.

Of the Cardinals drafted in the past decade, Gorgui Dieng has had the best career by far. He's started more than 100 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the past three seasons, and he was the 21st overall pick in 2013 after a few years as arguably the best defensive stopper in the nation.

17. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

5 of 21
Derrick Favors
Derrick Favors

Draft Picks: 5

Top Pick: No. 3 (Derrick Favors)

Score: 18

The Yellow Jackets are tied for fewest draft picks among teams in our top 20, but four of those five picks were No. 19 or better.

Derrick Favors was the big one—the New Jersey Nets selected him No. 3 overall in 2010 after just one year in Atlanta. In that singular season, though, he helped lead the Yellow Jackets to 23 wins after going 12-19 the previous year. He has been a force in the paint for the Utah Jazz for the past few years—though they haven't won more than 43 games in a season since acquiring him.

Georgia Tech had three others drafted in the teens in Thaddeus Young (No. 12 in 2007), Javaris Crittenton (No. 19 in 2007) and Iman Shumpert (No. 17 in 2011). There was also Gani Lawal taken in the second round in 2010, but he only appeared in one NBA game for two minutes.

The Yellow Jackets unofficially also got a healthy dose of brownie points for Anthony Morrow, who has more than 5,000 career points despite going undrafted in 2008.

16. USC Trojans

6 of 21
O.J. Mayo
O.J. Mayo

Draft Picks: 6

Top Pick: No. 3 (O.J. Mayo)

Score: 21

Like Georgia Tech, USC took its limited number of draft picks seriously and produced four players taken in the top 16 and another two in the top 32.

All five of the Trojans' first-round picks have had lucrative careers in the NBA. Nick Young (No. 16 in 2007), O.J. Mayo (No. 3 in 2008), DeMar DeRozan (No. 9 in 2009) and Taj Gibson (No. 26 in 2009) have each appeared in at least 500 games with a combined total of 28,464 points. And Nikola Vucevic (No. 16 in 2011) is well on his way to 500 career games, and he's started in at least 57 games in each of the past four seasons with the Orlando Magic.

However, USC is a controversial inclusion on the list, as Tim Floyd recruited four of those five players (Young was the exception) to USC before abruptly resigning after reports that he paid handlers to steer Mayo to USC. No other players were officially implicated in the scandal, but it was always a bit curious that Floyd was able to sign multiple studs to a program that had produced just one first-round pick (Rodrick Rhodes went No. 24 in 1997) from 1992-2006.

15. Georgetown Hoyas

7 of 21
Otto Porter
Otto Porter

Draft Picks: 6

Top Pick: No. 3 (Otto Porter)

Score: 22

Once upon a time, Georgetown was a factory for NBA greats. From 1982-96, the Hoyas sent Sleepy Floyd, Reggie Williams, Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson to the league.

Over the past decade, though, it has predominantly produced role players.

Otto Porter is starting to play like more of a star, but he still only averaged 11.6 points per game in his third season after the Wizards took him with the No. 3 overall pick. Jeff Green (No. 5 in 2007) and Greg Monroe (No. 7 in 2010) have been more valuable lottery picks, but neither one has appeared in an All-Star Game to date.

Roy Hibbert went to a pair of All-Star Games (2012 and 2014), but even the No. 17 pick in the 2008 draft hasn't developed as much as we hoped.

Still, three lottery picks and a fourth first-rounder is quite the haul from a program that has developed a reputation in recent years for disappointing, early exits from the NCAA tournament.

14. Indiana Hoosiers

8 of 21
Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo
Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo

Draft Picks: 5

Top Pick: No. 2 (Victor Oladipo)

Score: 24

For the past decade at Indiana, it has been go big or go undrafted. All five of the Hoosiers' draft picks were first-rounders, and four of them were No. 9 or better.

The cream of the crop was Victor Oladipo, which nobody saw coming. He was a 3-star recruit in the class of 2010 who averaged 7.4 points per game as a freshman before exploding as a junior for the preseason No. 1 team in the country. But a bet in 2010 on Oladipo becoming the No. 2 overall pick in an NBA draft probably would have had longer odds than Leicester City winning the Premier League.

