The NBA Draft is often considered the last day of the Kentucky basketball season for many Wildcat fans. To head John Calipari, he considers it his “sons’ graduation.”

Calipari spoke to reporters via a teleconference call on Tuesday to preview his thoughts and emotions regarding Thursday’s 2016 NBA Draft. The Hall of Fame head coach described the big event as a day that makes him more nervous than he’s ever been coaching a national championship game.

Needless to say, Calipari may need some help getting through the night, especially if all four of the UK draft hopefuls — Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis, Skal Labissiere and Alex Poythress — get their names called out on stage.

“I hope they all get picked,” Calipari said. “I could care less about where they go, what team takes what. I’m not there for that. Somebody may say, ‘Why do you go? You want to be seen?’ No, it’s their graduation night. I’m not going to go to graduation? I’m not going to go to graduation? Now, you can make an excuse what you want, but I’m going to my sons’ graduation, and I’m going to enjoy it with them and their family, and then I’m leaving and let them enjoy their night together.”

Calipari also said that as soon as the name of the last player in attendance is called out, he congratulates them and their family and then immediately leaves. Only Murray and Labissiere are expected to be in attendance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the draft, while Ulis and Poythress will watch it with their families in their hometowns of Chicago and Clarksville, Tenn., respectively.

Murray is expected to be a high-end lottery pick and has been projected by some to go as high as No. 3 to the Boston Celtics after doing some extensive workouts with the team. Calipari made the case earlier this month that Murray should be selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers over presumed top choices Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram.

Labissiere’s latest projections has fluctuated between late lottery pick to mid-first round as the 7-foot power forward has been called a “boom or bust prospect.” The big man struggled mightily in his first season at UK as he averaged 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks on the year. However, Labissiere has impressed many teams during individual workouts, and Calipari likes Labissiere’s chances to succeed given what he went through at UK and how much he changed later in the season.

“We all had to look at where he started and then where he finished,” Calipari said of the Haitian big man. “The best thing that they like about Skal right now (is that) he never gave up, he did not quit. It was extremely hard, and he finished at his best. They’re working him out now and they’re looking at Skal saying, ‘He’s 7-foot tall. This kid is a good athlete. He can shoot.’ It’s huge in the NBA that you can make shots now. He can make perimeter shots. They are even calling me saying, ‘You know what? He’s more physical around the basket than we even thought he was.'”

Ulis’ stock has slipped recently due to reports of a hip injury that may require surgery later on. But the reigning SEC Player of the Year has continued to work out for multiple NBA teams and is still projected to be a first-round pick.

Calipari, while shrugging off the reports of Ulis’ potentially injured hip, was asked his thoughts about the idea of the point guard being selected by the San Antonio Spurs after CBS Sports reported that the team did some extensive research on Ulis.

In short, Calipari would be ecstatic.

“If he could ever play with the Spurs and that organization, I would do a backflip on draft day,” Calipari said. “And the reason is, you’re around true professionals who are teammates that understand what do we all have to do to win and how does winning supersede everything else. … Here’s a kid that had to play in platoons his first year. He accepted it and did well. Here’s a kid that does what’s right in basketball. He’s the best floor general.”

Poythress enters Thursday’s draft with a lot of question marks around him. Due to multiple injuries throughout his college career, including an ACL tear his junior season, Poythress never quite excelled to the level many thought he would at UK. But ESPN NBA Draft insider Chad Ford told reporters last week that Poythress could have a long career in the NBA due to his size and how he defends multiple positions. Currently, Ford has Poythress going late in the second round.

But no matter where he goes or if he gets picked at all, Calipari said he couldn’t be prouder of Poythress and the work he put in at Kentucky.

“Alex, if there’s a better athlete, a more dominating kind of athlete in this draft, tell me who he is,” Calipari said. “So if someone picks this kid, I think they’re going to have a guy – and then they’re going to look at me and say, ‘You didn’t do a very good job with this kid, because he’s way better than we thought.’ And you know what? That may be the case. But I know this: There’s not a better person – kid’s like a 4.0 student, he graduated in three years – than Alex. You don’t go wrong with a pick like that. And I’m proud of these guys and what they were able to do.”