Anthony Davis

Because of Anthony Davis, Kentucky has blocked 22 more shots than Syracuse, the nation's No. 2 team in blocked shots, and is on course to break the single season record 315 set by national champion Connecticut in 2004. Davis has a school single-season record 89 of UK's 177 blocked shots and leads the nation. He had 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks in Tuesday's win over Arkansas. Jeremy Lundald of ESPN.com noted that Davis is the first player to reach all three of those levels in a game since Herbert Hill of the Providence  in 2007.

Vinay Mullick is not surprised that freshman Anthony Davis has blossomed at Kentucky this season even if Davis' overall play has surpassed expectations many had for him. However, even Mullick didn't see Davis perhaps becoming the nation's best collegiate player this season. “We all knew he was a special person and a great player,” said Mullick, the athletics director at Perspectives Charter Schools in Chicago. “We knew his freshman year could be special. He's had a lot of attention come to him very quickly.

Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis said on  Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC-TV that the first thing he'll do when he does go to the¿NBA is “buy a car, a Bentley.” Davis is in Los Angeles to be presented the John R. Wood Award at 36th Annual Wooden Award Gala tonight at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. “I have been thinking since I was little about a white on white Bentley. Cruise around the streets and show everybody I have got a little money,” said Davis. “You only live once.” A Bentley costs in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, but Davis is expected to be the first pick in the June NBA draft, even though he emphasized again he has not made a final decision about leaving UK. “I have to sit down with my coach and family.

LEXINGTON - At a long  6 feet, 9 inches, Anthony Davis was used to having his way against weaker high school opponents. But Kentucky coach John¿Calipari said Wednesday he needs Davis to play bigger and stronger to become a force on the inside for the Wildcats. “Kyle (Wiltjer) and Anthony just aren't tough enough right now,”¿Calipari said after the Blue-White game at Rupp Arena. Davis agreed with his coach and said being more physical - not just athletic - is a goal of his and something he has to do. “It's just a whole motivation and mindset thing.

He grew up admiring Kevin Garnett, a versatile NBA star who values defense, and was being compared to Bill Russell, perhaps the best defender in NBA history, when he was only midway through his high school career. That's why Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel says he can handle any comparison others wants to make between him and Anthony Davis, who led the Wildcats to the national title last season and was the top pick in the NBA draft. “I definitely embraced that chance to follow him,” said Noel, the top-ranked player in many recruiting rankings in the 2012 class.

I voted. Six of them counted. The Lexington Herald-Leader Sportsman of the Year will be announced tonight during the Bluegrass Sports Awards banquet at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa. Ten individuals - Teddy Bridgewater, John Calipari, Randall Cobb, Anthony Davis, Dermontti Dawson, Tom Jurich, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller, Charlie Strong, A'dia Mathies - are among the finalists for the award. The list of nominees on the mailed ballot featured 112 names of individuals deserving of receiving the prestigious hardware.

NEW ORLEANS - He's getting set to play the biggest basketball game of his young life, but Anthony Davis doesn't mind letting everyone know that there is an off-court side to him as well. “I am a very laid-back guy off the court. I like to draw in my spare time.I watch a lot of movies. Terrence (Jones) is a big movie guy, so we like to go to movies a lot,” Davis said. He will draw “whatever pops into my head” and especially likes doing cartoon characters. “Stuff I have seen on TV. I put up a picture on Google sometimes.

For everyone who has been impressed with Anthony Davis - ESPN analyst Dick Vitale is already calling him in the nation's No. 1 freshman - and what he's done so far this season, his high school coach says the best is yet to come. “Anthony can be a lot better. You are not seeing his total game yet,” said Cortez Hale, Davis' prep coach in Chicago. “I have seen him play ball for three years. I saw him grow from 6-3 to 6-10 and knew he would do great here. He's not surprised me at all. “He has not shown half of his talent yet. Right now all he is doing is blocking shots, dunking and playing defense.

LSU coach Trent Johnson made sure that Kentucky coach John Calipari knew immediately Saturday that he did not approve the flagrant foul on his team that resulted in Anthony Davis being jerked to the floor during Saturday's game. LSU's Malcolm White grabbed Davis from behind on a fast break and pulled him to the ground where Davis landed awkwardly on his back. White was ejected from the game. “The conversation I¿had (with White) was immediately afterwards. I asked him what he was doing.

LEXINGTON - Darius Miller says having Anthony Davis' shot-blocking ability in the middle of the Kentucky defense makes it easier to play defense. “It kind of allows us to play more aggressive. We know he is back there and is a great shot blocker,” said Miller. “Even if he doesn't block the shot, 90 percent of the time he is altering the shot. That makes our job a lot easier. We can play more aggressive and we trust each other a lot more because he is back there helping. “It just makes everything easier.

