There is no denying it, John Calipari is a master salesman and has no trouble persuading the top high school prospects to play for him. In fact if you gave Coach Cal twenty minutes he could probably sell Eskimos on why they should buy ice from him.

It should come as no surprise then that Coach Calipari had a lot to say on Draft night last Thursday. Five Kentucky players were selected in the first round, an NBA Draft record. John Wall was the number one overall selection, DeMarcus Cousins was taken at pick five, Patrick Patterson was taken at pick fourteen, Eric Bledsoe was taken at pick eighteen, and Daniel Orton was taken at pick twenty nine.

Seeing the five Wildcats taken in the first round would make any Kentucky fan proud, but some Kentucky faithful were rubbed the wrong way upon hearing were Coach Calipari ranks the moment in the history of Kentucky basketball.

"I'd like to say it is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program," [Calipari said]. "... the biggest day for the University of Kentucky."

Many UK fans and former players alike were quick to acknowledge that they enjoyed the Wildcats seven National Championships and thirteen Final Four appearances more than the draft selections of individual players. Kentucky’s all-time scoring leader Dan Issel was quick to say that he was much more proud of the Big Blue’s team accomplishments rather than accolades of an individual player.

"The dumbest thing I've ever heard," said Dan Issel. "If the goal is to be a feeder team for the NBA, maybe that was the greatest day. I thought the goal was to win a national championship."

While not many people would argue that Kentucky probably had the most talented lineup in all of college basketball last year they fell short of reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis. Kentucky fell to West Virginia 73-66 in the East Regional Final. It was a game in which the few flaws Kentucky had reared their ugly head in a big way. People pointed to Kentucky’s inconsistent outside shooting and DeMarcus Cousin’s inability to control his emotions as things that might be the death of the Wildcats. In the game against the Mountaineers, Kentucky shot 4-32 from three point range and Cousins looked visibly flustered throughout the contest.

I have to side with Dan Issel and some of the other Kentucky faithful on this issue. It is nice to have five players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, at the end of the day though UK fans want to hang National Championship and Final Four banners in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats appear to be reloaded and ready for another run at a final four next year, once again though they will do it with mostly freshmen and other underclassman. There is no doubt that UK will have many NBA talents playing next year in Lexington and there is also no doubt that Kentucky fans care much more about what they do while they are wearing a UK uniform rather than where they are drafted at.