On a day when projected No. 1 pick Nerlens Noel threw his name into the NBA Draft, another Lottery-bound big man followed suit on Monday afternoon.

University of Maryland sophomore center Alex Len will forego his final two years of eligibility in College Park and declare for an NBA Draft that is expected to be weak by many accounts, but should produce several big men as lottery picks.

Noel, Indiana sophomore center Cody Zeller and 20-year-old French big man Rudy Gobert are all projected to be chosen inside the top 10 come June. Len is currently projected as the No. 11 overall pick by DraftExpress.

Len and Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon are scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Comcast Center.

As a sophomore, the 7-foot-1 Len averaged 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while leading the ACC with 78 blocks. The Antratsit, Ukraine native was named honorable mention All-ACC and was a member of the All-ACC Defensive.

“I’m very grateful for the two years I’ve spent at Maryland and for everyone that has supported me during my time here,” Len said in a statement. “It’s been an honor to play here and I’ve learned so much. I want to thank Coach Turgeon and the coaching staff for believing in me and helping me grow as a player and a person. I also want to thank my teammates who were always there for me. We shared some great moments together. I’ve grown a lot, both on the court and off the court, over the past two years and I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.”

Len’s improvement from his freshman season to his sophomore season was drastic. His scoring went from 6.0 points per game to 11.9, while his rebounding increased from 5.4 to 7.8 per game. For his career, Len holds averages of 9.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. He played in 60 games with 48 starts, 37 of those coming in 2012-13.

His stock began to rise back in November when he scored 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four blocks in a 72-69 loss to Kentucky at Barclays Center. That effort came at the expense of Noel and fellow-freshman Willie Cauley-Stein, a 7-footer who will be returning to Lexington for his sophomore season.

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On Nov. 9, Kentucky and Maryland opened the college season at the new Barclays Center, with the Wildcats winning a close one, 72-69.

Next year, the Wildcats and their five McDonald’s All-Americans will face a young Providence team Dec. 1, while Maryland will also play a game TBD.

Kentucky’s 2013 recruiting class features McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-Americans Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee and  James Young. Those five will play in the Jordan Game April 13 at Barclays, too.

Providence loses only senior Vincent Council from its current roster and returns several key young players, including guards Kris Dunn and Josh Fortune, as well as junior forward Kadeem Batts, who was named the Big East Co-Most Improved Player. The Friars will add transfers Carson Desrosiers and Tyler Harris and expect to have scoring sensation Ricky Ledo eligible as well.

“We are excited to return to Barclays Center next year to play Providence,” said Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari. “This season’s game against Maryland was an NCAA Tournament environment in November. It’s a great building and a great city. We’re looking forward to being back in Brooklyn next season and beyond.”

“We’re looking forward to returning to Barclays Center,” Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon said. “We had a great atmosphere up there this year and Barclays Center is a first-class arena. I know our student-athletes and coaches enjoyed the experience in Brooklyn and appreciated the outstanding support our fans provided us in a great opening game. We’ll look to repeat that again.”

St. John’s, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, and Penn State will also participate in the 2nd annual Barclays Center Classic men’s basketball tournament Nov. 29-30.

Tickets for the Barclays Center Classic go on sale March 22 at www.barclayscenter.com or www.ticketmaster.com,

Photo: Maxpreps

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By MATT SUGAM & ADAM ZAGORIA

Goodbye, ACC, and goodbye, Big East.

Maryland and Rutgers are headed to the Big Ten in 2014.

Maryland’s Board of Regents voted  unanimously to leave the ACC and go to the Big Ten.

“Today is a watershed moment for the University of Maryland,” said Maryland university president Wallace D. Loh.  “Membership in the Big Ten Conference is in the strategic interest of the University of Maryland.  It will not only ensure the financial vitality of Maryland Athletics for decades to come, but the extensive opportunities in the CIC for collaborations with our peer AAU and flagship universities in education, research, and innovation will boost the University of Maryland’s ascendancy in academic excellence.”

“The Big Ten Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome the University of Maryland to the Big Ten Conference,” said COP/C Chair and University of Iowa President Sally Mason.  “The University of Maryland is one of the premier public research universities in the country and represents a natural alignment with our other member institutions.  Their top-ranked academic and athletic programs will be a tremendous addition to our conference.”

