By the time University of Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis finishes his time in Lexington, there’s no doubt he will go down as one of the very best players to ever have had the pleasure of donning the now historic blue and white jersey of the Wildcats.
Davis took the first step in making history by setting the single season blocked shots mark for a freshman in another blowout win for the Wildcats over SEC rival South Carolina. By posting yet another fantastic stat line Saturday consisting of 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 blocks, he passed future NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s single season SEC freshman mark of 115 blocked shots, while at LSU.
With 7 regular season games remaining, Davis still has an outside shot of breaking Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado’s SEC record of 170 blocks, and even the 182 block NCAA mark in a season set by Hassan Whiteside of Marshall 2 seasons ago.
In addition to blocked shots, Davis is approaching several other Kentucky single season milestones like potentially becoming the first UK player since Kenny “Sky” Walker in ’84-’85 to average double digit rebounds per game. Davis’ current mark of 10.1 boards per contest would be the 3rd highest since Jim Andrews average 12.4 rebounds in ’72-’73.
Davis has tallied double-digit rebounds in 10 games this season. He’s grabbed at least 15 rebounds on three occasions, highlighted by a career-high 18 rebounds against Chattanooga. Davis’ 11 double-doubles this season are fourth most by a freshman in UK history. Just three UK players have averaged at least nine rebounds per game in the last 26 seasons, the last being DeMarcus Cousins’ 9.8 per game in ’09-’10.
Additionally, with another impressive 9 for 10 shooting game against the Gamecocks, Davis is now shooting an unbelievable .663% from the field. That mark would set an all-time Wildcat record for shooting proficiency considering the current record is held by Michael Bradley, who shot .657% during the ’88-’89 season.
Faithful supporters of Big Blue Nation should enjoy watching Davis while they can since he is already projected as a consensus Top 3 pick in most Mock Drafts. There’s no doubting he will be severely tested this upcoming week against SEC rival big men Patric Young of Florida, Festus Ezeli of Vanderbilt, and Arnett Moultrie and Reynardo Sidney of Mississippi State.
Check out highlights of Davis’ Record Setting Block:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
