NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking the last 10 No. 1 overall prospects

8. Nerlens Noel – 2012

Known for recruiting talent to Lexington, John Calipari brought top-ranked Noel to Kentucky, the second straight year he secured the nation’s top prospect. Unfortunately, the defending champions were a very different team, even with Noel on the roster. A year after hoisting the championship trophy, Kentucky found themselves on the outside looking in, relegated to the NIT after a rough season. To make matters worse, Noel dealt with injury and his presence certainly would’ve helped matters.

In his 24 collegiate games, Noel put up 10.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg, playing considerable minutes as Kentucky’s big man and at forward. At Kentucky, he wasn’t exactly the high-octane scorer that many other prospects became, outshined by scorers like Shabazz Muhammad and Marcus Smart. The fact that Noel couldn’t have the same impact on this team as their previous stars (like Anthony Davis) certainly doesn’t help his legacy either.

A future lottery pick with the Hornets, Noel has continued to struggle with injuries and consistency, but let’s focus on what he did manage to accomplish at Kentucky. Despite not making it to the end of the season, he was an All-SEC player and was Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. He wasn’t recognized nationally for his play or his defense, but did lead the conference in blocks. Noel was a talented piece, but he just didn’t have enough around him to lead this Kentucky team on another title run. Without a doubt, he’s a talented prospect who shined under Calipari, but comparatively it feels like he really didn’t get the job done with the Wildcats.