Kentucky Basketball: 10 Players Fans Wish Would Have Come Back One More Year

One of the most enjoyable parts of being a sports fan is all of the "What Ifs" that fans can come up with and argue over.  They are often unrealistic and every team's fans could do this, often making one fan's counter-factual contemplation moot, but they sure are fun sometimes.

What if Babe Ruth had never gone to the Yankees?

What if the Blazers had picked Michael Jordan?

What if somebody, anybody, really could put Baby in a corner?

As sports fans, we love these types of discussion.  They are almost always positive and they usually end up with our team winning a national title that they should have won. 

Who doesn't like that?  Heck, I think they hang banners for this at North Carolina!

Anyways, as silly as it is, I must admit that I often wonder into "What If" territory myself from time to time in regards to my beloved Kentucky Wildcats.  Here are a few players that I wish had returned to Kentucky for at least one more year on the hardwood and what type of impact they would have had on the team.

Jamal Mashburn

Simply put, Jamal Mashburn was the best player to suit up for Kentucky over the last 25 years.

He came to Kentucky when the struggles of probation were still present, and he joined forces with Rick Pitino to put Kentucky back on the map.  In his three years he was Kentucky's unquestioned leader on the floor, and he led Kentucky to the 1993 Final Four and was one of the best players in the nation that year.

If he had come back for his senior season, Kentucky would have been absolutely loaded and he would have hands down been the likely player of the year in 1994.  Kentucky would have probably made back to back Final Fours and would have been better than eventual champion Arkansas. 

My guess is the Wildcats would have won their sixth national title in 1994 instead of having to wait until 1996.

Rex Chapman

He was a boyhood legend having grown up in Owensboro, KY and was an instant fan favorite as soon as he arrived in Lexington.  Too bad he was a Louisville fan growing up.

But he made the right choice and came to Kentucky and gave the fans highlight after highlight in his too brief career.  Had he stayed for one or two more years he likely would have compiled one of the statistically great careers in Kentucky history.

However, his leaving didn't bother me too much then and still doesn't because even with him on the team Kentucky was still headed for disaster.  Probation was looming and Kentucky's talent drain was going to take place no matter what Chapman did.

He would have been fun to watch for two more years for selfish purposes, but he made the right call to leave when he did.

Patrick Patterson

He kept Kentucky afloat almost by himself during Billy Gillispie's two years as Kentucky's coach and was the only truly elite recruit that Kentucky was able to sign in what seemed like forever.  He was also a great student and graduated in three years, so he was ready for the NBA.

But if Patterson would have come back for his senior year last season, I think Kentucky would have had a much better chance to win the national title.  With his experience and scoring ability down low Kentucky would have had an outlet for scoring against UConn in the Final Four when shots just weren't falling.

I have no doubt that Patterson would have been able to get his points in the paint and at the free throw line and he would have been the difference between a win and a loss in that game.  However, maybe the team wouldn't have been as good over the course of the season with Patterson being "the guy" and players like Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb possibly not developing as much. 

Who knows.  But I would have love to seen it.

Rodrick Rhodes

Rodrick Rhodes was second team All-SEC after his junior year, was an eventual first round draft pick and finished his career in the top 40 scorers of all time at Kentucky.  But due to some unfortunate moments Rhodes was often a scapegoat amongst fans and coaches alike and transferred before his college career was over.

I wish Rhodes had come back because he was a very good player that I always thought was ready to break out at Kentucky.  And after dealing with so much on the court drama it would have been nice to see him get rewarded with being on the title winning team of 1996.

That being said, coming back may have cost him the chance to be the star he was at Southern California and might have cost him becoming a first round pick with guaranteed money.  I'm sure he was happy with how things ended up.

Still, I hated to see him go and not get his ring.  He had a largely underrated and unappreciated career at Kentucky.

Jodie Meeks

Meeks is one of the biggest disappointments on this list.  Not for anything that he did but because I guarantee you that had he come back for his senior season Kentucky not only would have won the 2010 title instead of Duke, but Kentucky might have gone undefeated as well.