Cody Zeller (No. 4 in 2013), Eric Gordon (No. 7 in 2008) and Noah Vonleh (No. 9 in 2014) were much more predictable as lottery picks, as all three were McDonald's All-Americansas was D.J. White, who was taken with the 29th pick in 2008.

Will Yogi Ferrell (2012 McDonald's AA) and James Blackmon Jr. (2014) eventually join that club?

12. (tie) Washington Huskies

9 of 21
Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy

Draft Picks: 9

Top Pick: No. 6 (Brandon Roy)

Score: 25

For as little as they have done on the court, the Huskies have sent a ton of players to the NBA.

Most of the teams that have had at least nine players drafted in the past 10 years are in the NCAA tournament over and over again, but Washington hasn't gone dancing since 2011 and has only been to three of the past 10 tournaments.

Yet, the Huskies have produced three lottery picks (Brandon Roy, Terrence Ross and Spencer Hawes), three other first-round picks (Tony Wroten, Quincy Pondexter and C.J. Wilcox) and a trio of second-rounders (Bobby Jones, Jon Brockman and Isaiah Thomas).

What's comical is that it's the worst of those draft picks who could go down as the greatest NBA player in Washington history. (Sorry, Detlef Schrempf.)

Roy had a good shot at that honor until his career was cut short by a knee condition, leaving Thomasthe No. 60 pick in the 2011 draftto emerge as the star Husky. He averaged 22.2 points and 6.2 assists per game this past season with the Boston Celtics, ranking in the top 15 in the NBA in both categories.

12. (tie) Memphis Tigers

10 of 21
Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose

Draft Picks: 9

Top Pick: No. 1 (Derrick Rose)

Score: 25

Memphis fared well on the list, but no thanks to anything it has done since John Calipari jumped ship for the Kentucky job. Since the 2009 NBA draft, the Tigers have only sent two players to the pros: Duke transfer Elliot Williams was a late first-round pick in 2010, and Will Barton was a second-rounder two years later.

From 2006-09, though, Memphis pretty much owned the draft. Derrick Rose was the No. 1 overall pick in 2008 with Tyreke Evans following in his footsteps as the No. 4 overall pick one year later. Calipari also sent Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams to the next level as mid-first-rounders, while Joey Dorsey, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Robert Dozier went in the second round.

In total, the Tigers had two players drafted in 2006, three in 2008 and another two in 2009. Add that to what Calipari has done over the past six drafts at Kentucky, and he is to the NBA what Canada is to the NHL.

11. Florida Gators

11 of 21
Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal

Draft Picks: 11

Top Pick: No. 3 (Bradley Beal and Al Horford)

Score: 32

Like Memphis, Florida did the vast majority of its draft damage in the first half of the past decade.

Of course, that's to be expected, since the Gators won the 2006 and 2007 NCAA tournaments. Once Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah decided they were done beating up on the collegiate competition, they were respectively taken with the third, seventh and ninth picks in the 2007 draft.

That trio accounted for 16 of Florida's 32 points in this exercise, though. Aside from Marreese Speights at No. 16 in 2008 and Bradley Beal going No. 3 in 2012, it has been nothing but second-rounders since then.

That said, the Gators have done well to average better than one player drafted per year over the past 10 years. Their six second-round picks (Chandler Parsons, Chris Richard, Nick Calathes, Erik Murphy, Taurean Green and Vernon Macklin) nearly combined to be worth a top-three pick in our formula, and one of them (Parsons) has done quite well over the past five seasons in the NBA.

10. Arizona Wildcats

12 of 21
Derrick Williams
Derrick Williams

Draft Picks: 12

Top Pick: No. 2 (Derrick Williams)

Score: 35

Prior to doing the research, I expected Arizona to be a top-five team. That's partially because I underestimated teams like Ohio State and Texas, but mostly because I didn't realize it had been more than a decade since Andre Iguodala and Channing Frye played college basketball. When did we get so old?

