There was a reason Kentucky won the National Championship in March. They had the best talent.
That fact played out again in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, where Wildcats’ center Anthony Davis was the No. 1 selection of the New Orleans Hornets and, six minutes later, his teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was the second pick by the Charlotte Bobcats.
“It’s crazy,” Davis said.
It’s been a long time since a school made such an impact at the top of the draft.
UCLA had the Nos. 1 and 3 picks in 1969, when Milwaukee took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — then Lew Alcindor — and Lucius Allen went third to the Seattle SuperSonics.
Davis will begin his pro career in the same city where he ended it with a national title. College basketball’s player of the year as a freshman was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four despite shooting just 1 for 10 from the field in the championship game, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking six shots in the victory over Kansas.
Davis slipped on a blue and purple Hornets hat above a conservative gray suit that took no attention away from basketball’s most famous eyebrow. Davis even attempted to capitalize on the attention his unibrow gets, trademarking “Fear The Brow” and “Raise The Brow” earlier this month.
On the floor, Davis has the agility of a guard — and he was one only a few years ago.
Kidd-Gilchrist is a versatile forward who can create his own shot — and should get a shot to be a major contributor on Michael Jordan’s Bobcats.
Florida’s Bradley Beal went third to Washington, making it three SEC freshman in the first three picks. Cleveland followed with the surprisingly early pick of Syracuse sixth man Dion Waiters at No. 4.
Thomas Robinson of Kansas, who hoped to go second, fell to Sacramento at No. 5. Portland took Weber State’s Damian Lillard at No 6 with its first of two lottery picks, and Barnes was taken seventh by Golden State.
After Washington’s Terrence Ross went to Toronto and Connecticut’s Andre Drummond to Detroit, the Hornets rounded out the top 10 by taking Duke guard Austin Rivers with a pick they acquired in the Paul trade. Rivers hugged his father, Boston coach Doc Rivers, who came to be with his family instead of with the Celtics, who owned two later first-round picks.
Davis was the only clear-cut pick entering the draft, and there were some early surprises. Players such as Waiters and Ross went higher than expected, while Robinson dropped to the Kings.
”I really didn’t know where I was going to end up at, but it is a bit of a surprise,” Robinson said, tearing up when talking about his difficult journey that included the deaths of multiple family members in college. ”I didn’t work out for Sacramento at all, I probably talked to them about once. But I’m here, so I’m meant to be here.”
