HoopsHype.com Rumors

Alex Poythress isn't second guessing his decision to return to Kentucky for his sophomore season rather than put his name into the NBA draft like teammates Nerlens Noel and Archie Goodwin did. “I'm happy with my choice of coming back,” Poythress said Monday. “It was a long process and you just wanted to make sure your heart was all in it, make sure you made the right decision and I felt like I did it.” Central Kentucky News

Draft, Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin 

Noel is recovering from surgery for a torn ACL in his left knee, but is still listed atop several mock drafts. If the Magic are satisfied after exhaustive research, they wouldn't be afraid to take the former Kentucky star center with their lottery pick, according to a source with knowledge of the Magic's thinking. Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Draft, Nerlens Noel 

Nerlens Noel: “I’m doing a lot of rehab and my physical therapist said I’m ahead of schedule, and I am moving pretty good at the five-week point, so I am just taking it slow and being careful with everything, but I’m ahead of schedule, so I’m planning on being back pretty quick.” Sports Radio Interviews

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

On whether Noel should still be considered the No. 1 pick: “He is the best player in the draft. I think that was obvious over the course of the year, he is the guy who is going to have the most impact in the NBA. He can be a monster on the defensive end. He is athletic and he has the instincts and a huge wingspan. He gets the blocked shots, and he is very good at that, but I like the way he plays his man, too, he is not just a help guy who swats shots away. He can play straight up, too. There is no other player who has a known NBA-level skill like that in this draft.” Sporting News

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

On the knee and Noel’s offense: “I didn’t think he was going to develop into an offensive force before the knee injury and so the injury doesn’t matter in terms of that. I would compare him to DeAndre Jordan that way. He hasn’t shown much ability to play with his back to the basket, so what you hope to do is get him to learn one good post move and a counter move so that he is at least a threat. He is not going to score 25 points per game, but can he get 14, 15 a night? He could. But that won’t depend on his knee. That will depend on, mentally, whether he can develop and trust some post moves.” Sporting News

Draft, DeAndre Jordan, Nerlens Noel 

University of Kentucky freshman All-America selection Nerlens Noel will forego his sophomore season and enter his name in this year's NBA Draft. "I have loved my time at Kentucky, but I feel that I'm ready to take the next step to the NBA," Noel said. "I've learned so much here at UK and am thankful for Coach (John) Calipari, the staff and my teammates for all of their support. I especially appreciate the Big Blue Nation and all of the support, prayers and well-wishes I've received from them during my rehab and decision-making process. I'll always be a Wildcat!" University of Kentucky Official Athletic Site

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

Nets Daily: rumor around the NBA is that when the dust clears, Jay-Z's first client will be Nerlens Noel, who could be overall No. 1 in the draft. Twitter @NetsDaily

Draft, Jay-Z, Agents, Nerlens Noel 

A lot can, and will, change between now and June 27, the date of the 2013 NBA Draft. But as of today — well before the NBA combine and prospects’ trips to team camps for individual workouts — things are looking up for 20-year-old millionaire-to-be Ben McLemore. “McLemore and (Nerlens) Noel (6-11 freshman, Kentucky) will go 1-2 in the draft. Noel will probably be the No. 1 pick despite his injury,” an NBA talent evaluator who cannot reveal his identity (in accordance with NBA rules) told the Journal-World. Lawrence Journal-World

Draft, Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore 

Yes, it's a torn ACL. But modern medicine has made this kind of knee injury easily correctable. Adrian Peterson, Wes Welker, David West and Jamal Crawford are just a handful of athletes who have torn the ligament and bounced back better than ever. "He is looking at about nine months," said Dr. Victor Khabie, chief of surgery and sports medicine at Northern Westchester (N.Y.) Hospital. "In all likelihood, he will be jogging in four months, doing agility drills in between four to seven months, and his activity level will be determined after that. "The surgery has advanced in the last 10 years. We have spent a lot of time and research figuring out where is the best place to put in the new ACL. Being young is a huge benefit. In general terms, younger patients bounce back quicker. The muscles around the knee are more adaptable. How quickly the player gets his muscle tone back is a big factor in when he comes back." SI.com

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel 

"There is so much information now about how people recover, it's easy to predict that he will be fine," a Western Conference GM said. "It's a common injury now. It won't make a difference to a team with a chance to draft him." Added a Western Conference executive: "It's not an Amar'e [Stoudemire] injury. I'd still take him No. 1." SI.com

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel 

Even if Noel's recovery costs him the entire 2013-2014 season, the consensus is that his potential makes drafting him high a no-brainer. The 6-11, 216-pound Noel needs to bulk up and doesn't have any go-to offensive moves. But whether it is at power forward or center -- it's unclear what position he'll play in the NBA -- Noel is expected to develop into a top-shelf shot blocker and rebounder. "He has a skill set that you can't teach," a West executive said. "He runs the floor, blocks shots and has the heart and passion you don't see in a lot of bigs. He is only going to get better. You can't pass on a guy like that." SI.com