Had that pair of top-10 picks counted for the Wildcats, they would have finished in fifth place. Alas, they'll have to settle for 10th with the 12 players they've actually had drafted in the past 10 years.

In addition to Derrick Williams going No. 2 overall after pacing the Wildcats to the 2011 Elite Eight, they've had four other lottery picks. Aaron Gordon went fourth two years ago, Stanley Johnson went eighth last June, Jordan Hill was selected eighth in 2009 and Jerryd Bayless went 11th in 2008.

All five of those players have done fairly well in the NBA, but not one of Arizona's 12 draft picks has been selected to an All-Star Game. Gordon should eventually buck that trend, but it's more than just the Final Four that has eluded Arizona's grasp over the past decade.

9. Syracuse Orange

13 of 21
Jim Boeheim and Dion Waiters
Jim Boeheim and Dion Waiters

Draft Picks: 13

Top Pick: No. 4 (Dion Waiters and Wesley Johnson)

Score: 36

The Orange have had 13 players drafted in the past decade, including four lottery picks and a total of eight first-round picks.

Fortunately for Syracuse, we're only judging these schools by how well they perform on draft night, as opposed to how well they perform in the NBA.

Only a few of those 13 players have amounted to anything. Six of them (Fab Melo, Andy Rautins, Kris Joseph, Demetris Nichols, Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough) have made fewer than 25 career appearances, while two others (Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn) were first-round picks who were out of the NBA within four years.

It's not all bad news, though. Wesley Johnson, Dion Waiters and Jerami Grant have been quality role players, and Michael Carter-Williams has put up the type of numbers that will make him a nightly triple-double threat for years to come.

Even with those good apples, Syracuse's last 13 draft picks have a combined 14,677 career pointscompared to 22,497 by Carmelo Anthony.

7. (tie) Connecticut Huskies

14 of 21
DETROIT - APRIL 04:  Hasheem Thabeet #34 of the Connecticut Huskies is restrained by teammate Kemba Walker #15 after Jeff Adrien #4 was fouled in the first half by Travis Walton #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during the National Semifinal game of the N
DETROIT - APRIL 04: Hasheem Thabeet #34 of the Connecticut Huskies is restrained by teammate Kemba Walker #15 after Jeff Adrien #4 was fouled in the first half by Travis Walton #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during the National Semifinal game of the N

Draft Picks: 13

Top Pick: No. 2 (Hasheem Thabeet)

Score: 40

Connecticut has had six players taken No. 12 or better in the past decade: Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2, 2009), Rudy Gay (No. 8, 2006), Andre Drummond (No. 9, 2012), Kemba Walker (No. 9, 2011), Jeremy Lamb (No. 12, 2012) and Hilton Armstrong (No. 12, 2006). Only Duke (eight) and Kentucky (11) have had more players drafted that highly.

However, Connecticut merely finished in a tie for seventh place because only one of those six guys was taken in the top seven. Even though the Huskies have had more names called on draft day than Ohio State or Texas, they were unable to finish ahead of either of those programs—and they didn't come anywhere close to finishing in the top three.

At least Connecticut's draft picks have a strong track record, though. With the exception of Shabazz Napierwho hasn't been in the NBA long enough to play in this many gamesall nine of Connecticut's first-round picks have made at least 200 appearances. Gay, Drummond and Walker are the only ones to average at least eight points per game, but at least the Huskies hang around for a while.

7. (tie) Ohio State Buckeyes

15 of 21
Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr.
Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr.

Draft Picks: 10

Top Pick: No. 1 (Greg Oden)

Score: 40

Despite having "only" 10 players drafted in the past 10 years, the Buckeyes are in rarefied air. Only Ohio State and Kentucky can boast three top-two draft picks or four top-four draft picks in the past decade.

Granted, the highest of those picks (Greg Oden) never even remotely panned out, but Evan Turner (No. 2), D'Angelo Russell (No. 2) and Mike Conley Jr. (No. 4) have kept the faith in Ohio State's ability to put out a quality productas have late first-round picks Jared Sullinger, Kosta Koufos and (briefly) Daequan Cook.

