KENTUCKY PLAYERS
Rajon Rondo
2006-07 SP Autentic
On-Card Auto 132/999
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
Beckett Card Grade: GEM MT 9.5
Centering 10
Edges 9.5
Corners 9.5
Surface 9.5
Released in January 2006, SP Authentic consists of 157 cards where early cards feature veteran players, middle set cards feature rookie cards serially numbered to 1299, and last in the set are featured rookie autos serial numbered to 999. This card is numbered 132-of-999 and features an on-card autograph. Base cards had white backgrounds with color accents set to match team colors.
The point guard who only played two years of basketball as a Kentucky Wildcat, Rajon Rondo was drafted 21st overall by the Suns in the 2006 NBA draft. He was subsequently traded to the Boston Celtics in a draft-day trade, but has since become a two-time NBA champion and a four-time NBA All-Star.
Tyler Herro
2020 Prizm Draft Picks
Downtown #D20
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
2020-21 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Basketball provided the start of the chromium collecting season for NBA/NCAA fans. While the cards mainly feature players in their collegiate gear, the focus is on the incoming NBA rookie class. The βDowntownβ set checklist is short, featuring only 20 players in 2020, and they are typically called a βcase hit,β meaning youβd only pull one per hobby case.
Tyler Herro was selected by the Miami Heat with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. When the Heat defeated the Bucks in the second round of the 2020 playoffs, Herro became the first player in NBA history born in the 2000s to appear in an NBA Conference Finals game. In game 4 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, he scored a career-high 37 points, becoming the fourth player in playoffs history to record 30-plus points before turning 21 and the second-highest scorer under 21, with only Magic Johnson scoring more. He also set Conference Finals records for the youngest player (at 20 years) to score 30-plus points and the most points by a rookie. After an Eastern Conference Finals victory against the Boston Celtics, Herro became the first player born in the 2000s to play in an NBA Finals.
Karl-Anthony Towns
2020 Donruss Optic 1-of-1
Fast Break Signatures
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
The top rookies from the 2020 NBA draft led the checklist, but so did a variety of Fast Break exclusive parallels that included the holo, purple, red, blue, pink, gold and black (numbered to 1). This card is the incredibly-rare, 1-of-1, black parallel of Karl-Anthony Towns in GEM MT 10 condition.
On December 27th of 2020, Towns joined Hall-of-Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson as the only players in NBA history to accumulate over 8,000 points, 4,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in 360 games or less. And on March 17th, he scored a season-high 41 points, along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. In the same game against the Phoenix Suns, his teammate, Anthony Edwards, scored a career-high 42 points β only the second time in Timberwolves franchise history that two players score 40 points in the same game.
Booker / Murray / Towns / Ulis
2016 National Treasures Collegiate
Team Quad Materials #24
Numbered 95-of-99
CGC Grade: MINT 9
Collectors were given plenty of premium options when it came to NCAA products from Panini America, and 2016-17 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Basketball looked to take that segment of the hobby to new levels. Keeping it to just 45 subjects, the 2016-17 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Basketball base set managed to focus on big names in their school colors. Each card was only limited to 99 copies each.
Collectors found plenty of prime memorabilia cards with small print runs in 2016-17 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Basketball. The action started with College Game Worn, which included pieces of game-worn jerseys that stars wore during their collegiate careers. But for an even bigger slam, Team Quads were a strong hit and combine four players from the same school or four stars. This National Treasure collegiate stars some of Kentuckyβs hottest basketball players including Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyler Ulis.
John Wall
2011-12 Hoops
Autographed #247
Beckett Card Grade: Authentic Auto
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
NBA Hoops, the brand that helped revive the basketball card market, including a massive base set and two autographs per hobby box, 2011-12 NBA Hoops from Panini appealed to set builders looking for solid value. The base set is huge. At 279 cards plus a short-printed Mavericks NBA Championship card, the lineup goes deep into every team's bench. The autograph list has 179 players and is highlighted by Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin.
