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Nerlens Noel finishes summer school, to arrive at UK on August 19th

Aug 6, 2012, 10:49 AM EDT

13 Comments
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One of the more interesting stories that we’ve been tracking this summer has to do with the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country and his eligibility status heading into the 2012-2013 season.

The recruit is Nerlens Noel, who is — not surprisingly — headed to Kentucky this fall. And if you’ve forgotten, Noel has had his fair share of issues over the past six months.

Back in February, he decided to forego his final year of high school and enroll in college early. To make that happen, Noel needed to ramp up the amount of academic work that he was doing, which included taking a pair of classes at his old high school this summer. And he had to do all of this while he was being investigated by the New York Times as well as the NCAA.

As of this weekend, the first hurdle has been cleared: Noel finished up his academic work.

“I’m real excited to get down there,” Noel told Rivals.com late Friday night. “Big Blue Nation, I know they’re ready for another great season. I’m looking forward to getting down there and working on my game, working on every aspect of my game and getting acquainted with my teammates and coaches.”

Noel said in the interview that he’ll be arriving on campus on August 19th. Now all he has to wait on is the NCAA to give him the all-clear.

The bigger issue for Noel is two-fold — he’s not Anthony Davis but he’s going to be compared to the reigning National Player of the Year for every second that he spends in Lexington.

“I think that Anthony Davis had a much better feel for the game,” Jonathon Givony of Draft Express told KentuckySports.com. “He didn’t have to go through a lot of the things that Nerlens did — when you’re playing hundreds of AAU games where the outcome doesn’t matter and it’s all about the stat sheet. Anthony Davis’ fundamentals were much, much better and that gives you a much better framework to start playing under John Calipari.”

What made Davis so good is that he was a 6-foot-2 small forward that happened to get stretched out into a 6-foot-10 shot blocker without losing any of his coordination, quickness or skills. Noel’s a superb talent and prospect, but Davis is, simply put, a freak of nature.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.

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  1. surly1n1nd1anapol1s - Aug 6, 2012 at 8:33 PM

    I’m sure those classes were rigorous.

  2. gatordontplay - Aug 6, 2012 at 9:00 PM

    Don’t question one of coach cal’s players academics, you will start a blogging war with imforbigblue.. Just remember Kentucky is superior to everyone else and coach cal’s program is clean as they come

  3. imforbigblue - Aug 6, 2012 at 10:29 PM

    Lol I’m SI glad you think of me So much gatorboy. I guess your team sucks so bad you have to troll everything UK huh.

    For the first poster the kid was finishing high school classes and he can’t be to dumb he finished high school a year early. I mean we’re not talking about UNC players and there fake classes they took

  4. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 8:17 AM

    You make fictional remarks about other schools but call us haters for bringing facts about cal’s dirty program..
    And btw unc Roy williams has more nc than coach cal and they will all count compared to coach cal’s
    And if it wasn’t for the ridicules amount of injuries for unc Roy williams would have another last year

  5. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 8:42 AM

    You make fictional remarks about other schools but call us haters for bringing facts about cal’s dirty program..
    And btw unc Roy williams has more nc than coach cal and they will all count compared to coach cal’s
    And if it wasn’t for the ridicules amount of injuries for unc Roy williams would have another last year

  6. dexterismyhero - Aug 7, 2012 at 9:17 AM

    Is that kid n play with the eraser head?

  7. imforbigblue - Aug 7, 2012 at 10:28 AM

    Talking to you gator is like fighting with a brick wall. You say if UNC didn’t have there players hurt they would of won it all huh? Well there smart guy they had there whole team when they played UK and they still lost! Then you say Cals teams are dirty but yet again MORON cal has never been in trouble with the NCAA and both times he’s given up a FF it was one of his players who did something wrong not him, but idiots like you who are to stupid to look up the facts and know the truth. No its just easier to jump on the bandwagon and say cal is a cheater because your mad your team and coach aren’t as good as UK.

    Plus if you want to talk about who has more titles than cal look at UCLA and coach wooden he has the most and he and ucla were the dirtiest coach and team out there but everybody just loves him and hates coach cal so yeah your HATERS

    • bigmeechy74 - Aug 7, 2012 at 8:53 PM

      I know for a fact calipari cheated at a previous school. I knew someone with first hand knowledge of the situation.

  8. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 10:44 AM

    1. Carolina was never healthy all season they had 4 guys out. 3pgs and 1 post player Leslie McDonald was out all season.. 2 yes My Carolina tarheels lost to Kentucky at Kentucky by 1 point in November!! But that makes y’all better.. That also means that makes Indiana and vandy better than y’all in your theory.. 2 coach cal’s not in the same league as Roy williams.. 3 if your programs is so much better than mine, why did y’all take us off the schedule when it came to coming to chapel hill? Scared?

  9. imforbigblue - Aug 7, 2012 at 2:22 PM

    This will be the last time I ever post anything back to you because I feel like I lose IQ points every time I do. For one I don’t even believe your a real UNC fan with the name gator I think your a Florida fan hiding because you know your teams garbage and UK owns you.

    Next UNC only had one player hurt even worth talking about all season but the back up pg came in and played better then there starter. Next UK was better than UNC last year they proved it when they beat them. Yes IU did beat UK by 1 point on a last second shot, but UK beat the hell out of them in the NCAA turny. Then UK beat KU for the second time that year to win the NC you know the same team that beat UNC.

    Also since I know you like to talk about stuff you have ZERO clue about it wasn’t cal who took UNC off next it was both coaches and the following year they will be back on it MORON! So keep up the hate we UK fans love it means we are doing great and you all are just mad your not lol

  10. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 3:12 PM

    Im a unc fan my screen name has nothing to do with college sports and if I was a Florida fan why would I be ashamed of a basketball program that won back to back nc and has the BEST coach in the SEC..(and his nc will actually count). Not to mention they kick your ass in every other sport. And if you think white played better than marshal your a damn fool Forrest Gump..

  11. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 3:20 PM

    If I’m hating on Kentucky what are you doing when it comes Florida and unc?
    Keep listening to your Kentucky drake HATER music..

  12. gatordontplay - Aug 7, 2012 at 9:12 PM

    “Your a hater cal is innocent and pure”-Imforbigblue

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