Anthony Davis may have played one year of SEC Basketball at the University of Kentucky, but he became a Kentucky basketball legend in his one year at the school. Anthony Davis was not a highly recruited athlete at first. He was a solid point guard player in high school but he was not good enough to play at the D-1 level.
Looking back at the SEC Basketball career of Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis
During his sophomore year, he grew 7 inches. Additionally, he kept all of the skills he had as a point guard. This made him a highly sought prospect as he was a solid point guard in a big man’s body. He was the top prospect in the class of 2011. Kentucky was the only SEC Basketball school he heavily considered. Davis also considered North Carolina, Ohio State, and Syracuse.
During his one year at Kentucky, he averaged 14 points per game on 62 percent shooting. He also averaged 10 rebounds per game. Kentucky went 38-2 on the season. They swept the SEC in conference play. Kentucky went 16-0 in conference play. Obviously, they won the regular season title that year. They were named the number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Davis won numerous awards for his season at Kentucky. He won the Rupp Trophy, Wooden Award, NCAA tourney MVP, the Naismith Award, and was player of the year. He was also honored with All-Tourney, All-Region, All-SEC, All-SEC defense, All-SEC freshman, and All-SEC Tourney. Finally, he was named SEC rookie of the year and defensive player of the year.
In the tournament, Davis helped lead the Wildcats to a national title. In the final four, Davis led Kentucky in points against four-seeded Louisville. Davis had 18 points in that game. Despite struggling in the National Championship game, Kentucky still went on to beat Kansas. Davis declared for the draft after.
Anthony Davis was selected number 1 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans. He has made the all-star team eight times and was selected for all-NBA four times. He played for the Pelicans until he requested a trade in 2019. He was traded to the Lakers in the 2020 offseason. He won a title with the Lakers in 2020 and is still currently playing for the team.