NEWARK, N.J. – No one-and-done for Kentucky’s kids in the NBA draft. The Wildcats instead became the first school to go 1-2.

After the New Orleans Hornets selected Kentucky forward Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick Thursday, Charlotte followed by taking fellow freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The Wildcats are the first school to have the top two picks, and they had a total of four players selected in the first round. John Calipari has been criticized for recruiting “one-and-done” players — they stay the required one year and leave — but he looked thrilled hugging his two stars.

Davis will begin his pro career in the same city where he ended it with a national title. College basketball’s player of the year as a freshman was the most outstanding player of the Final Four despite shooting just 1 of 10 from the field in the championship game. He grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked six shots in the victory over Kansas.

The 6-foot-10 Davis averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks, becoming a dominant defender after growing 7 inches from the start of his junior year of high school.

A season after the Hornets traded longtime star Chris Paul, Davis is ready to be their centerpiece, since playing for the Wildcats means he’s already accustomed to plenty of attention.

“Like I said, at Kentucky we had it all the time … we had the spotlight all the time,” Davis said. “I think it really prepared me.”

Charlotte, coming off a 7-59 season and the worst winning percentage in NBA history, had been open to moving the No. 2 pick if it found the right deal. Instead, Michael Jordan’s team went with Kidd-Gilchrist, whose selection by the Bobcats was loudly cheered, a sharp contrast from the boos Commissioner David Stern received when coming out to announce the picks.

North Carolina also had four first-round picks, starting with Harrison Barnes, who was taken seventh by Golden State.

 

TRADE: Lamar Odom could be headed back to Los Angeles for a second chance with the Clippers and Mo Williams would be reunited with the Utah Jazz in a pending three-team trade involving the Mavericks.

The trade is contingent on Williams exercising his $8.5 million player option for next season, which is expected to happen today. The Jazz are in position to absorb Williams’ salary without sending a player to Dallas by using a trade exception created last season when they dealt Mehmet Okur to New Jersey.