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Anthony Davis signs endorsement deal with Nike

spt-120401-AntDavis

Mike Miller

Nike, king of the basketball shoe world with its 95-percent market share, has just inked another top draft pick, signing No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis to a lucrative endorsement deal, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

Davis is coming off a stellar freshman season at Kentucky, winning a national title, national player of the year award, and national freshman of the year award.

Nike has now signed three of the last five top overall picks, but Davis differs from the last No. 1 pick to come from Kentucky, John Wall, who signed with Reebok.

Davis’ teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who went second overall in the 2012 draft to Charlotte, is also a member of Team Nike, having signed in May. Kentucky itself is one of Nike’s most prominent schools branded with the signature swoosh.

Another John Calipari player stands in contrast to Davis in the logo war, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who signed with adidas in 2008 and recently signed a deal with the company worth a reported $200 million over 13 years.

Davis won’t be seeing that kind of money from Nike, at least not yet, but joins 2011 top pick Kyrie Irving on the Nike roster.

Though he has yet to play a game at the professional level, Davis will take the court for Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics later this month, following Blake Griffin’s knee injury.

He may not be a key contributor in Team USA’s pursuit of gold, but he adds another defensive weapon for coach Mike Krzyzewski to have off the bench.

Oh, and another side note that binds Davis and Nike, Team USA will also happen to be adorning the swoosh in London.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_