It's all over. The anticipation, the waiting, everything is done. No more stress for these two young men. Their decision is made.
#2 player in the nation Shabazz Muhammad will be attending UCLA. However, #1 player in the nation will attend the University of Kentucky.
Muhammad shocked the world, selecting the recently struggling UCLA over powerhouses Kentucky and Duke. Shabazz will join #2 SF in the 2012 class, Kyle Anderson in hopes to get UCLA back on top.
Shabazz will help them instantly, as every top player is expected to do. All the comparisons to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are fair, except for the fact he is probably better than MKG. That is not a knock to MKG, rather a compliment to Shabazz. Shabazz, a 6'6" 18 year old, skills are more polished and he is more athletic than MKG. His ball handling must get better before the beginning of next season, as must his 3-point range improve. With his work ethic I don't deny that Shabazz will come out for his first game with a few surprising extensions to his game.
Noel made the choice with a logo shaved in his hair and with the famous words of LeBron James, he is "taking his talents, for college, to..." as he turned around and exposed the Kentucky logo in the back of his head.
Noel will take the spot of Anthony Davis, only more built. Noel is one of the best shot-blockers I've seen. Granted I have only seen highlights, but it seems he can get up and affect everything. His offensive skills need to be majorly polished. His defense will lead to offense, but he needs to work on scoring in the low post, and even the high-post. But there is a reason he is ranked #1, over Shabazz. And it's his defense. They said Anthony Davis is a once in a lifetime player--wait until they see Nerlens play. If he plays with a high motor and uses his athleticism, he can be the top player in the NCAA, easily.
Noel was originally in the class of 2012 but switched to the class of 2013. Noel then switched back to his original class of 2012 late in the recruiting process.
Noel switching classes caused quite some chaos. Coaches who were in on Noel had to go hard as Noel would be narrowing his list quickly. Noel claimed he would not rush his decision, and he didn't. He took it down to the wire and made his decision.
Going back to Shabazz, he is a monster. He competes, and he competes HARD. He takes losing personally. It could be a pickup game with friends, he wants to win. That is the main recipe for a title.
These two players will shake up the NCAA with their decisions, but it'll be interesting to see how they really pan out.
Kentucky still has Anthony Bennett and Amile Jefferson on their list, so if they can pick up those two they'll still be dangerous, once again. They have little to worry about, even though they won't have the top class as they've had in the past few years.
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