The University of Kentucky is synonymous with greatness in men's college basketball. The program has made 64 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and won eight national championships, and it has consistently churned out high-level talent.
As a result, 145 members of the Wildcats have been drafted into the NBA, including Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey and Karl-Anthony Towns. Former Los Angeles Lakers standouts Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, Malik Monk and Julius Randle played at the University of Kentucky, as did current Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt and former legendary Lakers coach Pat Riley.
The Purple and Gold have drafted a total of nine players from the school. Here is a look at them.
Phil Grawemeyer -- forward
In three years with the
Wildcats, Grawemeyer averaged 8.8 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. The Lakers took him in the 10th round of the 1956 draft, but he never played in the NBA.
Jerry Bird -- forward
Bird averaged 12.7 points and 10.5 rebounds a game in his three years at the University of Kentucky. He was chosen by the Lakers in the third round of the 1956 draft, and after spending two years in the military, he played one season in the NBA with the New York Knicks, averaging 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.1 minutes a game.
Bill Lickert -- guard
Lickert put up 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds a game during his three years at the University of Kentucky. After Los Angeles took him in the fifth round of the 1961 draft, he never played in the NBA.
Cotton Nash -- forward
In his three seasons with the Wildcats, Nash averaged 22.7 points and 12.3 rebounds a game and earned three First-team All-SEC honors. After the Lakers took him in the second round of the 1964 draft, he played in 25 games with them as a rookie and averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.7 minutes a game.
He finished that season with the San Francisco Warriors and played one more season with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Across both leagues, Nash averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes a game for his career.
Phil Argento -- guard
Argento had an average of nine points a game in his three years with the Wildcats and was a 10th-round selection by the Lakers in the 1969 draft. He never played in the NBA.
Roger Harden -- guard
Harden contributed 3.9 points and 4.1 assists per game in four years at the University of Kentucky. He was taken in the fifth round of the 1986 draft by L.A., but he never played in the NBA.
Joe Crawford -- forward
Crawford stayed at the University of Kentucky for four seasons and averaged 11.3 points a game while there. He was a second-round draft pick by the Lakers in 2008, and he ended up playing two games in the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks during the 2008-09 campaign.
Julius Randle -- power forward/center
The rebuilding Lakers took Randle with the No. 7 pick in the 2014 draft after he averaged 15 points and 10.4 boards a game in his lone season with the Wildcats. His rookie year in the NBA was virtually wiped out by a broken right tibia, but he bounced back and developed into a star.
He averaged 13.5 points and 8.9 rebounds a game in four seasons with Los Angeles. After leaving to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018, he took his game to a higher level and has made the All-Star team three times while averaging over 20 points a game six times in the last eight seasons.
After two years with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Randle was traded earlier this summer to the Brooklyn Nets.
Isaiah Jackson -- center
Days after the Lakers took Jackson with the No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft, they sent him to the Indiana Pacers as part of a five-team trade that brought them Russell Westbrook. He had averaged 8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Wildcats.
In his five NBA seasons thus far, he has put up 7.1 points, 4.5 boards and 1.2 blocks in 15.3 minutes a contest.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Every University of Kentucky player drafted by the Lakers
