LEXINGTON, Ky. — A record seven players are leaving a mighty Kentucky team after a season that fell two wins short of a championship. They can look forward to a possible reunion in a couple of months at the NBA draft.

The soon-to-be-former Wildcats gathered at their practice gym and said they will turn pro: 7-footers Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson, twin guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison, freshman forwards Karl-Anthony Towns and Trey Lyles and freshman backup guard Devin Booker.

The exodus, which featured Kentucky’s top seven scorers, could have been even greater.

“If Alex Poythress doesn’t get hurt, it would’ve been eight,” Coach John Calipari said, referring to the junior forward who sustained a season-ending torn knee ligament in December.

Such exits have become the norm in Lexington, a one-and-done environment where players and the program thrive despite single-season stays. Calipari has developed 19 NBA draft picks, including 15 first-round selections and two No. 1 overall picks.

The 6-11 Towns could be the first player chosen on June 25. Cauley-Stein and Lyles could soon follow, with both considered possible lottery selections. Booker is also a potential first-rounder, with the rest projected to go in the second.

That draft forecast persuaded them to take the next step in moves that had been long expected since their campus arrivals.

“It was a tough decision for all of us, but we wanted to chase our dreams,” Aaron Harrison said.

Seated before a backdrop of blown-up trading cards of recent Wildcats standouts now in the NBA, Kentucky’s largest group of would-be pros explained their decisions. Calipari joined them after saying this week that five to seven players could enter.

Confirmation was more visual than verbal, with Calipari asking those who were leaving to stand. After they all looked at each other and hesitated, they stood up to applause before answering questions on the podium and then separately.

This year’s team made a determined run at history with a school-record 38-game winning streak that kept them ranked No. 1 all season. They were the prohibitive favorites to win title No. 9, before last Saturday’s 71-64 loss to Wisconsin in the Final Four that immediately raised the question of how many Wildcats would be leaving.

ALSO ENTERING the draft is Duke’s Jahlil Okafor.

The 6-11 freshman averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds and shot 66 percent for the Blue Devils, who won their fifth national title with a 68-63 win over Wisconsin on Monday.

One of the nation’s top recruits, he became the first freshman in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named league player of the year.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

USM 13, HUSSON 11: Nicole Laplante broke a 10-10 tie on a free position shot with 10:18 left in regulation, and Sarah Pelligrinelli and Anh Nguyen added late goals as the Huskies (3-8) pulled away from Husson (4-5) at Bangor.

Pelligrinelli finished with five goals and an assist, Laplante had four goals, and Nguyen had two goals and two assists.

Alissa Fallon had five goals and three assists for the Eagles.