As far as the NBA — the likely next step for many of the Wildcats involved in Kentucky’s victory over Kansas last night in the national championship game — is concerned, their professional prospects probably were only amplified slightly with the win. This is not to say that each player somehow hurt or diminished their value, it’s just that we already knew, for the most part, what they were as a team and as individual players. To some, the college basketball world, with an honest professional finishing school playing within the NCAA’s guidelines and cutting down the nets, may have lost whatever it had left of that corny “amateurs playing the game they love for love of the game” veil that has long been used as a blanket statement, used both as an excuse for sloppiness as well as the sport’s best virtue.
Of course amateurism isn’t quite dead, but for NBA purposes, this team and these players didn’t need their talents solidified with a national championship, because for many seasons already Kentucky — or more specifically coach John Calipari, because we must count Derrick Rose — has showcased first round-level talent for NBA fans to prognosticate over. Anyone who followed Kentucky’s recruits in the preseason knew to have their ears perked; now with a full season of games and stragglers like myself joining the gawking party late as proof, we know the likes of Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb are NBA-ready prospects. The national title Kentucky won last night certainly doesn’t hurt, but in many ways we already knew what we were dealing with when it comes to this group of players, their skill sets, their jaw-dropping athleticism and cohesiveness.
What the championship does do, though, is put Kentucky as the place, the standard, for talented freshman to go to earn notoriety, public access, and the already-built reputation of playing for Kentucky — once a guy commits to being a Wildcat, the preconceived notion that his talent is NBA-caliber, or at least something close to that, will already be there. The title itself didn’t make Davis a clearer number one selection, his dominance and fingerprints on a game in which he made one field goal, however, does.
The most important thing the title, in relation to NBA followers, does is make Kentucky a seemingly obvious decision for the nation’s elite high-schoolers who would have, if possible, made the leap straight to the pros. Playing for Calipari’s Kentucky already meant that NBA fans should be taking notice; the thing of it now is that every possible recruit knows that short-term success, along with spotlight, can be had — why not go for a national championship while waiting for the NBA to open its doors? For Kentucky, the assumption of the monster recruiting class year after year, although realistically a bit far-fetched, will draw NBA fans to the college game to see what kind of squad Calipari fields next. And more to the point, what could become of them professionally, one short year away.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
