With just one week to go before Nerlens Noel makes his decision among Georgetown, Syracuse and Kentucky, fans of all three schools can now pull up this post and stare at the majestic Nerlens Noel Countdown Clock as the precious days, hours, minutes and seconds tick down to zero.
In the meantime, in Nerlens News we were treated to his most recent blog entry for ESPN, and while it's difficult to figure out which way Noel is leaning in these entries, they usually contain some interesting fodder to help excite and scare all three fanbases.
Interesting nuggets after The Jump:
As we all know by now, Nerlens was in New Orleans to play in a high school All-Star game over the Final Four weekend. I'll have more on this later in the week as I went to the game and observed him up close and personal (and documented accordingly), but his blog entry includes some news about all three schools, and my interpretation is that it is clear that the focus is on Kentucky.
First, Kentucky had a huge home court advantage in New Orleans as the Wildcats were in the Final Four and won the National Championship. This was not lost on Nerlens:
- The fans were showing me so much love out there, and I definitely have to say that most of the fans were from Kentucky.
- Now of course that had a lot to do with the fact that they were playing there, but I'm always just shocked at how dedicated Kentucky fans are. One man asked me if I wanted to take his wife home with me, ha ha. I couldn't believe it. I was like "Nah, I'm good," but that's just how insane the fans were down there. Great atmosphere.
- I'd definitely say it makes me think about Kentucky more, and with them winning with all of those freshmen was very attractive. Just seeing that it doesn't matter how young you are, you can win a national title.
- I talked to (Kentucky assistant) coach Orlando (Antigua) after they won and he was really happy, of course. He said that all he could think about was me being a part of something like that next season.
On the Syracuse front, Nerlens had this to say:
- With Syracuse, they've been on me the longest of the three schools on my list. That factors in heavy with me. That's big for me.
And finally, as far as Georgetown goes, Nerlens still appears to be intrigued by the whole "Big Man U" thing, though at this point I'm not sure how far that goes:
- With Georgetown, I would've been crazy not to really give them a look with all the history they've had with big men and the development that I could get there.
I suppose the bottom line with all this and the question I keep asking myself is : Why wouldn't Nerlens Noel go to Kentucky?
- I will say that one of the biggest factors in my decision will be who will be there on the team when I get there because my No. 1 goal is to win a national title.
After what Kentucky accomplished this season with those freshman, and the possibility of yet another silly recruiting class that may include Noel, Shabazz Muhammad, Anthony Bennett, and already has Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein, I really can't come up with a good reason why he wouldn't go there. Yes, Georgetown has the Big Man tradition. But does that really matter for a kid who will be one and done? Yes, Syracuse has a solid freshman class coming in and Noel's friend Michael Carter-Williams is on the team, but does that matter if the kid wants to win the national title?
Georgetown fans can take solace in that Noel has been pretty adamant that he has yet to make a decision, which gives us some time to perhaps sway him towards the Hilltop.
- I've decided to announce my decision a week from today on ESPN so I've got a lot of thinking to do between now and then. And I've heard the rumors about me making a decision already. That's not true. Rumors are rumors, what can you do, but just know that I'm far from a decision no matter what you hear.
In any case, the next seven days, six hours, and 40 minutes should be interesting...