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel 

While most of the other top prospects have stumbled -- some mightily -- multiple NBA scouts and GMs remember Noel's increasing productivity at Kentucky and say, essentially, if every player in the draft this year is going to be a major risk, why not gamble with the ultra-athletic big man and hope his knee and his offensive game both get better? While it's hard to describe Noel as a consensus No. 1, after a weekend of talking to NBA decision-makers, it sounds like most of them are now leaning that direction. Of course their doctors could talk them out of it, but assuming the surgery went well and the knee is rehabbing properly, Noel's chances of going No. 1 have gone up considerably the past few weeks. ESPN.com

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

Keith Trawick (NJ) With Nerlens injury, Bennets tweener status, Smarts ugly jumper, Porter not being a Alpha Male, and Mclamore not taking over..who is realistically goin number 1 overall? Chad Ford (1:40 PM) Noel is the popular pick among NBA GMs at the moment. But Marcus Smart and Ben McLemore are still in the race. Victor Oladipo has an outside shot too. He has a lot of fans. ESPN.com

Draft, Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, Marcus Smart 

Noel was atop our Top 100 rankings from our first one on June 29 until he went down with a torn ACL in February. Since that time we've been reluctant to keep him at No. 1 until NBA doctors have a chance to look at his MRIs. But the truth is that Noel might be the big draft winner of NCAA tournament so far. While most of the other top prospects have stumbled -- some mightily -- multiple NBA scouts and GMs remember Noel's increasing productivity at Kentucky and say, essentially, if every player in the draft this year is going to be a major risk, why not gamble with the ultra-athletic big man and hope his knee and his offensive game both get better? While it's hard to describe Noel as a consensus No. 1, after a weekend of talking to NBA decision-makers, it sounds like most of them are now leaning that direction. Of course their doctors could talk them out of it, but assuming the surgery went well and the knee is rehabbing properly, Noel's chances of going No. 1 have gone up considerably the past few weeks. ESPN.com

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

One interesting college player we won't be seeing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament is Nerlens Noel, the lanky freshman center from Kentucky who was averaging 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocked shots per game before he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee 24 games into the season. Some still see the 6-11, 216-pounder as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft because of his marvelous athleticism and 7-4 wingspan. His loss is probably the main reason the Wildcats didn't make the NCAA Tournament and then lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

Kentucky spokesman DeWayne Peevy told SNY.tv Friday that there is no official list of which players will return to campus next year, but freshmen Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress have all said they plan on returning. Freshman big man Nerlens Noel has yet to announce his plans, but he is projected as one of the top couple picks in the 2013 draft, along with Kansas’s Ben McLemore, Indiana’s Cody Zeller, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad. “If the three players come back (Poythress, Goodwin and Cauley-Stein), they could have eight first-round picks on the same team…unreal!” the Director of Scouting said. ZagsBlog.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Ben McLemore, Archie Goodwin 

The belief by some NBA college scouts is that it ultimately will come down to Smart and McLemore, with Noel and Bennett next in line. If you're not seeing them at the top of your favorite draft board, my guess would be that it's because this is March; way too much time to kill and stock rising-and-falling drama to create to peg what NBA scouting departments are really thinking. Sulia

Draft, Nerlens Noel, Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Marcus Smart 

Noel is obviously a major prospect -- 6 feet 11 and 228 pounds at power forward, very limited on offense but an athletic shot blocker, a mega-recruit a season ago out of Massachusetts -- but the lack of talent in 2013 greatly helps his cause. As one front-office veteran put it: "He can be good defensively, but it's not like he's the next Bill Russell. There's another reason he's staying that high in the draft." So it is that a thin 18 year old with 24 games of college experience, serious holes in his offense and concerns about one of his knees can be positioned as one of the top picks. "I would say he's still in the top five and probably the top three," one executive said. Maybe even top one. "Maybe," he said. "Depends who it is and what their needs are. It also depends on specifically who is doing the picking. If it's a GM who just got the job and has four years of job security, that's different than a guy who feels like his job is on the line and needs to win now. That's a big factor." NBA.com

Draft, Nerlens Noel 

Kentucky center Nerlens Noel is "doing fine" after surgery on his left knee to repair a torn ACL. Wildcats coach John Calipari provided the update Wednesday in a post on his Facebook account Wednesday. He said Noel called him after Tuesday's operation, which was performed by famed orthopedic surgeon James Andrews in Gulf Breeze, Fla. The coach said the surgery "went well" for the 6-foot-10 freshman, who sustained the season-ending injury in a loss at Florida on Feb. 12. Noel's call was placed on speakerphone so he could talk to his Wildcats teammates, who begin play Friday in the Southeastern Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. Calipari said "it was great for his teammates to hear from him after surgery, and I think it helped Nerlens, too." ESPN.com

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel 

University of Kentucky basketball star Nerlens Noel will have his torn left anterior cruciate ligament repaired Tuesday in Florida by the famed Dr. James Andrews, the school announced Monday. Recovery is expected to take 6-8 months. Noel, who injured the knee in a Feb. 12 game at the University of Florida, said in a news release that he decided to have the surgery now, during UK's spring break, "so I wouldn't miss as much class." "I wish all my teammates luck in the SEC Tournament," he continued, "and look forward to getting back to Lexington as soon as I can to begin my rehab and finish my school work." USA Today Sports

Draft, Injuries, Nerlens Noel