Mark Pope knows it is a special moment for these players to be called for the NBA Draft.
Mark Pope is eager to see where some of the former Wildcats will be selected on Wednesday and Thursday in the 2024 NBA Draft, despite the fact that he did not coach Kentucky this past season.
For the two-night draft, the following five Kentucky players might be selected: Tre Mitchell, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Antonio Reeves, and Reed Sheppard.
Pope and the crew are looking forward to the players’ draft position and know that hearing the University of Kentucky players’ names called will be an unforgettable experience.
“I’m excited for all these guys, I’m excited for Justin (Edwards), I’m excited for Reed (Sheppard), and we are excited for Rob (Dillingham) and the whole crew,” Mark Pope told the media on Tuesday. “This is a special moment for [these] guys. You just dream of the moment where you get to hear your name called, and you work really hard at it, and there are no guarantees. It is what it is. It is just super challenging; this filter going from college to the NBA is just an excruciating filter; it gets really complicated. It is an incredibly exciting time for these guys to start a new journey in their life and it has been a defining feature of Kentucky basketball.”
Pope knows the tradition for Kentucky is to get great players, hang banners, and then get them to play in the NBA.
“This tradition at Kentucky of having great players come here and hang banners and then go play in the NBA is part of what makes this place special,” Pope said. “It is a special day for Kentucky and we are really excited for these guys that wore this jersey and represented this place really well.”
Here’s a roundup of where the players are expected to be drafted in the latest mock drafts:
Reed Sheppard:
- ESPN: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- SB Nation: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- Fox Sports: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- Sports Illustrated: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- Bleacher Report: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- NBADraft.net: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
- CBS Sports: 3rd (Houston Rockets)
Rob Dillingham:
- ESPN: 10th (Utah Jazz)
- SB Nation: 12th (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Fox Sports: 11th (Chicago Bulls)
- Sports Illustrated: 10th (Utah Jazz)
- Bleacher Report: 11th (Chicago Bulls)
- NBADraft.net: 24th (New York Knicks)
- CBS Sports: 15th (Miami Heat)
Justin Edwards
LATEST VIDEO FROM SB NATION
The Denver Nuggets’ shocking finish against the ’94 Sonics needs a deep rewind
In the final seconds of the 1994 playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the Seattle Supersonics, there were only two possibilities: a miracle or a miracle. Either the Sonics would pull off a miraculous, last-second comeback, or the Nuggets would pull off a miraculous upset unprecedented in NBA playoff history. Before we see which miracle won the day, we should meet this western conference superpower and this scrappy underdog, and all the characters therein. Let’s rewind.
ESPN: 41st (Philadelphia 76ers)
Sports Illustrated: 34th (Portland Trail Blazers)
Bleacher Report: 46th (Los Angeles Clippers)
NBADraft.net: 45th (Sacramento Kings)
CBS Sports: 29th (Utah Jazz)
Antonio Reeves
- ESPN: 48th (San Antonio Spurs)
- Sports Illustrated: Undrafted
- Bleacher Report: 53rd (Detroit Pistons)
- NBADraft.net: 36th (Indiana Pacers)
- CBS Sports: Undrafted
Tre Mitchell
- ESPN: Undrafted
- Sports Illustrated: Undrafted
- Bleacher Report: Undrafted
- NBADraft.net: Undrafted
- CBS Sports: Undrafted
From the looks of it, it looks like four former Kentucky players are expected to be drafted, including two in the lottery with Sheppard and Dillingham.
Hopefully, all five will be drafted. If they can’t, then they can always get picked up in the NBA free agency window to then be able to try out for a team in the NBA Summer League and, from there, either make the final NBA roster spot or play in the G-League.
