Doron Lamb, center, was UK's leading scorer in the 20212 national title game. (Vicky Graff Photo)
When Kentucky won the national championship in 2012, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the marquee names. Davis swept all the national awards and was the first pick in the 2012 NBA Draft while Kidd-Gilchrist was the heart and soul of the team as well as the No. 2 pick in the draft.
But in the national championship game, UK’s leading scorer in the win over Kansas was sophomore guard Doron Lamb. He had 22 points in the 67-59 victory which was not a surprise considering he had already scored in double figures in UK’s five previous NCAA Tournament wins.
Lamb left UK after his sophomore season but he’s back in Lexington now to play for La Familia in The Basketball Tournament and hoping he can help the UK alumni team collect the $1 million purse for winning the tournament.
Lamb is a shot maker and scorer. He averaged 12.3 points per game his freshman season and 13.7 points per game during UK’s national title season. He was almost a 50 percent shooter from 3-point range.
Lamb was so good that his 3-point percentage record stood until Reed Sheppard broke it during the 2023-24 season. Lamb would have loved current UK coach Mark Pope’s emphasis on 3-point shooting because despite his high shooting percentage he averaged only about four 3-pointers per game under coach John Calipari.
Lamb said at La Familia’s media day Monday at Memorial Coliseum if he had taken more 3’s, he would definitely have made more 3-pointers and kept his name in the UK record book.
“I would’ve still had 3-point records today. I would have had a lot of records. I wish I had done four years (at Kentucky),” Lamb said.
He also would have loved the NIL opportunities that today’s players have. He was a McDonald’s All-American, five-star recruit and top 30 player nationally when he signed with UK.
“I would have needed a million dollars, minimum. These kids are getting a million dollars to average three points; it’s crazy. I would’ve been a millionaire easily,” Lamb said. “After one (national) championship, I would have stayed (at UK) because I would have gotten a big (money) bag. I would have stayed in college.”
One Response
If Lamb had played 4 years here, he would be a starting shooting guard in the NBA today. Kids are moving on to the NBA too fast and there is not enough attrition to make room for them. Look at Reed Sheppard. If he had stayed here and played under Pope for 3 years, he would have entered the NBA as a starter as the next Clay Thompson. The NIL needs to be re-worked so that no team can pay a kid more than the next team can. A maximum payout of $2 million per year should be adopted with an annual total team payout of $20 million. The transfer portal needs to be re-worked too. The first transfer occurs without any penalty. A second transfer requires sitting out a year with no NIL money during the sit out year. A third and final transfer requires sitting out another year and forfeiting NIL money from that time on. This would allow a coach to build depth on a team while still giving a kid a chance to transfer more than once if he is willing to pay the price.
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