One of Kentucky Basketball’s most iconic former stars just got a special delivery from Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
In an effort to keep former players closely tied to the program after John Calipari’s departure last spring following a 15-year run, Pope sent John Wall a personalized care package. The gift included custom Kentucky gear — a letterman jacket, a hat, exclusive Nike sneakers, and a custom Ace of Spades playing card.
A former five-star recruit from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., John Wall entered college basketball as the No. 2 overall prospect and top-ranked point guard in the 2009 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
In his lone season at Kentucky (2009–10), Wall made an immediate impact. He became the first national player of the year in program history, winning the Adolph Rupp Trophy, and earned a long list of accolades: 2010 USBWA National Freshman of the Year, consensus First Team All-American, AP and Coaches SEC Player of the Year, AP SEC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SEC, and SEC Tournament MVP.
Wall averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 assists per game, helping lead the Wildcats to a 35-3 record, a No. 1 national ranking, and both the SEC regular season and tournament titles. He also set a then-school record with 241 assists, a mark later broken by Tyler Ulis in 2016. The team reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2017, Wall was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. He returned to Rupp Arena in February 2020, serving as the honorary “Y” during Kentucky’s win over Florida in front of a season-high crowd of 20,489 fans.
Wall went on to become the first No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick in Kentucky history, selected by the Washington Wizards in 2010. He earned five consecutive NBA All-Star nods from 2014 to 2018 and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2017. That same year, he signed a \$200 million guaranteed extension with the Wizards.
However, injuries soon altered the trajectory of his career. He underwent heel surgery in early 2019 and later suffered a torn Achilles, sidelining him for over a year. Traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Russell Westbrook, Wall eventually sat out as the team prioritized developing younger players.
In July 2022, he signed a two-year, \$13.2 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. But in February 2023, Wall was traded back to Houston in a three-team deal involving Memphis and was waived days later.
This past spring, Wall hinted at a possible return to Lexington to run pickup games with Kentucky’s 2025–26 squad, continuing his bond with the program that helped launch his stardom.
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