Kidd-Gilchrist appeared emotional for a few moments at the podium and later said his mother, Cindy Richardson, wanted him to return to school since he was one of the youngest players in Division I after turning 18 in September. Instead, he has other plans for her.

''I want to spoil my mom. I think I'm going to spoil my mom to death. That's one thing I'm looking forward to,'' said Kidd-Gilchrist, who plans to buy her a watch for starters. ''I'm ready, I think. I'm ready for anything that comes my way now.''

Teague, the point guard, seemed to be the only player who might be a questionable first-round pick in Calipari's effort to match his 2010 draft class that saw five players go in the first round led by the No. 1 overall pick, John Wall. Teague said he felt like he did enough to be drafted in the first round by leading a ''great team that's kind of like an NBA team'' to a national championship.

''This is my lifelong dream to play in the NBA and to be doing it with these guys, we're all just making the decision together just makes it that much more special,'' Teague said. ''I love every day knowing I played with these guys and that not being an option any more is tough to deal with. But we all decided we needed to move on, so this is something we've got to do.''

Lamb said he really had only one goal after both he and Jones were projected first-round picks last season.

''The reason I stayed was to win a national championship,'' Lamb said. ''Me and Terrence we talked together last year and we decided to come back this year to win a national championship and we did that. Our dreams came true.''

Wiltjer, who said earlier this year the thought of his teammates leaving was ''scary,'' and the rest of the bench made up just 6 percent of the total minutes played this season. But the group will quickly be getting help as Calipari closes in on his fourth straight No. 1 recruiting class.