Larry Brown Sports

Former Kentucky star Nerlens Noel attended the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, and he brought with him a special guest. Noel has developed a relationship with a 7-year-old boy named Kelly Melton, who is currently battling leukemia. Melton was recently released from the hospital, so Noel asked him if he would like to accompany him to the biggest horse race of the year.

“I brought Kelly with me,” Noel explained, via the Courier-Journal. “He struggles with leukemia and I’ve known him for a while. He’s been in the hospital for a while. He just got out the other day so I invited him here to come experience this with me. It’s my first and it’s his first so it’s a great opportunity for us to come out here and enjoy it.”

Noel just turned 19 last month. Despite the fact that he suffered a knee injury in February and was held out for the remainder of the Wildcats’ season, he has decided to declare for the upcoming NBA Draft. The fact that he is already helping brighten the day of people like little Kelly is a good sign that he understands what it means to be a superstar athlete.

H/T College Basketball Talk

Kentucky freshman forward Nerlens Noel suffered a knee injury during the second half of the team’s 69-52 loss to Florida Tuesday and was carried off the floor by his teammates.

Noel was chasing down Florida guard Mike Rosario with about eight minutes left in the game when he got hurt. Noel successfully blocked Rosario’s layup, but his momentum carried him into the base of the basket. His left knee appeared to hit the padded area straight on, causing him to fall down to the ground yelling in pain.

According to SI’s Andy Staples, Noel was taken out of the arena in a wheelchair and transported to a hospital for examination.

Noel had eight points, six rebounds, and three blocks in 23 minutes before leaving with the knee injury.

Video via The Big Lead

Now that Kentucky’s starting five has bolted for the NBA, the Wildcats will look to rely on the production of incoming freshman and top high school recruit Nerlens Noel as they try to defend their title next season. Perhaps it’s a good thing he’s setting lofty goals for himself.

In the blog he writes for ESPN.com, Noel, who notably used his tremendous Christopher “Kid” Reid flat top to announce his commitment to Big Blue Nation, cited some of outgoing Kentucky star Anthony Davis‘ accomplishments when discussing what he wants to achieve next season.

“My goals for next year are to win a national title first and foremost,” Noel wrote. “Then I want to beat Anthony Davis’ shot-block record, and I want to win National Player of the Year. I definitely plan to put the work in to accomplish those goals.”

In addition to being a big part of Kentucky’s first national title in 14 years, Davis hauled in nearly every single player of the year award this season and, of course, utterly demolished the school’s single-season blocks record with 186, an NCAA freshman record.

While a national championship and a player of the year award aren’t out of the question, Davis’ blocks record is going to be a difficult feat, even for a good shot blocker like Noel. But Davis himself knows Noel has the tools to shatter his mark.

“I can’t block with my left hand like he blocks ’em,” Davis told the Courier-Journal. “He can block with either hand. I kind of tip it with my left hand. The only difference is he likes to throw them into the crowd, and I like to keep it in play. But I’m pretty sure they’ll change that here, though.”

We’ll have to wait to see if Noel can put together a season like Davis had, but at least we already know Noel has probably surpassed Davis in indecent proposals.

H/T Real GM
Photo credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

One barbershop had a scoop on Nerlens Noel’s college decision before nearly everyone else. The prized recruit got the UK logo shaved into his hair to announce his decision to attend Kentucky on Wednesday.

Noel is ranked as one of the top recruits in the country and he picked Kentucky over Syracuse and Georgetown. The 6’10″ center from Massachusetts is said to have shot blocking talents similar to Anthony Davis, though I can’t imagine any college freshman being better than him.

With Noel, Kentucky has reloaded and should be a Final Four contender once again. I guess offering your wife to recruits really does work.

Photo via Dave Telep

If you still don’t think Kentucky fans are crazy, there’s something wrong with you. We already knew that was the case prior to this season, but their championship run over the past month or so has completely sealed the deal. Between the insane rioting in the streets and the dude who offered his wife in exchange for Final Four tickets, we saw some truly disturbing displays of Wildcat pride throughout this year’s tournament. That passion apparently trickles over onto the recruiting trail, as well. I guess it makes sense since Kentucky’s entire starting five is probably going to declare for the NBA draft.

In his ESPN blog which highlights his path to picking a school, No. 1-ranked high school recruit Nerlens Noel told an interesting story about a Kentucky fan who did his best to convince Noel that joining the Wildcats next season is the right move. This after his return trip from New Orleans, where the All-American Championships overlapped with the Final Four:

I literally got stopped hundreds of times and took dozens and dozens of pictures. 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.

Noel is reportedly considering Syracuse and Georgetown along with Kentucky. If interacting with fans like the one he described above is his thing, Kentucky is the right choice. You won’t find people like this dude many other places across the country.

Photo credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE