Anthony Davis won the Wayman Tisdale Award, given annually to the National Freshman of the Year, on Tuesday.(Chet White, UK Athletics)
Here’s hoping Anthony Davis has a big trophy case.The freshman forward added to his rapidly expanding collection of awards on Tuesday, as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association named him the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award, which recognizes the National Freshman of the Year. Davis will be honored at a banquet on Monday, April 16 in Oklahoma City.Davis started all 34 games of his debut college season, leading Kentucky to a 32-2 record and the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. He is tops among Wildcats with 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and is second nationally in field-goal percentage at 64.2. He is also UK’s all-time single-season leader with 157 blocks, best in the nation in 2011-12.The Chicago, Ill., was picked to receive the award from among five finalists, a group that included teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as well as Austin Rivers of Duke, Cody Zeller of Indiana and Tony Wroten of Washington.This marks the second time in three years that a UK player has claimed the award, as John Wall won in 2010. Kentucky joins Texas and North Carolina as the only schools to have multiple players honored with the award since its inception in 1989. Additionally, Davis is the third player coached by John Calipari in four years to win National Freshman of the Year, joining Wall and Tyreke Evans at Memphis in 2009.Davis is also in contention for the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year Award, which will be presented by the USBWA at the College Basketball Awards Breakfast in New Orleans.