Nerlens Noel continues to set visits while his suitors prepare for March Madness
By Paul Jordan
It’s going to be a busy March for the top rated recruit in the 2012 class. Nerlens Noel has a top five of Kentucky, Syracuse, UConn, Georgetown, and North Carolina. He has already paid visits to Kentucky and Syracuse and is in the process of scheduling visits to the other schools. Noel will visit Georgetown from Sunday to Tuesday and will be with the team when they learn their NCAA fate. He is also planning to visit North Carolina after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, perhaps around March 19-20. As of now, no date has been set to visit UConn and you have to wonder if the fact that the Huskies are ineligible for the 2013 NCAA Tournament is playing a role in Nerlen’s decision making process. Noel has no timetable for the decision and will also play in the Nike Hoop Summit on April 7. The National Signing period begins about a week after that.
That loud popping sound you heard around midnight was probably the sound of the Mississippi State Bulldogs NCAA bubble popping. The Bulldogs were the biggest victim of the upset bug in the first round of the SEC Tournament as they fell to the 14-16 Georgia Bulldogs 71-61. It has been quite a crash and burn for the Bulldogs this year as they were 19-5 about a month ago and ranked #18 in the country. Since then, they have gone 2-6 with two losses to Georgia on their resume. And the latest loss could be the nail in their NCAA coffin. So as of now, it looks like four teams, Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Alabama are shoo-ins for the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee is firmly on the bubble but at 18-13 probably need two wins to get to 20 wins to get in the field. The Vols play Ole Miss tonight.
Kentucky faces LSU in the tournament at 1:00 PM today on the SEC Network. Kentucky pasted the Tigers 74-50 earlier this year and the game was somewhat of a turning point for UK in how they handled physical play. Terrence Jones responded to the rough play and scored 27 points. The game is best remembered for Malcom White’s takedown of Anthony Davis and White is still answering questions about his actions:
"“It was out of character. … I just made a bad play. I should have made a play on the ball.”"
At this point, instead of booing White, Kentucky fans may want to send him a thank you card. Kentucky has been a different team against physical teams from that point forward and White’s flagrant foul may very well be the even that sparked the metamorphosis.
It turns out that the UKAA is behind the Anthony Davis billboard in downtown New Orleans. Kentucky has taken a Heisman like approach to Davis’s Player of the Year campaign and this billboard is proof of that. It also serves to remind players heading into the arena what awaits them inside. Hopefully the billboard will still be up when the Wildcats return to New Orleans for the Final Four later at the end of the month. Starting your playoff run in New Orleans and possible ending it there gives a weird type of synchronicity to the season and John Clay has 25 reasons why Kentucky will win it all.
In probably another first move ever for a NCAA coach, John Calipari had Billy Hunter, the executive director of the NBA Players Association, come in and speak to his team this week before they left for the SEC Tournament. Why? To assess their draft positions for the upcoming MBA draft and to congratulate Calipari on running such a successful NBA feeder program? Au contraire, mon frere. Calipari brought in Hunter to be proactive and relieve stress over the NBA deadline, which was graciously moved up by the NCAA this season. What did Hunter tell the kids?
“To basically tell the kids: You together, collectively, have a chance to do something special. Worry about this. There’s no reason to be talking, thinking (about the NBA). Just do your thing. … There’s time to worry.”
All of this is just another reason why Calipari gets it. Kentucky fans will respect the move and applaud it but expect the haters to make more of it than it already is and twist it way out of proportion. That’s what haters do.
Don’t forget to enter our NCAA Tournament Challenge. We will be giving away a $50 gift card to Kennedy’s Wildcat Den and a few copies of “The Last Great Game” book, so it is well worth your time. Here is the group page, so sign up and enter today!!!