Maryland still must come up with the $50 million exit fee to leave the ACC. Maryland and Florida State were the only schools to vote against the fee, but lost the vote.

“Since the (ACC’s) inception, they have been an outstanding member of our conference and we are sorry to see them exit,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford told McMurphy.

Rutgers, a member of the Big East since 1991, is expecting a Big Ten invitation today and will follow with a similar announcement on Tuesday, according to The Star-Ledger. ESPN.com first reported the news.

Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, meantime, has the authority to accept an invitation from the Big Ten, should it come, the Ledger reported.

“Under normal circumstances, (the board of governors) would give the athletic director and the president the authority to act on their behalf,” Rutgers president Robert Barchi told the paper. “We do that with union contracts, we do that with a whole range of things.”

The Big Ten would then have 14 teams with the additions of schools from Maryland and New Jersey. The Big Ten Network would now have access to the TV markets in the Washington D.C. and New York/New Jersey areas.

Rutgers would be the ninth team since 2004 to leave the Big East. Their buyout from the Big East would be $10 million and they would have to give 27 months notice.

However, the Big East allowed West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse to leave earlier than the 27-month requirement by paying a higher exit fee. The aforementioned schools paid a fee of $20 million.

On the basketball front, the Big East, which this year has 15 basketball teams, will have 18 next year and 17 in the 2014-15 season, assuming UConn and Louisville remain in the league, which is a big if at this point.

By leaving the ACC, Maryland will no longer have league games against traditional rivals Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State, while Rutgers would no longer play Seton Hall, St. John’s, UConn and Villanova in Big East play.

Photo: Mark Gail/MCT

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NEW YORK — More than 30 NBA scouts were on hand Friday night to watch the college hoops baptism of Kentucky’s newest shot-blocking giants.

Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein combined for 7 blocks and swung at about 20 others, but they gave up 28 offensive rebounds in the process. This night, at least as far as the scouts were concerned, belonged to Maryland’s sophomore big man, Alex Len.

Let’s break down the three players and see what we learned:

NEW YORK — Alex Len’s

The 7-foot-1 sophomore center from the Ukraine finished with career- and game-bests of 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks in Maryland’s 72-69 loss to defending national champion Kentucky at the Barclays Center.

Len outplayed Kentucky’s highly acclaimed freshmen big man duo of Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein, who combined for 12 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks.

“Len is terrific,” raved one NBA Director of Scouting.

“Len is a lottery pick,” a longtime NBA scout told SNY.tv after the game. “Noel and Cauley-Stein are great young prospects with a lot to learn.”

The scout added: “Len has improved so much from last season when he did not look like an NBA player and his production was very pedestrian. Now he is Top 10 material.”

Just ask NBA Draft guru Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.

Entering the Kentucky game, Givony had Len at No. 13 on his 2013 Mock Draft.

Now?

“We knew he was a very good prospect based on what he showed his freshman season, but [on Friday] he told the entire country that he’s more than that,” Givony told SNY.tv. “He’s a player. With his size, length and mobility, you have to start thinking about him as a Top-10 pick…but only if he keeps producing all season of course.”

Len struggled early with his jump shot against Kentucky, but later showed he could step out to 15 feet and hit a feathery jumper.

He was agile, aggressive and tough near the basket, finishing 10-for-18 from the floor in 32 minutes.

“I didn’t think about myself,” Len said. “I just played for my team. I don’t care how many points I scored or how many rebounds I got because wins are what matter…It was special to play against Nerlens. He is one of the best big men in the country and it was great to play against him.”

Noel is No. 2 on the Draft Expess mock, behind UCLA wing Shabazz Muhammad, who was not cleared by the NCAA and is out indefinitely facing an investigation into his recruitment.

Len, meantime, is on the rise after an offseason in which bulked up and added 30 pounds of muscle.

“I feel much more comfortable,” Len said. “I got a little bit stronger over the summer and I worked really hard to put on some weight and it helped me.”

A year ago, Len averaged 6.0 points and 5.4 rebounds, but he could be in for giant strides this season

“He was a huge weapon for us tonight,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “That’s the most he’s played, 32 minutes. He played better tongiht than at any time last year.