But what have you done for us lately, Buckeyes? They've only had four players drafted in the last five years, and two of those guys (Jon Diebler and Deshaun Thomas) have yet to make an appearance in the NBA.

Russell and Sullinger are the only players this program has sent to the pros lately, despite earning a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2010-13. Head coach Thad Matta never got enough respect for nearly winning a national championship with a roster built around Thomas, LaQuinton Ross, Sam Thompson and Lenzelle Smith Jr.

6. North Carolina Tar Heels

16 of 21
Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes

Draft Picks: 14

Top Pick: No. 7 (Harrison Barnes)

Score: 41

It's hard to believe the Tar Heels haven't done better than the No. 7 overall pick in more than a decade. They made history with four players (Marvin Williams at No. 2, Raymond Felton at No. 5, Sean May at No. 13 and Rashad McCants at No. 14) taken in the same lottery in 2005, but they haven't even sniffed the No. 1 overall pick since then.

However, North Carolina has had plenty of early representation with a total of six lottery picks (Harrison Barnes, Brandan Wright, Ed Davis, Kendall Marshall, Tyler Hansbrough and John Henson) and four other players taken in the back half of the first round (Tyler Zeller, Ty Lawson, Reggie Bullock and Wayne Ellington).

But at what point does Chapel Hill start churning out quality products again? Lawson had a good run with Denver, and Barnes is a key cog for Golden State, but no other Tar Heel drafted in the past 10 years is averaging 10 points per game in his career.

We're not asking for the second coming of Michael Jordan, but North Carolina gave us Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison in the span of four years in the late 1990s. No Tar Heel drafted in the 2000s has even come close to the type of production those four players gave us.

5. Texas Longhorns

17 of 21
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant

Draft Picks: 12

Top Pick: No. 2 (Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge)

Score: 42

I didn't fully appreciate the hatred of Rick Barnes by Texas fans until putting together this list. The other seven teams in our top eight combined for 18 Final Four appearances and seven national championships, with each team making at least two trips to the national semifinals between 2006-15.

The Longhorns, though? They had just two measly trips to the Elite Eight, both of which ended with a loss by a double-digit margin to a team that didn't even end up winning the national championship.

To be sure, NBA-ready talent was never the problem for Texas. Rather, it was squandering the opportunity to win a national championship with studs like Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tristan Thompson, D.J. Augustin and Myles Turner.

Granted, the only season that any of them played together was 2006-07 when Durant and Augustin somehow managed to lose 10 games, but that's an awful lot of lottery talent down the drain. If and when head coach Shaka Smart is able to lure players that naturally gifted to Austin, the Longhorns should be able to reach the Final Four for just the second time in the past seven decades.

4. UCLA Bruins

18 of 21
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook

Draft Picks: 16

Top Pick: No. 4 (Russell Westbrook)

Score: 44

It has been a hot minute since the Bruins last made a deep NCAA tournament run in 2008, but UCLA just keeps sending guys to the NBA all the same.

In total, 16 Bruins have been drafted in the past decade. Four were lottery picks (Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad), and 11 were taken in the first round.

Half of those 16 players have appeared in at least 400 games, and it's expected that LaVine, Muhammad and Kevon Looney will reach that mark after enough years have passed for it to even be mathematically possible. While some schools simply produce players good enough to get drafted, UCLA does a fine job of cultivating guys who stick around in the pros for a good while.

Of course, Westbrook and Love are the only ones who can even pretend to hold a candle to some of the all-time greats that have come out of UCLA—and even they're a combined 16,338 points behind former Bruin Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA's list of career scoring leaders.

2. (tie) Duke Blue Devils

19 of 21
Kyrie Irving and Miles Plumlee
Kyrie Irving and Miles Plumlee

Draft Picks: 16

Top Pick: No. 1 (Kyrie Irving)

Score: 60

It took a little while for head coach Mike Krzyzewski to fully embrace the one-and-done reality in which we live, but Duke has been churning out lottery picks since he jumped on board, beginning with Kyrie Irving at No. 1 overall in the 2011 draft.

