2018 NBA Draft: The Kentucky conspiracy theory on Diallo, Knox
By Connor Harr
Taking a deep dive into the Kentucky conspiracy theory on Hamidou Diallo and Kevin Knox’s fading stock ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft
When John Calipari became the head basketball coach at Kentucky, he took advantage of the incoming one-and-done era to boost his teams with crazy NBA talent. Kentucky has been responsible for a large history of talent in the NBA over the past eight years.
The Wildcat alumni include all stars such as Karl Anthony-Towns, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and John Wall.
The alumni list continues to range from role players like, Julius Randle, Brandon Knight, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Extending to 10-day contract guys and NBA G-Leaguers such as, Aaron Harrison, DeAndre Liggins, and James Young.
Whether these Wildcat alumni end up being future all-stars or G-Leaguers one thing is certain, Kentucky basketball players get drafted. Since the 2010 NBA Draft thirty-one Wildcats have heard their names called on draft night. This averages out to over four Wildcats drafted every year since 2010.
This year, two Kentucky prospects in particular carried a ton of NBA interest. Hamidou Diallo is your prototypical Kentucky wing. Diallo has good size for a wing and incredibly long arms. He came to Kentucky midway through last season, even though Hamidou wasn’t eligible to play he tested the NBA Draft “waters”.
That is where Diallo really made a name for himself showing of his almost unnatural athleticism in the athletic testing at the NBA combine. Posting the second highest vertical leap in NBA combine history at only 18 years old. Unfortunately, Diallo must have not received the feedback he wanted and returned to Kentucky to show off his abilities on the court, and not just athletic testing at the combine.
The other Kentucky prospect that was high on pre draft big boards was Kevin Knox. In high school Knox was again your typical Kentucky player. A versatile lengthy and long armed wing, a McDonald’s All-American, and an ESPN top 10 recruit.
Both Knox and Diallo were projected high on every draft big board to start the season. However, with poor performance after poor performance Diallo and Knox are still ranked pretty highly by most draft writers. ESPN currently has Kevin Knox ranked 11th and Hamidou Diallo ranked 24th.
Are people really recognizing the poor performances that Knox and Diallo are having? Or are they continuing the value them so highly because they play at Kentucky? Here’s an in depth look using stats from synergy sports and opinions from watching way too many Kentucky games this year. Trying to prove the mini conspiracy theory that Diallo and Knox are overvalued because of the Kentucky basketball alumni’s success.