Under head coach John Calipari, the Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball program has become famous (or infamous, depending on your take) for its focus on “one-and-done” players, players who play the single mandated season in college before heading to the NBA. The forthcoming ESPN 30 for 30 on Calipari is even titled “One and Not Done.” And now, Kentucky basketball’s one-and-done players have been used as an analogy by a retired general (Major General James Marks) talking about U.S. air strikes against Syria on CNN:
“This is not like Kentucky basketball one-and-done. This is the start of a series of operations.”
Whether you see this as inappropriate or not, it’s certainly a new context for discussion of Kentucky’s one-and-done players. But why stop there? Some other things that could potentially lead to a Kentucky one-and-done reference:
- Weddings. (Well, that’s the hope, anyway.)
- First kisses.
- Graduations.
- TV or streaming service free trials.
- Buying a Zune.
- Investing in Pets.com shares.
- Discussing Dana Altman’s career at Arkansas.
- Talking about the upcoming Space Jam sequel.
- Examining how many seasons Bill Simmons’ HBO show Any Given Wednesday got.
- Watching Undisputed or Speak For Yourself.
Will this trend of referencing Kentucky one-and-done players expand, or will it be one-and-done itself?

About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.
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