“I was proud of Alex because last year away from home on the big stage sometimes he wasn’t as good.”

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who sent six players to the NBA Draft last season, including the No. 1 and 2 picks, added this endorsement.

“Alex was a beast,” he said. “His confidence grew. He played well. He’s gonna be really good.”

Photo: Washington Post

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One of the guys I spoke with is a veteran scout and the other is the Director of Scouting for another team.

Here’s their take on various aspects of the game:

ON THE TIMING OF THE GAME AS THE SEASON-OPENER

“It’s really unfortunate that the game isn’t taking place in later December rather than now because there aren’t going to be many times that [Nerlens] Noel and [Willie] Cauley-Stein go against size. It will be a good test for the big guys. Noel going against that length and size will help. So [Maryland's 7-foot-1] Alex Len, some people like him, this will be a good test for him. But it’s unfortunate that it’s early.

“My guess going in is that Kentucky will win fairly easily only because I would guess that they’re probably more jelled together than the Maryland guys are now even though they’ve been together longer. I think the talent alone [makes the difference for Kentucky].”

–Veteran NBA Scout

ON THE ADDITION OF DEZ WELLS TO MARYLAND

“[Maryland] now has a high-level backcourt with Dez Wells and Nick Faust. I mean, that’s a terrific backcourt. Both those kids could play in the league maybe. That took their team to another level in my opinion. That kid’s a good player.”

– Director of Scouting

ON THE BACKCOURT MATCHUP

“It’s gonna be a good battle. The backcourt is going to be interesting because Faust can play and Wells can play going up against [Ryan] Harrow and going up against Archie Goodwin. Julius Mays, we’ll see if he’s healthy or not.”

– Veteran NBA scout

Kentucky coach John Calipari said on a conference call Thursday that Harrow (flu-like symptoms) and Mays (knee) may not play.

ON WHO’S THE BEST NBA PROSPECT IN THE GAME

“I don’t know that [Noel] is the best prospect on the team. I think that Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein are both better. I think Willie might be a better prosepct than Nerlens at the end of the day. Longer, more athletic, runs the floor better.”

– Director of Scouting

“I think the X-factor is going to be [Kentucky forward Alex] Poythress, who I think is the best prospect of anybody on that team that Kentucky has. Yeah, I do.

“He’s got a great body. He can play the three and four. He’s gotta be more of a consistent shooter from the perimeter and then he’s gotta raise his level of intensity every day to know that he could be the best player. But potentially with his body, his athleticism, his size, he’s a prototypical small forward who in the NBA now can swing down to a four against smaller lineups. He’s powerful, he’s athletic, he can run, he jumps. His shot isn’t broke but he needs to work on his 3-point shot and his game off the dribble. He’s good.”

– Veteran NBA Scout

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James Padgett

Four years later, Padgett will return home with coach Mark Turgeon and the Terps when they take on defending national champion Kentucky in a nationally televised game Friday night at the Barclays Center.

Thirty-one (31) NBA scouts and executives are expected at the game, Barclays officials told SNY.tv.

“I never imagined that I would get the chance to play there,” the 6-foot-8 senior said Wednesday. “I am blessed to have this opportunity to go home and open up my senior season there. We are playing Kentucky so it should be a good game. There will be a lot of people there. It is on ESPN so we are all excited for the game.”

Padgett and his teammates got a dose of good news earlier Wednesday when they learned that Xavier transfer Dez Wells, a 6-5 wing, had been cleared to play immediately. Wells became emotional upon learning the news.

“Everyone was excited for him, we are happy to have him back,” Padgett said. “We know he will be a great addition to our team.”

He added: ”He is very explosive. He is a great teammate and defender. He is doing a great job being a leader. We have a lot of young guys so he is one of the few guys with experience that we have.”

The addition of Wells, who averaged  9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game at Xavier, automatically makes the Terps an NCAA Tournament-type team and one that could make some noise in the ACC in the last year before Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the fray.

