The First Noel and The Westward Bound Muhammad

Nerlens Noel just secured another #1 recruiting class for John Calipari at Kentucky. Noel revealed his decision in style as he swiveled around in his chair on the ESPNU studio set. Noel is the #2 overall player in the Rivals.com class of 2012 rankings. He is a big, strong athletic center, who can shot-block very well and should anchor the post for the Wildcats. Noel is commonly compared to Anthony Davis. The comparison is limited though as Noel has always been a big man. His shot-blocking ability might actually be better than Davis' and he prefers to stay close to the rim. Noel immeadiately puts Kentucky back in the national championship discussion for next year. It will be interesting to see how he does living up to the hype that is quickly building up around him.

The #1 overall recruit (Rivals.com), Shabazz Muhammad, was the other big name making his decision tonight. Kentucky was on Muhammad's radar, but he was strongly committed to UCLA from the get go. Despite the tumultuous season the Bruins had this past season, nothing could change Muhammad's mind from choosing to go to Westwood and play under Ben Howland. Rather than be discouraged by it, Muhammad embraced the challenge of rebuilding the legendary UCLA program. He said, "Knowing how bad they were the last two years, it's a challenge to get them back up to the top." Muhammad joins fellow top-five recruit Kyle Anderson in what could be a promising Bruins nucleus with returners such as the Wear twins and Joshua Smith. UCLA appears to be headed in the right direction.

Noel and Muhammad chose very different paths. Noel is joining the reigning National Champions. He will be playing on a team full of lots of top talent. Muhammad chose to join a rebuilding program in need of a star. It will be interesting to watch how each embraces their new surroundings. Which will blossom into the next great star? For that, we will have to wait and see.