Six little-known facts about Devin Booker’s one season as a Kentucky Wildcat

As Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns continues his pursuit of an NBA championship and potentially a Finals MVP award, it’s often been pointed out that the former University of Kentucky guard never started a game during his one season in Lexington.

While that statistic has become common knowledge. Here are six facts — one for every season he’s played in the NBA — about Booker’s college career that you might not know.

Booker then

1. Despite never starting a game during Kentucky’s 38-1 Final Four season in 2014-15, Booker was the team’s third-leading scorer. Aaron Harrison started 38 games and averaged 11.0 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, who went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, started all 39 games and averaged 10.3 points. Booker averaged 10.0 points per game. Those were the only three Wildcats who averaged double-figure scoring that season.

2. Kentucky Coach John Calipari had so much talent, he famously deployed a “platoon” system for much of the 2014-15 season, in which he swapped out entire five-man units as a substitution pattern. Five players averaged more minutes per game than Booker’s 21.5 — Willie Cauley-Stein (25.9), Aaron Harrison (25.8), Andrew Harrison (25.5), Tyler Ulis (23.8) and Trey Lyles (23.0). Booker averaged more minutes per game than Towns (21.1).

3. Booker was not shy about making the most of his limited minutes. He attempted the second-most shots on the UK team (287), behind only Aaron Harrison’s 370. Booker made 135 of 287 field goal attempts (47 percent), 58 of 141 three-point tries (41.1) and 53 of 64 free throws (82.8). He also averaged 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Booker’s highest-scoring outing was 19 points, which he accomplished against Texas-Arlington and UCLA. He scored in double figures 20 times. He went scoreless twice — in the season opener against Grand Canyon and in early December vs. Texas. The most minutes Booker played in any one game was 35 at Texas A&M, when he scored 18 points. Booker hit the 30-minute mark only one other time, another 18-point outing, in 30 minutes at Tennessee.

4. Booker did not start a game in 2014-15 but he played in every game he could. The only time Booker sat out was against Columbia, in December, because of a knee bruise. The Ivy Leaguers gave Kentucky a scare in Rupp Arena before losing 56-46 in one of the Wildcats’ few close games that season.

5. Booker was the fourth of the six 2014-15 Wildcats to be picked in the 2015 NBA Draft. Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 overall to Minnesota. Sacramento picked Willie Cauley-Stein at No. 6. Utah took Trey Lyles at No. 12 before Phoenix drafted Booker with the 13th pick. In the second round, Phoenix selected Andrew Harrison at No. 44 overall, and Oklahoma City chose Dakari Johnson at No. 48. Aaron Harrison also entered the draft but was not selected.

6. All 12 scholarship players on Kentucky’s 2014-15 roster have made money playing basketball professionally. Nine of them have appeared in NBA games (Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Booker, Cauley-Stein, Lyles, Johnson, Alex Poythress, Towns and Ulis. Three others — Dominique Hawkins, Marcus Lee and Derek Willis — have enjoyed professional careers overseas.

Booker now

▪ Booker’s Suns are tied 2-2 with the Milwaukee Bucks in their best-of-seven NBA Finals series. The 6-foot-5 Booker is Phoenix’s leading scorer through four games, averaging 27.5 points per game.

Game 5 is Saturday night in Phoenix.

▪ The 24-year-old Booker is averaging 25.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game this season.

▪ When the NBA Finals are over, Booker will immediately join Team USA at the Olympic Games, which get underway next week in Tokyo.

▪ Booker has made peace with the fact that he never started at Kentucky. He even joked about it during a recent NBA Finals press conference. When asked if not starting in college led to any self doubt, Booker said, breaking out in a smile: “No, I just know it was that Coach Calipari guy.”

Booker went on to say: “Every great team has to have sacrifices. ... A team that talented, that many NBA guys in one practice gym, to even make it work as well as Coach Cal did with the whole platooning system was incredible. We had to buy in. We all had to sacrifice and just understand our role.

NBA Finals

Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Game 5: Saturday at Phoenix (9 p.m. EDT)

TV: ABC-36

NBA Finals schedule

Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Game 1: Tuesday, July 6, Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 105

Game 2: Thursday, July 8, Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 108

Game 3: Sunday, July 11, Milwaukee 120, Phoenix 100

Game 4: Wednesday, July 14, Milwaukee 109, Phoenix 103

Game 5: Saturday, July 17, Milwaukee at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Game 6: Tuesday, July 20, Phoenix at Milwaukee, 9 p.m.

Game 7: Thursday, July 22, Milwaukee at Phoenix, 9 p.m. (if necessary)

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