Duke's Flagg tops pro lists while Hogs hope to be included

John Calipari might call last season the most satisfying of his coaching career, but his first year as boss of the Arkansas Razorbacks won't end with the usual recognition for his players.

In the previous 15 seasons — all spent as coach of the Kentucky Wildcats— Calipari's players were frequently among the honored invitees to one of pro basketball's biggest off-the-court events.

This year's NBA draft won't prominently feature any Razorbacks, however. In fact, there's a good chance no Arkansas players will hear their name called in the first round.

The NBA has only two rounds for its draft, a change that occurred in 1989. Round One will be conducted June 25, with the second round on June 26.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari against the Texas Longhorns at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

During his 15 seasons as Kentucky's bench boss, Calipari had 37 players drafted in the first round. Yep, that's about two-and-a-half first-rounders every season for 15 years.

Of those 37, a startling 23 were lottery picks, which means they're among the Top 14 selections.

Calipari has even had four players tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick: Derrick Rose, John Wall, Anthony Davis, and Karl-Anthony Towns. He coached Rose while leading the Memphis Tigers and the rest played at Kentucky.

The NBA has 30 teams and the 14 which don't qualify for the extended playoffs that run from April until mid-June get lottery picks. The teams with the four worst records are in a drawing to determine draft order.

Those finishing fifth to 14th from the bottom draft in reverse order of their records. That's a lot of info, but this part is easy:
* Arkansas will have no lottery picks.
* Only two players will likely be drafted.
* At best, each is a late first-rounder.

That's according to CBS' Draft Prospect rankings, which has freshman guard Boogie Fland being drafted 24th and junior forward Adou Thiero going 26th.

That's a better scenario than the one offered in this story by Sports Illustrated writer Kevin Sweeney. He has Thiero being drafted 29th as the next-to-last pick of the first round. He has Fland going 44th.

Of Thiero, Sweeney wrote: "Thiero’s limited as a shooter, but his motor runs as hot as anyone in this draft. He has the chance to be a game-changing defender with his size, speed and physicality. Thiero’s still young for a college veteran, turning 21 next week, and should continue to improve his offensive game."

NBA Draft Room bumps the Hog hopefuls even further down the list with Thiero going 38th and Fland 47th.

For Thiero, the description is, "A powerful athlete who can guard all over the court and is starting to put it together on the offensive end. A great rebounder for his position who can bang in the paint, plays with power and some finesse as well. Is coming on as a 3pt shooter."

The short scouting report on Fland says, "An ultra-quick lead guard who can control the pace of the game. A bucket who can score from the perimeter and is a deft ball handler, but is inefficient scoring at the rim. Missed a lot of the season with a thumb injury."

The consensus No. 1 overall pick is Cooper Flagg, the do-everything 6-foot-9 freshman forward for the Duke Blue Devils. Freshman teammates from Rutgers go second and third on most lists: 6-foot-5 Dylan Harper and 6-foot-9 Ace Bailey.

The NBA Draft Room outlook for Flagg is befitting his talent and maturity for a guy who won't be 19 until Dec. 21. That's correct. He should've been a high school senior the year he won collegiate national player of the year honors.

According to Draft Room: "The Hornets land Cooper Flagg in this simulated lottery mock draft! He’s one of the most complete prospects to come into the draft in many years and is a lock to go No.1 in June.

"He impacts every aspect of the game and is elite on the defensive end. He does a bit of everything on the offensive end and doesn’t have any weaknesses in his game. He’s also one of the youngest prospects in the draft."