Mark Zerof USA TODAY SPORTS
UK Athletics recently tweeted that their star center Nerlens Noel tore his ACL and will be shut down for the year. This puts Kentucky’s season in peril, because Noel is currently leading college basketball in blocks. In an ironic and painful twist, it was on a successful block attempt that Noel tore his ligament.
Nerlens Noel has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. He is out for the season.
— Kentucky Athletics(@UKAthleticsNews) February 13, 2013
Noel showed great hustle on that play, but it could be the play that derails the Wildcats’ season. What should Noel do though? He should come back to Kentucky next year and work on developing his offensive game. He is currently the top ranked prospect on Chad Ford’s draft board, but would it be good for Noel’s game to go pro so soon? Maybe if he had gone through the whole year and then had this off-season to continue working on his game then he would be ready for the pros.
Coming off of an ACL tear though? Probably not the best way to enter the league, and let’s face it his draft stock will probably drop after this. ACL tears can sometimes take two years to fully recover from (although Adrian Peterson begs to differ), and Noel would be wise to come back to Lexington and go for a national title next year after Kentucky put together the number one recruiting class coming in next year.
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