In this interview with Five Star Basketball, Nerlens Noel talks about No. 4 Tilton’s 60-56 loss to No. 1 Brewster Monday night in front of 1,500 fans in Wolfeboro, N.H.,, as well as his recruiting plans.
The 6-foot-10 Noel spent last weekend on an unofficial to Kentucky and said head coach John Calipari is pitching him on replacing Anthony Davis, the likely No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
“Kentucky was good,” Noel said after scoring eight points in the loss. “It was my first time down there. I got a good feeling for the program. I sat down and talked to coach Cal and Coach Orlando [Antigua]. They told me how I’d fit into the system. We talked about blocking more shots. They just said I could come in there and do similar things to [what Davis is] doing right now and they could possibly help me reach the next level in the NBA.”
Noel has already visited Syracuse and plans to also visit North Carolina, Georgetown and Florida.
He said he chose to consider North Carolina over Duke.
“North Carolina got a tradition that speaks for itself,” he said. “Very well coached by Roy Williams and that’s a great program and especially talking to him he told me some things about playing time right away and that’s a positive.
“I think I was more drawn to UNC, that was one of my premier schools I liked growing up. Like I said, Duke’s a great program but I didn’t think it was my type of program.”
Noel said he plans to visit several schools during Tilton’s spring break, which runs March 10-26.
“I don’t have any dates for visits but I’ll be visiting North Carolina, Georgetown and Florida most likely during March break,” he said.
“And Providence and UConn, those are local schools so I can get down there.”
