Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters was the first coach to offer a scholarship to Anthony Davis.

Davis attended a small high school school and didn't play club basketball until late in his high school career. He also grew eight inches within a year, going from a 6-foot-2 slasher and ballhandler to a big man.

“I was going to go there,” said Davis, back in November of 2010 when he signed with Kentucky. “Playing AAU really helped me a lot. If I hadn’t played AAU, I wouldn’t be here today. There’s a lot of people who doubted me, a lot of critics. I used that as motivation. [They said,] ‘I wasn’t going to go high D-I. I was going to go mid-major.’” 

Davis chose Kentucky over DePaul, Ohio State and Syracuse in August of 2010 because he felt John Calipari's team had the best chance at competing for a national title.