The four Calipari-era UK men’s hoops players whose jerseys should be retired

One of the dilemmas of the Calipari era of Kentucky men’s basketball is figuring out how to balance the short playing tenures of star players with evaluating who deserves UK’s ultimate career honor — a retired jersey.

Can just one or two years in blue and white, no matter how meritorious, justify a player’s jersey being raised to the rafters at Rupp Arena?

Well, yes. To my way of thinking, the ultimate determining factor in retired jersey evaluation is not how long one wore the Kentucky uniform. It is what one accomplished while performing in the blue and white.

That standard is why four players who have performed under John Calipari at Kentucky since 2009-10 deserve to see their jerseys raised in Rupp at the appropriate time.

As a reminder, UK Athletics has an institutional policy that applies across all sports that governs the retired jersey process.

Before an individual is eligible for retired jersey consideration at Kentucky, one must first be elected to the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. Those choices are made by a committee consisting of media members, previous Hall of Famers, campus representatives, current coaches and other athletics department personnel.

Five years after being elected to the UK Hall of Fame, an individual then becomes eligible for jersey retirement. A separate committee from the one that makes the Hall of Fame choices handles those deliberations.

Already, three one-and-done men’s hoops players from the Calipari era have been inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. John Wall received that honor in 2017, followed by Anthony Davis in 2018 and DeMarcus Cousins in 2019.

As for the four Calipari-era Kentucky men’s basketball players who, in my view, have earned jersey retirement, that list looks like this:

1. John Wall (2009-10)

In his one season at UK, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Wall electrified fans with his dynamic play — and launched a statewide dance craze.

For a program that had suffered double-digit losses in four straight seasons before his arrival, Wall led the Wildcats to a 35-3 record and the 2010 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

Wall’s 616 points are the 19th-best single-season total in UK history; his 241 assists are the second-best season by a Kentucky player; and his 66 steals are the ninth-best single-season mark at UK.

As a result, Wall was a consensus first-team All-American, was named National Freshman of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association; and was chosen both SEC Player of the Year and SEC Tournament MVP.

2. Anthony Davis (2011-12)

While leading Kentucky (38-2) to its eighth men’s hoops NCAA championship, the 6-10, 220-pound Davis was named national player of the year by every major outlet except one.

Davis won the Wooden Award, was named National Defensive Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and National Freshman of the Year by the USBWA.

The Chicago product’s single season at UK yielded the 39th-most points scored in a year (567) in school history; the seventh-most rebounds (415); the most blocked shots (186); and the 30th-most steals (54).

For good measure, Davis used the summer after his one-and-done season at UK to win an Olympic gold medal in London in men’s hoops with Team USA.

3. Tyler Ulis (2014-16)

A “two and through” player at Kentucky rather than a “one-and-done,” Ulis as a freshman was a valuable “game closer” on Kentucky’s 38-1 Final Four team in 2014-15.

The 5-9, 160-pound Ulis came back as a sophomore in 2015-16 and produced, arguably, the best season by a point guard in modern UK basketball history.

As a soph, Ulis set a single-season UK record with 246 assists and scored 606 points (24th-best season in Kentucky men’s hoops history) and had 51 steals (36th-best season mark at UK).

Ulis joined Davis as Kentucky players to be named both SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The point guard was also selected SEC Tournament MVP after leading the Wildcats to the 2016 championship.

4. Oscar Tshiebwe (2021-23)

In only two seasons playing for Kentucky, the transfer from West Virginia staked a claim as, arguably, the greatest rebounder to play for UK. The 6-9, 255-pound Tshiebwe finished sixth in Kentucky history in rebounding with 952 career boards.

Of the five players ahead of Tshiebwe on the all-time Wildcats rebounds list, all played three varsity seasons and all finished their careers in 1970 or earlier — when shot attempts were more frequent and field-goal accuracy was less precise (meaning, more rebound opportunities).

In 2021-22, Tshiebwe became the first Kentucky player ever to sweep national player of the year honors from all six of the sanctioning outlets recognized by the NCAA.

A consensus first-team All-American as a junior and a consensus second-team choice as a senior, Tshiebwe is the first UK player to earn consensus All-America notice in consecutive seasons since Kenny Walker in 1984-85 and 1985-86.

For Wall, Davis, Ulis and Tshiebwe, their stints in Kentucky blue might have been short, but their accomplishments were large — and are worthy, some day, of UK basketball’s highest honor.

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