Kentucky's only weakness that season was the lack of a consistent three point threat, and Jodie Meeks specialty was hitting three point shots.  There is no way that Kentucky only goes 3-1000 from deep against West Virginia and Kentucky would have easily won that game.  And that team would have wiped the floor with Duke in the Final Four.  They just would have...they would have been the perfect team.

I truthfully cannot think of one game that team would have lost.  They would have beaten South Carolina and Tennessee on the road easily.  Maybe they could have still gotten upset somewhere else along the way, but if that team only lost three games all year without Meeks I really can't see any losses with him.

I still get sick at my stomach thinking about this.

Ron Mercer

Mercer won a title in his first year and led Kentucky to the finals in his second, and Kentucky won the title again in his first year after he left.  So there really wasn't much more he could have accomplished or Kentucky could have accomplished had he stayed one more year.

Still, Mercer was so good in college that Kentucky fans would have been thrilled to have gotten to see more of him in a Wildcats uniform.  And if he had stayed through the 1999 season along with some other guys on this list, then Kentucky likely would have won the title in his last year as well.

So you can't really be too worried about what would have happened had Mercer stayed another year.  But if you stretch it to two years then you are talking.  Three titles in four years was very possible for Kentucky.  And if that had happened who knows what the last 10 years or so of college basketball would have looked like.

Nazr Mohammed

Speaking of that potential 1999 team, they likely would have won it all even if the only guy on this list to come back had been Nazr Mohammed. 

Once an overweight project, by his junior year Mohammed was a force and one of the best big men in college basketball.  The goat of the 1997 title game, Mohammed was a stud in the 1998 tournament helping lead Kentucky to the title.  He smartly went pro and was a first round draft pick that year.

However, had he come back for his senior season he would have likely been the best big man in the game.  And I don't doubt for a second that the Wildcats beat Michigan State in the Elite Eight (or whoever would have been in their way) and get to their fourth straight Final Four.  And they just might have won the whole thing.

Rajon Rondo

I don't think that the course of Kentucky history would have been changed all that much had Rondo come back for one or two more years but it's ok to dream, right?

Chronically mismanaged by Tubby Smith, Rondo was never really able to show his incredible athleticism and talent during his two season in Lexington.  Perhaps his best contribution was that he didn't go to Louisville where he likely would have been used properly and helped destroy Kentucky for two games.

But Rondo was so talented and we have seen how great he was once he got to the NBA it would have been nice to maybe get one more year out of him on the slight chance that his talents could have been better used while he was in college.  Maybe it wouldn't have meant any titles for Kentucky or anything, but seeing great players play is always a plus.  And Rondo is a great player.

John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton

These four go together since they all came and went together after only one season.  While Kentucky may not have gotten many of last season's great recruits if these four had all stuck around just one year longer, I would have taken that trade in a heartbeat.

As freshman, these four were huge parts of the team that lost only three games all year and went all the way to the Elite Eight.  If they would have come back for year two then they would have won last year's title in a walk.

Yes, they still would have had the weakness of the lack of three point shooting, but with a year of maturity they would have just physically dominated the competition.  But it's hard to blame them for all leaving seeing as how they were all first round picks.  Plus, these days people this talented just aren't going to stick around very often so you shouldn't worry too much about these type of players getting away anymore.

Antoine Walker

If he would have stayed one more year then Kentucky would have definitely won three straight NCAA titles.  As a sophomore star of the 1996 title winning team, Walker was one of the best inside-out combo guys in college basketball.

If he had come back for one more year he likely could have been the best player in the country.

Walker made the right move to leave, obviously, but just think about if he had come back.  That 1997 team would have had Walker, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson leading the way.  Even if Anderson still suffers a torn ACL, Walker would have been enough along with Mercer to have still gotten by Arizona for the title.  (Even without a player of Walker's caliber Kentucky was an overtime away from a three-peat)

Plus, who wouldn't have loved to have one more year of the wiggle?

Follow Eric on Twitter.