LEXINGTON - Being back in Rupp Arena Saturday was special for Anthony Davis Sr. - and that was before Kentucky beat No. 11 Florida. “It brings back a lot of memories just to be back in this Kentucky atmosphere rooting for the Cats again.¿It's unbelievable,” said Davis. Last season he seldom missed a game in Rupp Arena when his son, Anthony, was playing for Kentucky and leading the Wildcats to a national championship in a season when he swept most major postseason individual awards.

I voted. Six of them counted. The Lexington Herald-Leader Sportsman of the Year will be announced tonight during the Bluegrass Sports Awards banquet at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa. Ten individuals - Teddy Bridgewater, John Calipari, Randall Cobb, Anthony Davis, Dermontti Dawson, Tom Jurich, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller, Charlie Strong, A'dia Mathies - are among the finalists for the award. The list of nominees on the mailed ballot featured 112 names of individuals deserving of receiving the prestigious hardware.

Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy says it is “mind-boggling” to him that Kentucky freshman center Nerlens Noel is averaging over six blocks per game during Southeastern Conference play. “Incredible, incredible talent at the basket. He's averaging over six blocks a game in league play and that is mind-boggling,” Kennedy said Monday. “Obviously, last year they had a very, very special player at the basket in Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis was probably a little bit bigger, and I'm not sure that he was the presence that Noel is at the basket defensively.

LEXINGTON - Nerlens Noel was never touted as being the offensive player that Anthony Davis was for Kentucky last year when he swept the national player of the year awards and even won an Olympic gold medal after helping UK win a national championship. However, Noel is having an extremely productive freshman season for the Wildcats. Noel is averaging 10.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.7 blocks, 2.6 steals and 1.7 assists per game and shooting 57.1 percent from the field. Those numbers have had some like ESPN NBA draft analyst Chad Ford projecting Noel as the top pick in the June draft just as Davis was last year.

He grew up admiring Kevin Garnett, a versatile NBA star who values defense, and was being compared to Bill Russell, perhaps the best defender in NBA history, when he was only midway through his high school career. That's why Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel says he can handle any comparison others wants to make between him and Anthony Davis, who led the Wildcats to the national title last season and was the top pick in the NBA draft. “I definitely embraced that chance to follow him,” said Noel, the top-ranked player in many recruiting rankings in the 2012 class.

The night Anthony Davis announced he was leaving Kentucky to pursue a career in the National Basketball Association, he admitted that he had always dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal. He had no idea then that instead of having to wait until 2016 to potentially achieve that goal, he would be getting ready to play for the United States in London along with some of the NBA's biggest stars with a chance to win a gold medal now. “I never even thought about that. Not at all,” said Davis during a phone interview Monday after the team finished practice in Barcelona in preparation for today's exhibition game with Spain.

Anthony Wayne Davis, 34, son of Debbie Davis and Willie Davis Jr., died Friday, June 29. Other family members surviving are sisters Tabitha Davis and Hollie Powell and a nephew, Tyler Davis. Funeral services were held Friday, July 6. Burial was in Hillcrest Memorial Park in Lexington. Maple Grove Funeral Home & Cremation Services was in charge of arrangements.

If college basketball analyst Jay Bilas is right, Kentucky is not going to match the record five first-round picks it had in the 2010 NBA draft. Kentucky coach John Calipari is hoping to have six players selected in the first round Thursday night, with Anthony Davis being the top overall pick just as the Wildcats' John Wall was in 2010. However, Bilas has only Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and Marquis Teague joining Davis in the first round, with Doron Lamb and Darius Miller dropping to the second round.

LEXINGTON - Anthony Davis is going to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft later this month, but Kentucky coach John Calipari thinks he could also be part of the Olympic team going to London later this summer. Davis led UK¿to the national title and was named the most outstanding player in the Final Four. He swept most national player of the year, freshmen of the year and defensive player of the year honors and was added to the tryout list for the United States Olympic team that will be named in early July.

Who could have ever imagined that a time normally reserved for the Kentucky Derby to make all the headlines in the Bluegrass that Kentucky basketball would have one of its biggest offseason news days in years? Not only did UK's annual series with Indiana and North Carolina apparently both get called off for next year, but Final Four most outstanding player Anthony Davis was added to the U.S. Olympic tryout roster. Plus, women's coach Matthew Mitchell not only got the expected contract extension after what he's done the last two years, but he's now one of the highest paid women's coaches in the country.