Noah Talks About His Future

It's rare when man and the computer agree on anything. But it happened last week at the ABCD camp. As college coaches, media, and fans admired the rapid improvement of Joakim Noah at the ABCD camp, the computer ranked him as the top player during the four-day pool competition. And you couldn't find many basketball experts who disagreed with the computer.

"It was a challenge to play against the top players," said Noah, a 6-foot-10 forward who will play at Lawrenceville in New Jersey next season. "There were a lot of great players. Now I am going to take some time to rest. I am going to lift this week."

Noah, who helped the Long Island Panthers into the semifinals at the Three Stripes tournament this past weekend, is an outstanding rebounder in traffic despite his thin frame. "I am trying to get stronger," Noah said. "But my play improving has to also be being more comfortable with my team."

Noah's team, the Panthers, was without outstanding combo guard Josh Wright. "We lost to the Philadelphia team (Kyle Lowry, Rob Kurz, Shane Clark, etc) in the semifinals," Noah said. "They were a very good team."

Joakim said that he has received so many calls the past couple of days. "A newspaper in France wrote about me and that was nice," said Noah, whose dad lives in France. "Right now I am not concerned over who is offering me and who isn't. I plan on playing in Las Vegas and then going to see my father in France for three weeks in August. Then I will sit down with people who matter to me and discuss what I do next."

Noah said many schools have offered including Boston College, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. John's, Richmond, Seton Hall, St. Joe's, West Virginia, Miami, Maryland, Florida, and Virginia. North Carolina and Indiana have also expressed serious interest.

"As I said I am not concerned right now who has offered and who hasn't," Noah said. "I just want to help my team win the tournament in Las Vegas and then see my father."

And then poor mom at home has to handle all the phone calls while Noah is away. Noah laughed. "She says she doesn't like it but she does," said Noah, still laughing. "She's very proud of what has happened to me."