Karl-Anthony Towns got a huge surprise when it was announced that he would be inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. The former No. 1 overall pick only spent one season (2014-15) with the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team, but that didn’t stop him from making a big impact on the program.
Towns played 39 games in which he averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game and led the Wildcats to the 2015 NCAA tournament Final Four, where the Wisconsin Badgers stopped them.
Towns left the program as a very exciting prospect, which led the Minnesota Timberwolves to pick him and make him their franchise cornerstone. Now, with the Knicks, Towns received major news right after speaking with fellow alum Mark Pope, the current coach of the Wildcats.
Karl-Anthony Towns received HOF news after talking with Mark Pope
During an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio, Towns revealed he knew about the ceremony during the 2025 Eastern Conference finals. Just 15 minutes after he talked with Pope and recruiting coordinator Ray Oliver, and told them he would be thrilled to make the program’s Hall of Fame, Towns received a call from athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who told him the good news.
“Coach Pope was like, we got to fly down. Ray Oliver also was like, we got to fly down. We’re trying to see you,” Towns said.
He added that he wanted to leave a mark on the program, even if he only played one year in Lexington. The Wildcats couldn’t win the college basketball national championship with Towns on the roster, but they enter the 2025-26 season with renewed expectations after Pope proved doubters wrong.