Davis returns to UK for Hall of Fame induction, trades jabs with Coach Cal

To an NBA All-Star making more than $25 million per year, one might think that being honored by the university he spent only a few months at would be little more than a footnote in Anthony Davis’ life.

But Davis and his family arrived at Kentucky’s Kroger Field on Friday afternoon earlier than almost all of the other guests and some of the staff as he and five others were to be inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It’s such an honor. Being here for a short period of time and then being able to be inducted off the time I was here, it’s great for me and my family,” Davis said ahead of the gala dinner and ceremony.

Davis said he didn’t think it would be possible given he was among one of Coach John Calipari’s one-and-done players — since these kind of accolades typically go to multi-year performers. But not many have an NCAA title, a national player of the year award, an Olympic gold medal and a No. 1 overall NBA Draft selection on their resume.

“I kind of got a slight idea last year when John (Wall) got it, that OK, maybe it is possible,” he said. “It’s huge for me. It’s the first time I’ve been inducted into any hall of fame. Hopefully, it’s not the last.”

Davis is part of a class that includes women’s basketball’s Victoria Dunlap, football’s Jacob Tamme, golf’s Russ Cochran, and tennis’ Eric Quigley and his coach coach Dennis Emery. Hall of Fame honors have been handed out annually since 2005. They are a precursor to maybe one day having a player’s or coach’s jersey retired.

Earlier Friday, Calipari posted a video on Twitter, jokingly mulling how he was going to introduce Davis at the ceremony and eventually revealing his own makeshift unibrow as he “pondered” how Davis would want to be honored.

“I just saw it upstairs,” Davis said. “It was pretty funny.”

Earlier this summer, Calipari shot another video chastising Davis for not signing a gift of some memorabilia. Davis said Friday he quickly corrected it.

“That was my fault. I know Cal. I could send him a Snickers bar and he’d want it signed,” Davis said, shaking his head.

The inductees will also be recognized at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Mississippi State.

▪ Jacob Tamme (2004-07) was a consensus first-team All-SEC tight end as a junior and senior and had 133 catches for 1,417 yards at Kentucky before embarking on a nine-year NFL career. He was part of UK’s Music City Bowl wins in 2006 and 2007. He also received the Bobby Bowden Award as FCA National Player of the Year.

Tamme, a Kentucky native who now lives and farms in Central Kentucky, said the Hall of Fame holds a special significance to him.

“This probably means as much to me as any accolade I’ve ever been given,” he said. “I’m a Kentucky kid who grew up here pretending to be Jeff Sheppard, Tim Couch, Jamal Mashburn and all those guys in my backyard, this is really, really special.”

▪ Victoria Dunlap (2008-2011) was two-time SEC Player of the Year and helped lead the women’s basketball team to the NCAA Elite Eight as a junior. She was the first UK player with more than 100 assists, 100 blocks and 300 steals in her career and the second player ever with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She earned first-team All-America honors as a junior and third-team All-America honors as a senior and went on to play two seasons in the WNBA.

“I definitely went in and just wanted to play hard and do what I could to help the program,” she said. “There was talk like ‘Oh, you should be in the Hall of Fame,’ and I was like ‘OK, if it’s going to happen, it will happen. I’m blessed and honored.”

Dunlap is in her third season as a head basketball coach at Shroder High School in Cincinnati. She never imagined such an honor as the UK Hall of Fame in her playing days.

▪ Eric Quigley (2009-12), a five-time All-American, earned the most tennis match wins (172) in school history and is tied for the NCAA all-time singles win mark. An NCAA singles finalist in 2012, he was the captain of UK’s SEC championship team that year.

▪ Dennis Emery (1983-2012) as head tennis coach led his teams to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, 23 final top-25 rankings, and 568 match wins, never losing to an in-state opponent. He was SEC Coach of the Year three times.

▪ Russ Cochran (1975-78), was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1978 and went on to a successful pro golf career that has included one PGA Tour win and four Champions Tour wins, including the 2011 British Senior Open. Cochran, once the PGA Tour’s only left-handed player, has earned more than $13 million as a professional. The 59-year-old Paducah native had three top 10 finishes on the Champions Tour in 2018.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 8:19 PM.