John Calipari’s incredible NBA Draft streak ends as Arkansas shut out of Round 1
By Andrew Olson
Published:
John Calipari’s streak of first-round NBA Draft selections has come to an end at 17 years.
Arkansas did not have a selection in Wednesday night’s first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. It was the first time since 2007 that Calipari was shut out of the first round.
It was at Memphis that Calipari started his incredible streak, when Derrick Rose went No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bulls in 2008. The following year, Tyreke Evans was the No. 4 overall pick.
Over the next 15 years, Calipari coached a legendary group of draftees at Kentucky. During his decorated UK tenure, Calipari had 37 Wildcats selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. As he likes to remind people, he’s helped his former recruits make a lot of money playing basketball professionally.
"Can I throw a humble brag out there
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 19, 2025
My guys have made SIX BILLION DOLLARS in the NBA" ~ @CoachCalArk #PMSLive https://t.co/RpTrcVGVdE pic.twitter.com/ad5ngJunYr
Last season, Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard went No. 3 overall and Rob Dillingham was picked No. 8. Like Arkansas, though, Kentucky was also shut out of the first round of this year’s draft.
The 2025 NBA Draft continues with Round 2 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). As for Calipari’s current program, Adou Thiero is expected to be an early second-round selection. Kobe Brea is likely to be the first player to put Mark Pope’s UK squad on the board for 2025.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