A Raleigh, North Carolina native, John Wall was chosen with the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. He only played one year of college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. The point guard was a five-time NBA All-Star from 2014 to 2018 and was named to the All-NBA Team in 2017.
Demarcus Cousins
2010-11 Rookies & Stars
Longevity Ruby #164
Numbered 33-of-49
Beckett Grade: GEM MT 9.5
Beckett Auto Grade: 9
Centering 9.5
Edges 9.5
Corners 9.5
Surface 9.5
2010-11 Rookies & Stars is a solid basketball card offering that gives collectors a chance to grab the latest rookie autographs of big names like John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson among others. Rookies & Stars is essentially "Prestige Plus", meaning it does everything Prestige does only better. The value of Rookies & Stars is excellent thanks to the hottest rookie in the entire hobby, Wizards' rookie point guard John Wall. The Rookies portion of the product offers an excellent value to collectors, it's the Stars part that struggles to establish any meaningful value. A relatively low price-point, solid rookie auto checklist, great prime patches and the fabulous team patches rookie autographs mean these will hold their value for a long time.
Nicknamed βBoogie,β Demarcus Cousins played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning consensus second-team All-American honors in 2010. Leaving Kentucky after only one season, he was selected with the fifth overall pick in the draft by the Sacramento Kings. In his first NBA season, Cousins was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and from 2015-2018, he was named an NBA All-Star four times.
Karl-Anthony Towns
2016 Panini #87 Rookie Card
National Convention VIP
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
The 2016-2017 Panini NBA National Convention VIP full base set includes 75 cards. While most of the card producers issue special cards for the National, Panini normally sets the bar and that looks to continue with the 2016 Panini National Sports Collectors Convention wrapper redemption set. Originally available at the 2016 NSCC, collectors acquired the popular foil packs by purchasing select products through specific sellers at the event in Atlantic City. Like sets from past Nationals, the 2016 Panini National Sports Collectors Convention release is centered around a multi-sport base set.
Towns made NBA history in 2016β17 by becoming the only player to have at least 2,000 points (2,061), 1,000 rebounds (1,007) and 100 3-pointers (101) in a season. He was selected as the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was also named Rookie of the Year for the 2015-16 season. He is second on the Timberwolvesβ all-time scoring list, and led the team to the Western Conference finals in 2024, their first appearance in 20 years.
Julius Randle
2014 Panini Finals
Rookie Signature Materials
Player-worn patch 20/25
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
Beckett Card Grade: GEM MT 9.5
Centering 10
Edges 10
Corners 9
Surface 9.5
It shouldn't be a surprise that 2013-14 Panini Signatures Basketball focuses heavily on autographs. As a result, base cards take a break for the release. Instead, everything is either a signed card or an insert. The Rookie Signatures set checklist includes 35 cards only serial numbered to 199 or less. In his only season of college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats, Julius Randle was named a third-team All-American. He was named one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year. He went on to help Kentucky reach the National Championship game. He ended the 2013-14 season with 24 double-doubles, the second most double-doubles by a UK player in school history.
He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft as the seventh overall pick. A three-time NBA All-Star and a two-time member of the All-NBA Team, he was awarded the NBA Most Improved Player Award in 2021. After the end of the regular season, he received 98 of 100 first place votes.
Nick Richards RC
2020-21 Contenders Draft Picks
Cracked Ice Ticket
Prospect Ticket Autograph
#90 numbered 3-of-23
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
Beckett Card Grade: 9.5 GEM MT
Centering: 9.5
Edges: 10
Corners: 9.5
Surface: 9.5
The basketball card collecting season started fresh with 2020-21 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Basketball. The collegiate release showcased some of the top names from the 2020 NBA Draft. The prospect ticket sticker autos set checklist featured only 59 players. The cracked ice ticket parallel is only numbered to 23. Changing it up, the incoming rookies no longer had College Ticket cards. Instead, the rookie ticket autograph subset was called Prospect Ticket, but the RC logo remained. Seemingly getting away from the NBA component of recent years, 2020-21 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Basketball featured a 50-card Prospect Ticket base set.
