BROOKLYN– Kentucky coach John Calipari has become a regular at the NBA draft. He was there again last night, accompanying his 6-11 3/4 freshman center Nerlens Noel to the green room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Noel, the son of Haitian immigrants who grew up in Everett, Mass., had been projected to go No. 1 overall. But the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t willing to gamble that Noel’s shot blocking abilities could overcome the fact he suffered a severe ACL injury in mid-February that could sideline him until December.
Neither were Orlando, Washington and Charlotte. They all chose to play it safe, taking healthy players. The Cavs took 6-8, 261 pound power forward Anthonhy Bennett, a Canadian import and Larry Johnson clone from UNLV. Orlando took guard Victor Oladipo of Indiana. Washington selected forward Otto Porter Jr. of Georgetown and Charlotte took center Cody Zeller of Indiana.
Noel finally went sixth to New Orleans after 7-1, 255 pound center Alex Len, the Ukrainian import who was taken by Phoenix. He was all set to join former Kentucky star Anthony Davis, last year’s No. 1 pick, in the Big Easy.
“We’re going to have a shot blocking party down there,” he promised.
Not quite. Ten minutes later, word began to spread that the Sixers, who took Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams at 11, were in the process of trading talented point guard Jrue Holiday to New Orleans for the rights to Noel. Noel appeared shell shocked when he met the media.
“You tell me,” he said, when asked about the Sixers. “You probably know more about them than I do.”
We know this. By trading for Noel, the 76ers have no interest in re-signing Andrew Bynum. The Sixers are like this draft– full of surprises. They still do not have a coach but are reportedly talking with former Aussie Boomers coach Brett Brown about the position.
Noel will survive this temporary chaos, but this is not what he had in mind when he asked UK fans to help him pick out a suit for his big moment. Cavs’ GM Chris Gant had been a frequent visitor to Rupp all year and Noel was still rumored to be at the top of their draft board as late as two weeks ago.
Calipari tried to still the waters by attempting to convince Cavs’ GM Chris Grant on the fact Noel, who has been rehabbing in Birmingham, was making strong progress and had a huge future. But he couldn’t turn this one around. In a draft that lacked marquis star power at the top, there were just too many questions about Noel’s physical condition, his offensive skill level and his ability to pump up his frame from 216 to 240.
Calipari has established a private assembly line in the Blue Grass, cranking out six lottery picks, 11 first round picks and 17 draft picks since 2010 and establishing his program as a magnet for elite prospects looking to market themselves quickly and then move on.
The trend is likely to continue next year with 7-0 sophomore center Willie Cauley-Stein and 6-9 sophomore Alex Poythrees returning and an historic top-ranked recruiting class that features alpha dogs like 6-9, 240-pound power forward Julius Randle, guard Andrew Harrison and wing James Young, who could all be lottery picks. Kentucky will be pre-season No. 1 again and is so talented 6-10 junior forward Kyle Wiltjer, the SEC’s sixth man of the year, opted to leave this players’ paradise this week for another program– most likely Gonzaga– so he could insure himself of a featured role in the offense.
Calipari deserves enormous credit for recruiting McDonald’s All Americans and preserving their value as they prepare to make a quantum leap to the league. Ironically, if Calipari he had his way, he says he would change the dynamics of the sport to restrict players from declaring for the draft until after their sophomore season.
Consider how much better and more cohesive college basketball would be and different this year’s draft, which has been deemed weaker than usual, would look if Anthony Davis and forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the first two picks in 2012, had stayed at Kentucky and guard Bradley Beal of Florida, the third pick, and center Andre Drummond of Connecticut, the 10th pick, had remained in school.
Kentucky, which also had freshman lead guard Marques Teague selected in the first round, might have been a team for the ages and, given Calipari’s success in recruiting, the Cats might have been a latter day version of the John Wooden UCLA teams. Ironically, Noel, who reclassified from junior to senior year just so he could enroll at Kentucky, might have either stayed in prep school one more another year or signed somewhere else.
As it turned out, the 19-year old, Noel looked like he made the right decision, taking his trademark flat top haircut to the Blue Grass. He had some Patrick Ewing moments, blocking 12 shots against Ole Miss and prompting Rebels’ senior center Murphy Holloway to suggest Noel was the best shot blocker he played against, including Anthony Davis.
But he was not Patrick Ewing.
Noel was not even Noel after mid-February. He suffered a season ending ACL of his left knee against Florida and was forced to watch helplessly from the bench, cheering on the young, inexperienced Wildkittens as they collapsed down the stretch, losing to Vanderbilt by 20 in the first round of the SEC tournament and then were stunned by Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.
Noel is typical of new generation of players who are lured by this gold rush and have taken a pragmatic approach to their professional careers, treating freshman year like a job audition.
Calipari has figured out the riddle of how to get his players noticed. Noel will have extra impetus to deliver.