Irving was more like a one-third-and-done, appearing in just 11 games in his one and only collegiate season due to a toe injury, but that didn't keep him from becoming Duke's first top-five draft pick since Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy in 2002. Nor did it keep the Blue Devils from entering the 2011 NCAA tournament with 30 wins and a No. 1 seed.

Because it worked out so well with Irving, Coach K dipped his toe back in that pool for Austin Rivers (No. 10 in 2012 draft) and Jabari Parker (No. 2 in 2014 draft) before diving headfirst into the fray with his past three draft classes.

In total, Duke has had eight lottery picks and 13 first-round picks in the past decade, and the Blue Devils could be getting another No. 1 overall draft pick next month if Brandon Ingram goes ahead of Ben Simmons and Dragan Bender.

2. (tie) Kansas Jayhawks

20 of 21
Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins

Draft Picks: 18

Top Pick: No. 1 (Andrew Wiggins)

Score: 60

Much has been made in recent years of head coach Bill Self's propensity for burying highly rated recruits on the bench until they prove themselves worthysee: Cliff Alexander, Cheick Diallo and Kelly Oubrebut Kansas has still produced more draft picks over the past decade than any school other than Kentucky.

2014 was the big year for the Jayhawks, as they occupied the No. 1 (Andrew Wiggins) and No. 3 (Joel Embiid) spots in the draft. They were Kansas' only top-four draft picks since Drew Gooden in 2002 and the program's only top-three picks since Raef LaFrentz in 1998.

But there have been plenty of other lottery picks out of Lawrence.

Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry went back-to-back at Nos. 11 and 12, respectively, in 2010. The following year, Markieff and Marcus Morris were taken at No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Thomas Robinson went No. 5 overall in 2012, followed by Ben McLemore at No. 7 in 2013. So with Oubre going No. 15 this past June, the Jayhawks have had at least one player taken in the top half of the first round in six straight drafts.

1. Kentucky Wildcats

21 of 21
Kentucky's Record-Setting 2015 draft class
Kentucky's Record-Setting 2015 draft class

Draft Picks: 28

Top Pick: No. 1 (Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and John Wall)

Score: 100

It's comical how far ahead of the pack Kentucky is.

The Wildcats have had more first-round picks (20) in the past decade than any other school has had total draft picks. They've had as many lottery picks (13) as Connecticut or Syracuse has had total picks. They've had more top-10 picks (10) than Michigan State has had draft picks (eight).

Heck, UNLV has had a grand total of two players drafted in the last 10 years, while Kentucky has had three players go No. 1 overall.

The Wildcats have produced at least one lottery pick and at least two first-round draft picks in each of the past six drafts since John Calipari became the head coach.

And it's the "six drafts" portion of that sentence that makes Kentucky's dominance that much more ridiculous. In the four years prior to Calipari's arrival, the Wildcats merely had one first-round draft pick (Rajon Rondo in 2006) and two second-round draft picks (Joe Crawford in 2008 and Jodie Meeks in 2009). They've done 95 percent of their damage in the 2010s, blowing out both Duke and Kansas despite basically forfeiting the first 40 percent of available years.

Perhaps even more impressive than the sheer number of draft picks is Calipari's success rate. In the 2009-14 recruiting classes, Calipari signed 23 5-star recruits. Three of those players were still at Kentucky this past season, but of the 20 to leave the program, 16 were first-round draft picks, two were second-round draft picks, Kyle Wiltjer transferred to Gonzaga and Aaron Harrison was the only one to go undrafted.

Make no mistake about it, if you're a star high school athlete whose sole goal is to make it to the NBA, Kentucky is the way to go.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.

🚨 Mitchell Headed to 1st Conference Finals

TOP NEWS

With Jayson Tatum sidelined, Celtics' fourth-quarter comeback falls short in Game 7 loss to 76ers
DENVER NUGGETS VS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS, NBA
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship
Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Lakers - Game Five

TRENDING ON B/R