Kentucky is up to their old tricks.
On national television, Nerlens Noel, Scout.com’s No. 1 prospect, announced he will play in Lexington for John Calipari.
Known as the nation’s top shot blocker, Noel, a 6-foot-11 center, is expected to have a similar impact on the defensive end as Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. He has terrific length, timing and athleticism.
Noel was classified as a 2013 recruit until early February when he opted to reclass to 2012. He began with a list of five schools before cutting it to Georgetown, Syracuse and Kentucky.
The move catapults Kentucky’s recruiting class to No. 1 overall. He joins five-star recruits Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and four-star big man Willie Caulely.
If Kentucky finishes No. 1 overall, this will be the the fourth year in a row the Wildcats ended up with the top recruiting class in the country.
After deliberating for much of his senior year, Shabazz Muhammad’s college choice
Is in now…Muhammad, Scout.com’s No. 2 prospect in the 2012 class, announced on Wednesday he is headed to UCLA.
Ben Howland and the Bruins have been the supposed leader in Muhammad’s recruitment for quite some time, but they had to fend off a strong run by Kentucky and Duke.
A 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing, Muhammad is a terrific scorer from the perimeter. Over the past two years he’s developed his ball handling, added a mid-range game and has even extended his shot out to 23-feet.
According to Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman coach Grant Rice, it’s his intensity and effort that makes him special.
“You can count on your hands the amount of guys that compete the way he does and go as hard as he does, and all of those guys are playing big time basketball right now,” Rice told Scout.com just two hours before the announcement.
“He has all the makings of someone that wants to be great,” he added.
Two weeks ago at the McDonald’s All-American practices, Muhammad played with an edge and seemed to play with more energy and effort than every player in practice. Rice said that was a daily occurrence at Bishop Gorman.
“Every practice,” he said. “Guys just know that if they are guarding him they better go
go hard or he’s going to go up and dunk on them.”
