"It drew me to go to Ohio State": NBA champ Anthony Davis reveals one factor that could've changed his college legacy with Kentucky
Anthony Davis was the number one overall recruit in 2022, according to ESPN. He would ultimately commit to Kentucky. The Wildcats would go on to win the 2012 NCAA National Championship in Davis' first and only college season. However, there was nearly a factor that would've seen Anthony Davis commit to Ohio State over Kentucky.
Davis was a one-and-done at Kentucky before becoming the top overall pick in 2012. Davis is currently a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in his 12th NBA season. He is a nine time All-Star and has one NBA Finals ring from the Lakers victory in 2020.
Davis recently made an appearance on "The Backyard Podcast," where he would talk about the reason he nearly attended Ohio State over Kentucky.
"And I always, I was a huge LeBron James fan. That was growing up, I had all the shoes, I was 23, all that. That was like, Bron is him, right? And it drew me to want to go to Ohio State. Obviously he never been there... but he support Ohio State."
As Davis points out, LeBron James never played at the college level. He was one of the few players to go straight from high school to the NBA. However, LeBron grew up in the state of Ohio and is public with his fandom of Ohio State.
Davis continued on to say he verbally committed to Ohio State. He later made a visit to Kentucky to meet with coach John Calipari and would pivot his decision. He would explain his reason for choosing Kentucky saying:
"And man, it was just like, once I left Kentucky, [John Calipari] told me... 'You're not guaranteed starting here, you come and earn your spot'. And I think that's what kind of like triggered it. I was like okay, yeah nothings given to me. I got it."
Anthony Davis announced his verbal commitment to Kentucky on August 13, 2010 before signing his National Letter of Intent on November 10, 2010.
Anthony Davis' career at Kentucky
Anthony Davis played and started in 40 games his freshman year. He averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks. Kentucky entered the 2012 NCAA Tournament as the top-seeded team in the South Region.
Davis would drop his tournament-high 22 points in the opening round against Florida. Kentucky would advance all the way to the NCAA Championship game that year. The Wildcats ended their season as National Chamipns, defeating the number two-seeded Kansas Jayhawks by a final score of 67-59.
Davis struggled shooting in the final game, going just 1-for-10 from the field with six points. He would however add 16 rebounds, three steals and six blocks en route to winning the Most Outstanding Player award in the tournament.