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Anthony Davis picked first in Rising Stars draft (2/6/14)

Anthony Davis picked first in Rising Stars draft

By: Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com, @Jim_Eichenhofer

No stranger to being chosen first in a basketball draft, New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis was the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s BBVA Compass Rising Stars draft. Davis was selected by one of the two Rising Stars “general managers,” retired NBA forward Chris Webber.

The second-year pro from the University of Kentucky, who was the coveted top prize of the 2012 NBA Draft, will be joined on Webber’s squad by 76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams, Knicks rookie Tim Hardaway Jr., Jazz rookie Trey Burke, Celtics second-year forward Jared Sullinger, Nets rookie Mason Plumlee, Magic rookie Victor Oladipo, Thunder rookie Steven Adams and Celtics rookie Kelly Olynyk.

Not coincidentally, Hardaway and Burke are University of Michigan products, the school Webber led to a pair of NCAA Final Four appearances in the 1990s. Davis will not rejoin former Kentucky teammate Terrence Jones, a Rockets second-year forward who was chosen by the event’s other GM, Grant Hill.

The Rising Stars game will take place in New Orleans on the evening of Friday, Feb. 14, in the newly-named Smoothie King Center.