The Kentucky Wildcats are very well represented in the NBA.
That’s no shock, of course, but the numbers themselves are quite impressive.
College basketball writer Adam Zagoria broke down how many NBA players have come from the top colleges as the 2025-26 season gets underway.
By Zagoria’s tally, Kentucky has 27 players in the NBA this season, tops among any program.
Duke comes in at second with 24 players in the NBA.
Zagoria points out that both those numbers are more than the country of Canada, which has 23 guys in the league to start the season.
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Notable Kentucky players in the NBA
This isn’t the entire list of 27 referenced by Zagoria, but just a list of the most high-powered former Wildcats in the league:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Devin Booker
- Anthony Davis
- Bam Adebayo
- Tyler Herro
- De’Aaron Fox
- Tyrese Maxey
- Jamal Murray
- Julius Randle
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Shaedon Sharpe
- P.J. Washington
- Reed Sheppard
- Immanuel Quickley
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Notable Duke players in the NBA
This isn’t the entire list of 24 referenced by Zagoria, but just a list of the most high-powered former Blue Devils in the league:
- Cooper Flagg
- Kyrie Irving
- Brandon Ingram
- Jayson Tatum
- Zion Williamson
- Mark Williams
- Jared McCain
- R.J. Barrett
- Paolo Banchero
- Jalen Johnson
Man, it’d be fun to have these alumni teams play one aonther.