“He is a good player,” Turgeon said. “He gives us toughness, experience having started 32 games on a top 25 team most of the year. He has played three games in the NCAA Tournament so he understands what it takes. He gives us depth and versatility. I think it helps us defensively and rebounding if I can ever get him to box out. It helps us in a lot of ways. It gives every player more confidence because he makes everyone better around him. He gives every coach on our staff including me more confidence that we can be a good team.”

He added: “This gives us a chance to be a better team than we would have been without him, that’s for sure.”

As for Padgett, who averaged 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds last season, Turgeon spoke highly of him during an interview with SNY.tv in July.

“James has really gotten better,” he said then. “He’s changed his body, put on like 15-18 pounds this summer of muscle. He looks great, works hard.”

Padgett won four straight New York PSAL championships at Lincoln alongside Lance Stephenson, currently with the Indiana Pacers.

With all the NBA scouts on hand on Friday, could Padgett help his own stock with a strong game, and a productive season afterward?

“He would have to have a big year but since he is going to be on a team that will get a lot of attention from scouts this year it could be possible,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “His previous stats are not overwhelming.”

For his part, Padgett is excited about the homecoming.

“I will have a lot of friends and family at the game,” he said. “This is the first game of my senior season so I am excited to get it started.”

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The school announced that the NCAA has approved the appeal on the waiver allowing Dez Wells , a 6-5 transfer from Xavier, to be immediately eligible for competition.

“We’re very happy for Dez as the NCAA legislative relief process provided him with complete and fair due process,” said director of athletics Kevin Anderson. “Our staff was personally invested in the NCAA waiver and appeal process because it was in the best interest of our student-athlete. We’re pleased that Dez will be able to move forward and experience all the opportunities that come with being a student-athlete at the University of Maryland.”

“We’re excited for Dez because at the end of the day, the NCAA made the right decision,” said basketball head coach Mark Turgeon. “Our staff did an incredible job in putting this NCAA waiver appeal together on Dez’s behalf. Dez has been a welcomed addition, a great teammate, and has made a seamless transition in getting acclimated to our campus. This has been a long process for him and his family, and we’re grateful he can put it behind him and focus on being a student-athlete at the University of Maryland.”

Wellls averaged 9.8 points last year at Xavier and chose the Terps over Memphis. He also visited Kentucky and considered Oregon.

He was expelled from Xavier Aug. 3 for a violation of the school’s code of student conduct.

But a Hamilton County (Ohio) grand jury opted not to indict Wells on  a sexual assault charge.

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“It came down to Maryland and Rutgers,” George McClure, Peters’s high school coach, told SNY.tv Tuesday morning.

“Rutgers was last minute, he went back and forth [between the two schools],” McClure added. “They did a great job of recruiting him. He had a great visit there. They have some D.C. guys on their team so he would’ve felt very at home.”

He added: “As his coach I had to tell him last year that he couldn’t verbalize that Maryland was his dream school, but there’s no doubt that Maryland was his dream school at the end and that’s what showed up at the end. And the opportunity to play for them he just couldn’t pass up.”

The 6-foot-4 Peters is the Rivals No. 9 points guard in the Class of 2013.  He averaged 23.0 points last season, including 30.5 in four playoff games, to go with 5.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

McClure said Kansas and Georgetown were also in the mix but Kansas was no longer an option after shooting guard Wayne Selden committed to the Jayhawks.

“Roddy really liked Georgetown,” McClure said.

“Once Kansas signed Wayne Selden that took them immediately out of the picture,” he added. “They had more than enough guards. Once they got Frank [Mason], they felt they could take one more guard for 2013, which we understood.”

McClure said Peters will have the chance to run the point after Pe’Shon Howard departs following this season.

“I think it will be a great fit,” he said. “He’s going to get the opportunity to get the ball in his hands, maybe not right away because Pe’Shon will be there next year.

“He’s called a combo guard. He has great feel. His decision-making is very good. He has a bright future in the ACC playing the point.

“Coach [Mark] Turgeons’s put some really nice pieces at other positions and because of that Roddy’s very excited.”

Peters’s commitment comes two weeks after the Harrison twins committed to Kentucky over Maryland and McClure said he “wrestled” with the idea that Peters would be perceived as a consolation prize.

