Big man makes move to 2012
Back in the fall, rumors swirled that Nerlens Noel could be looking to go ahead and graduate with his original high school class in the spring of 2012 instead of going to an extra year of prep school.
Those rumors, though, were flatly denied on several occasions by the 6-foot-10 center from the the Tilton (N.H.) School.
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A few weeks ago, those same rumors started up again. This time, when asked about a possible switch to the class of 2012, Noel began to hint at the possibility saying that there was a "15 percent" chance he makes a move.
Late last night, those chances went all the way up to 100 percent when it was confirmed that Noel will indeed be a member of the class of 2012.
The five-star talent who currently rates number three in the 2013 Rivals150 is obviously going to be a hot commodity.
One of the best shot blockers in recent memory, Noel is a dominant defensive and rebounding force. This year, he's also become a guy you have to gameplan for as a scorer while continuing to evolve as a defender.
To date, Noel has elected not to comment in specifics about each school on his list. However, behind the scenes talk for a while now has had Kentucky, Syracuse and Connecticut in his top tier of schools while Providence seems to be a bit ahead of the next group that includes programs like Florida, Georgetown, North Carolina and others.
Noel is expected to make his first official visit to Syracuse -- where he visited for Midnight Madness -- two weekends from now when the Orange host UConn.
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