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But never has a Kentucky player (or a Duke player) gone on to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Fellow Kentucky signees Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox, Jarred Vanderbilt, PJ Washington, Nick Richards and Quade Green all had a higher prospect rating in that 2017 class, according to the 247Sports composite.

More:Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads OKC Thunder past Suns to move atop Western Conference

Gilgeous-Alexander, despite coming off the bench in 13 of his 37 games, averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game for the 2017-18 Wildcats, who were bounced by Kansas State in the Sweet 16.

Gilgeous-Alexander went one-and-done at Kentucky and was selected with the 11th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Traded to the Clippers on draft night, traded to the Thunder after his rookie season and you know the rest.

That could change this season with Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the seventh-ranked player in his own Kentucky recruiting class. Seventh!

Last season he finished fifth in MVP voting. Gilgeous-Alexander could win it this season, joining past Thunder winners Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It’s basically a two-man race between SGA and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s case is simple: He’s averaging 31.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.6 rebounds and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game for a Thunder team that might finish best in the West.

Monday night in Los Angeles, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder faced Anthony Davis and the Lakers. Davis, coincidentally, has the highest MVP finish of any Kentucky player past or present. Davis was third in the MVP vote as a Pelican in 2017-18.

If Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t win the MVP this season, he’s a virtual lock to be Kentucky’s highest-ever finisher for basketball’s most prestigious individual honor.

Not bad for the seventh-ranked player in his own class.