“I didn’t want him to be anybody’s consolation prize,” he said. “Coach Turgeon felt like the opportunity to get two kids on the caliber of the Harrison twins, he had to go for it, which I understood. What it would’ve done for his program, you can’t even measure.”

Still, McClure said Turgeon and his staff had “been on Roddy” since the playoffs last year.

“For a while before they even got Dez Wells, there was talk of the Harrison twins and Roddy going there,” McClure said, referring to the former Xavier wing who transferred to the Terps in a story first reported by SNY.tv. “We were aware of the Harrison twins, was that going to have an affect on whether he was going to Maryland.

“Once they didn’t, Roddy’s’ a hometown guy. He’s been a fan since the Juan Dixon days. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for his hometown team.”

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Vaccaro, now 73 and retired from the world of grassroots basketball, signed Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to multi-million dollar sneaker deals, and very nearly did the same with LeBron James.

So on the eve of the announcement by Andrew and Aaron Harrison on ESPNU as to whether they will attend Kentucky or Under Armour-funded Maryland, it only seemed wise to check in with the Godfather of Grassroots Basketball for his thoughts.

“If they pick Kentucky it’s a logical move because since [head coach] John [Calipari]‘s been at Kentucky the kids have done well,” Vaccaro told SNY.tv from his California home. “His teams have won a national championship. It’s a logical move.

“The surprise would be if they didn’t pick Kentucky. Kentucky almost has to win [the battle for the twins]– no matter what the gain is — to show that they’re not losing it.”

The Harrison twins are widely seen as one-and-done players, and nobody does one-and-done better than Calipari.

In the wake of last year’s NCAA championship alone, Kentucky sent six players, including three freshmen, to the NBA Draft, including the No. 1 and 2 picks in Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

“It’s almost like [Kentucky] is a heavy favorite,” Vaccaro said. “If they lose, it really goes against the brand and John.”

Still, the Harrisons will likely be one-and-dones no matter where they go to school — even if they somehow land in Larry Brown’s lap at SMU.

Therefore, from where Vaccaro sits, Maryland — and Under Armour — stand the most to gain if the twins pick the ACC school, the school close to family and friends in Baltimore, the school where they’ve known head coach Mark Turgeon since his days at Texas A&M.

“If Maryland wins this, it will speak volumes in future recruiting also because they [Kentucky] haven’t lost guys like this before,” Vaccaro said.

Well, not exactly.

Shabazz Muhammad picked UCLA, an adidas school, over Kentucky last spring. Adidas’ ties to Muhammad — including his pro tennis-playing sister Asia’s contract with the company — have been well documented. But Muhammad and his family always maintained they picked UCLA because it was the best fit for him.

Muhammad is currently being investigated by the NCAA for improper benefits, and an NCAA source told SNY.tv no matter where the twins end up, “They’ll get a very thorough look from our eligibility folks.”

For Vaccaro, this is now a defining moment for Turgeon — who was slated to have an in-home visit Wednesday with the twins — and for Under Armour.

“This one is like a for me or against me move here,” Vaccaro said. “This is a big one, and it’s bigger for the competitor.

“This is a giant one for Maryland basketball, giant.”

According to a report by USA Today, Chris Hightower, who runs basketball marketing at Under Armour, is one of the few people — along with Calipari and Turgeon — to have the twins’ new cell phone numbers and remains in constant contact with them.

The twins’ AAU team and Maryland are both sponsored by Under Armour.

Vaccaro said that if the twins were to select Maryland, it would be a huge gain for the company.

“If they go there, it’s a big leap for Under Armour and Maryland, obviously,” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro said such a move would give Under Armour a much-needed “first step” in the basketball world. Until now, Under Armour has mostly made gains with predominantly football schools like Auburn, Boston College, South Carolina, South Florida, Texas Tech and Utah.

“If [Under Armour] get the Harrison twins, it’s very significant but it doesn’t mean that Under Armour [will automatically] succeed,” he said. “It will help them get there quicker. The proof of the pudding will be when basketball schools are involved and more kids go to where the Under Armour product is.

“The kids have to wear the product, that’s the bottom line.”

On Thursday, we’ll find out what jersey they will wear next year.

Either Under Armour and Maryland will secure a major coup by upsetting the heavy favorite, or Kentucky will add more riches to its treasure chest.

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