While many people were dissing Nerlens Noel as not being all he was advertised, I would like to point out a couple of things. 1. He was ahead of average to break Davis' block record. 2. He is the first player to average double digits in scoring, 9 rebounds and more than 4 blocked shots per game since "The Admiral" David Robinson did it in 1986-87.
Those are just his accomplishments on the court. Was he worth the scholarship given to him? Absolutely, even if he never played. He has visited nursing homes on his own time to give to the communityu and the state of Kentucky. He spent his time unselfishly and showed an affinity to understand the important things in life. From his nursing home visits to the time he spent with cancer victim, the late Lane Goodwin, Nerlens Noel has been a benefit to our university and deserves everything that UK has given him and deserves UK's continued support. This is the type of kid we want wearing the Blue and White.
Nerlens, Good Luck and prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. Your commitment to our University and the citizens of KY is laudable. May God bless you and give you tenfold the love you have shown to others. Your actions and play have made the Big Blue Nation proud.
Nerlens was exactly what he was advertised as being-- a freakish athlete, a hell of a shot blocker, a good defensive player, not great particularly in Nov and December because of his tendency to go for ball fakes and attempt to block everything, who would eventually be spectacular on defense, a raw offensive talent who had work to do, and an overall hard worker and good kid. I really didn't see anything at UK that would contradict that. He'll be a good pro with all defensive teams in his future, a guy who can make a difference for a contender, eventually anyway.
I think a lot of UK fans thought of him as AD 2.0, but Davis was and is special because of a particular set of skills that were unique because of his background and growth pattern. Nerlens was fine. I'm not saying if he'd stayed healthy UK would have been a final four team or even a contender, but they would have probably made the tournament, maybe one a couple of games. They damn sure wouldn't have lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.