Richards was named to the First Team All-SEC while a Kentucky Wildcat. In the 2020 NBA draft, he was selected 42nd overall (by the New Orleans Pelicans) and immediately traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick.
Jamal Mashburn #323
1993-94 Hoops Rookie Card
Beckett Grade: 9.5 GEM MT
Centering: 9.5
Edges: 9.5
Corners: 9
Surface: 10
This 421-card standard-size set was issued in separate series of 300 and 121 cards. Cards feature full-bleed glossy color player photos on the fronts. Each player's name and team logo appear in team colors along a ghosted band at the bottom. The back presents a color head shot of the player in a small rectangle bordered with a team color in the top right corner. Alongside is his jersey number and position within a team-colored bar. The player's name and a short biography are printed on a hardwood floor design at the top. Below, the player's college and NBA stats, displayed in separate tables on a white background, round out the card. The cards are numbered on the back and listed alphabetically within team order. Other rookie cards of note include Anfernee Hardaway, Nick Van Exel and Chris Webber.
Mashburn was the fourth-leading career scorer for the Kentucky Wildcats, and a consensus First Team All-American by his junior year (in which the Wildcats made it to the Final Four). He declared for the NBA draft in 1993 and was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the fourth pick. Nicknamed βthe Monster Mash,β Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons (averaging 19.1 points per game) in the NBA.
Jamal Murray
2016 Panini National Treasures (Collegiate)
Die Cut Signatures 88-of-99
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
Branching out from the multi-sport National Treasures release, the 2016-17 collegiate basketball set solely covers the NCAA hardcourt stars. Colossal signatures and die-cut signatures showcased hard-signed rookie content that was highly-sought after.
Jamal Murray played only one season as a Kentucky Wildcat before being selected by the Nuggets as the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. However, in only on season, he helped a Wildcat team become SEC regular season and tournament champions, and travel as far as the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.
Chris Livingston
2022 Bowman U Inception
Autograph Jumbo Relic
#CL numbered 130-of-199
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
The 2022-23 Bowman Inception University checklist brought together college prospects from both basketball and football. Like other Inception releases dating back more than a decade, there was a big focus on autographs. Consisting of 100 cards, the base set wasnβt a huge one. When you take into account that it covers multiple sports, the concentration of key names is even more apparent. This is a product that is licensed so players are in uniforms and school logos are used. This is also the first product to have Victor Wembanyama and Caitlin Clark autographs.
Chris Livingston was a consensus five-star recruit, and one of the top players in the 2022 class. He was a McDonaldβs All-American in β22, and played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. In 2023, he made the SEC All-Freshman Team, and was also drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks as the 58th pick of the NBA draft.
Tyler Herro RC
2019 Panini Prizm
Draft Picks #15
Silver Prizm
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
2019-20 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Basketball gave collectors another chance at chasing collegiate cards of Zion Williamson and the rest of the yearβs draft class. The set includes basic player cards, all of which showcase players in their NCAA threads. This marks the first full release featuring the 2019 rookie class on chromium cards.
Herro played college basketball for one year with the Kentucky Wildcats. After being selected by the Heat in the first round of the 2019 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2020. During his rookie season with the Heat, he reached the NBA Finals. He was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2022 as he played both point guard and shooting guard.
Sam Bowie
1991-1992 Upper Deck #231
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
The 1991-92 set marks Upper Deck's debut in the basketball card industry. The set contains 500 standard-size cards. The set was released in two series of 400 and 100 cards, respectively. High series cards are in relatively shorter supply because high series packs contained a mix of both high and low series cards. High series lockers contained seven 12-card packs of cards 1-500 and a special "Rookie Standouts" card. Both low and high series were offered in a 500-card factory set. The fronts feature glossy color player photos, bordered below and on the right by a hardwood basketball floor design. The player's name appears beneath the picture, while the team name is printed vertically alongside the picture. The backs display a second color player photo as well as biographical and statistical information.
Bowie is an American former professional basketball player. He was a national sensation in high school and outstanding collegian and Olympic team member too. In 1979 he was named National Player of the Year. Bowie, along with fellow "Twin Tower" Melvin Turpin (as the Kentucky frontcourt duo was called), and Kenny Walker led Kentucky to the SEC championship, the SEC Tournament Championship, a top-three national ranking, and a 26β4 season record.
In 1984, having beat the Blazers in a coin toss for first pick, the Rockets chose Houston Center Hakeem Olajuwon. Unable to choose him, yet still seeking a center, the Blazers chose Bowie. Choosing third, the Chicago Bulls then drafted North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan. During his rookie season, Bowie played 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. This rookie card was hand-signed by Bowie and received a Beckett 10 grade as well.
Cason Wallace
2022 Prizm Draft Picks
Freshman Signature #FS-CWA
Blue Ice Numbered 55-of-75
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
The annual product visited top players during their NCAA days with a particular focus on the 2022 NBA Draft class. Hobby boxes offered four autographs along with a mix of inserts and parallels Covering multiple schools, the base set for 2022-23 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Basketball includes 100 cards. Each Hobby box contained four base silver prizms and eight additional parallels. Inserts fall one per pack and pulled from several different sets. The βFreshman Signaturesβ set checklist was short, featuring only 9 players, but full of beautiful prizm parallels. This card, the Blue Ice parallel, was numbered to only 75 examples.
Wallace was a consensus five-star recruit, and a Top 5 player in the 2022 class. He started 32 games for the Wildcats, averaging 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.3 assistss and 2 steals per game. His highlight would be the 21 points, four assists, two steals and a career-high nine rebounds against Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament. The Dallas Mavericks would select Wallace with the tenth overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, then trade him (along with Bertans) to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 12th overall pick, Dereck Lively II.
Tayshaun Prince #117
2002 Topps Pristine
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
Released in January 2003, Topps Pristine followed in the footsteps of the prior set by once again utilizing the pack-in-a-pack-in-a-pack set up. Each pack contained the following: Pack #1- one uncirculated refractor or relic refractor encased in plastic with a hologram seal on the end to prevent tampering. Pack #2-one game-used relic card. Pack #3-four veterans, two rookies and randomly inserted autograph cards. Veteran cards comprised the first 50 cards in the set. Rookie players appeared on cards 51-125. Three versions of each rookie player were issued, the Common version, which is the actual RC card, an Uncommon version sequentially numbered to 1499 and a Rare version sequentially numbered to 499.
Tayshaun Prince played from 1998 to 2002 with the Kentucky Wildcats as they posted a 97-39 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. He won the SEC Player of the Year in his junior season, also leading the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%). Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was awarded the 2001 tournamentβs MVP award. He was a three-time team MVP with the Wildcats. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA Draft, and went on to win a championship with the Pistons in 2004.
Willie Cauley-Stein #27
2015-16 National Treasures
Colossal Jersey Signatures
Numbered 23-of-25
Beckett Card Grade: GEM MT 9.5
Beckett Auto Grade: 10
Centering: 9.5
Edges: 9.5
Corners: 9.5
Surface: 9
Once the ultimate option in the collecting world, 2015-16 Panini National Treasures Basketball is still one of many high-end hobby options. Nevertheless, NT still carries plenty of clout with collectors and offered the top rookie cards of the year. Limited from top to bottom, 2015-16 Panini National Treasures Basketball was a detailed release but with a focus on quality. Base cards and parallels combine to average one per box. The main draw for most, Rookie Patch Autographs (#/99 or #/49) feature top 2015 NBA draftees with a horizontal design, large patch and on-card autograph. RPA parallels include Silver (#/25) Gold (#/10), Emerald (#/5) and one-of-one Logoman.
Considered a four-star basketball recruit by Rivals.com, Cauley-Stein was listed as the No. 9 center and the No. 40 player in the nation in 2012. He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice, and in 2014β15, Cauley-Stein was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He was also selected to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team and the USA Today first-team All-American Team. He was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.