ALL FIVE CATS DECLARE FOR NBA DRAFT...

April 7, 2010

Matt May
CatsPause.com Senior Writer

The worst kept secret in the Commonwealth is finally out, five Kentucky basketball players have officially announced their intention to enter the 2010 National Basketball Association Draft.

Junior Patrick Patterson, as well as freshmen Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and John Wall will all put their name in the draft. They each have until May 8 to withdraw should they so choose, with the Draft taking place on June 24.

"I've spoken with all five guys concerning the NBA and have encouraged them to put their names in the draft," UK coach John Calipari said. "They've all met individually with our compliance office to make sure they have a full understanding of eligibility rules and academic responsibilities. I'm so proud of these five young men, with everything they did for us on the court and the way they represented us off of it.

"It's extremely unusual for four freshmen from the same team to have this opportunity, but it's my job as a coach to prepare these young men for such opportunities."

The following are the thoughts of the Cats' four freshmen about entering the NBA Draft:

Eric Bledsoe

"I never thought I'd be in this position after one year," Bledsoe said. "Coach Cal pushed us all to be the best we could be and he believes I'm prepared to take my game to the next level. I want to thank the fans for all their support this year."

DeMarcus Cousins

"Coach challenged me to grow on and off the court this season," Cousins said. "I believe my game expanded along with my maturity. This year was the most fun I've ever had playing basketball and a lot of it had to do with the support I got from our fans."

Daniel Orton

"Being at Kentucky allowed me to play with some of the most talented players in the country," Orton said. "Battling with DeMarcus (Cousins) and Patrick (Patterson) every day helped improve my game. I want to thank the coaching staff for helping put me in a position to be drafted this year."

John Wall

"I'm not the same player as when I arrived at UK," Wall said. "I believe I'm ready for the next challenge as Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans were the last two years under Coach Cal. I want to thank my teammates and the fans for all their support this year. I love them."

I just threw up..

I Try To Be An Optimist And Many Times I Fail Miserably.

Given That, If I'm a HS Senior Or Rising Junior And I See Four Freshmen Going To Kentucky And Declaring For The NBA Draft After One Season Under Coach Calipari, I'm For Sure Going To Look Hard At That Program Instead Of Other Programs Where There Are Upperclassmen That Could Keep My From Playing As Much As What I Would At UK.

Just a Happy Thought This Evening.

Carolina Kat wrote:I Try To Be An Optimist And Many Times I Fail Miserably.

Given That, If I'm a HS Senior Or Rising Junior And I See Four Freshmen Going To Kentucky And Declaring For The NBA Draft After One Season Under Coach Calipari, I'm For Sure Going To Look Hard At That Program Instead Of Other Programs Where There Are Upperclassmen That Could Keep My From Playing As Much As What I Would At UK.

Just a Happy Thought This Evening.

Yea, but don't you think we need a little experience?

Yes I Do And If I Didn't Before I Noticed On ESPN's Report, As They Usually Do, Took a Dig At The UK Program By Saying, The Top Scorer Returning Is Darius Miller At 7 Points Per Game.

I Love MILLER TIME But I Hope We Don't Have To Depend On It That Much.

Last Year At This Time, We Had Patterson, Meeks, Slim, Harrelson, Miller And Liggins Returning.

Next Year Is SCARY Right This Minute Until We Know More About The Draft And The Prospects In The Coming Workouts.

It's very scary. Don't know who Cal is gonna get to fill the board. Hopefully 5 of them. I don't think we will find another group that clicked like this one did though.

I'd Feel Much Better If Bledsoe and Orton Were Returning But If By Some Chance They Are Encouraged To Go And Get Strong Reports That They Will Be High Picks, We're Screwed.

Almost Hate To Say It, But I Hope They Look Like Crap In The Workouts In a Very Selfish Kinda Way.

Yeah, next year is gonna be tough. This will be the year where we actually start the rebuilding process. In a couple years, I think we should be on par with Cal's last three Memphis seasons on a relatively regular basis.

I hope most of these vocal minorities don't bitch too much next season, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

EDIT: I've said this before, but I'll tack it on here as well: the very best of wishes to all five of these guys. Yeah it sucks that none of them are coming back, but at the end of the season it needs to be about their futures.

R U screwing Kidding Me???? I knew Patterson, Wall, & Cousins were gone but Bledsoe & esp Orton needs to stay. I guess in the back of my mind I knew this would happen with the impending lockout next year but Screw me running!!!! Cant blame em for wanting to take the money, I'd certainly jump at the chance if I were offered 5-15 million a year to play ball.

Call this a conspiracy theory, but I think Cal is trying to get rid of the big men, so he can run the DDM like he has in the past. Why else would he encourage Orton to go pro? Maybe he doesn't think Orton will ever be a 15-20 guy, so he's telling him to go.

I'm boggled about Bledsoe, though. I mean he's almost as fast as Wall, which amounts to a lot int he NBA, but I think his height will hurt him.

I don't know. I hope Orton and Bledsoe don't get agents and just test the waters. But whatever happens I wish these guys well and hope I don't hear about them in the D-league next year.

I wonder if Cal knows who we are getting already, I'm not to surprised to see all em go, NBA teams want big guys like Orton and quick guards like Bledsoe, Look at Rondo for example, people thought he left to early and wouldn't amount to much, but he has improved big time. I really believe that we are going to be getting another top class in.

Anybody who doubts whether or not Cal will bring in a great recruiting class only needs to look to 12 months ago. Seriously, people, he will do his job.

damn this gives me bad case of heartburn!!!!

I knew it would happen but I was hoping they would be persuaded. Why no comment from PP???

I won't say much else cause you guys already covered it, BUT I will say lets cross our fingers we get a good announcement tomorrow about five McDonald's ALL Americans coming to UK next year.

have faith my bruthas and sistas. cal will lock down a top 5 class, and we will be fine. we were rebuilding this year, and look what happened. we will rebuild again. UK will be in the picture again next year, and every year going forward.