When ESPN national recruiting director Paul Biancardi talked recently to Shabazz Muhammad, the top-ranked prospect in the 2012 recruiting class, he sensed that Muhammad was not ready to make his college choice any time soon. The same goes for 6-foot-10 Nerlens Noel, but at least his decision now is coming this season, not in 2013 as originally anticipated.
Muhammad has narrowed his college options to Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Kansas, Arizona and UNLV, and Biancardi said he seems “pretty firm” with that list even though the ESPN analyst thinks he may well have a “top two or three” in his mind.
“He spoke highly of all the different schools and about what attracted him to each school,” Biancardi said. “It’s the middle of his season, so I really don’t think he’s favoring any school right. He plays it close to his vest, so it’s hard to tell.”
What’s not hard to tell is how good Muhammad is. Some analysts consider him almost unstoppable inside 15 feet. He drives, shoots with range and can create his own shot.
“I did talk to Shabazz about why he was signing late versus early,” Biancardi said. “He wants to see coaches coach their teams, see if the styles are what they told him, see how freshmen on the teams develop and see what the rosters look like by April. He’s a very wise young man.
“He told me he wants to play with great players and against the best. I think he is looking to be challenge. Like all kids, he has his eye on the NBA. Obviously, Kentucky’s success fits that equation quite well, as do a lot of the other schools.”
Still, Biancardi, a former college coach who coached against UK coach John Calipari, sees reasons Kentucky fans could feel optimistic about Muhammad’s decision. Calipari went to Las Vegas to see him play Wednesday and then also made a visit to see Anthony Bennett, another highly-touted player on UK’s recruiting radar.
“When you look at the way Calipari makes it a players first program, it becomes very attractive to top players,” Biancardi said. “Kids do two things at Kentucky. They come in and get better, they win and they move on to their dreams. I guess that is actually three things. Those are the things kids are looking for and Calipari has a track record of that.
“This is a good recruiting class, but not an overwhelming class. There are going to be some very good four-year players. I see a lot of these kids staying in college for four years, and should. Their is a lot of terrific size, but a lot of the bigs need to develop. Shabazz has things he needs to work on as well. He needs to develop his right hand more to where he can go right like he does left. He needs to be more of a steady jump shooter and learn not to get frustrated when things do not go his way.”
But Biancardi says there is so much that Muhammad does well.
“He can beat you a number of different ways,” Biancardi said. “His energy and motor is a big part of who he is. He has an incredible work ethic away from the game. He’s a good student at a school where academics are stressed. He is a coach’s dream in a lot of ways. He brings academics, ability, intangibles.
“When I look at his motor, I think of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. That motor and energy is the same. That’s what made Kidd-Gilchrist what he is today and in high school. He is not the most skilled guy on the planet, but he has skills and toughness and makes winning a priority. Shabazz has that energy and work ethic and he cares about winning like Kidd-Gilchrist does.
“I watched Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for three years in high school and he got better every year, and now he keeps taking his game to another level. It’s so impressive how he brings it every day, every game. Shabazz has that kind of motor and energy and he is an elite athlete where Michael is a good athlete.”
However, Muhammad may no longer be the consensus No. 1 player in the recruiting class now that Noel has reclassified from the 2013 recruiting class to this year’s class.
Some analysts rate him as a better shot blocker than Anthony Davis — something UK fans obviously will have to see to believe since Davis is leading the nation in blocked shots. But the way Calipari has used Davis and projections that Davis will be the top pick in the June NBA draft could be reasons Noel has reclassified to the 2012 recruiting class.
Noel will visit Syracuse on Feb. 11. He's already visited Providence. That would leave three visits and certainly Kentucky will be one of them
What does Noel's reclassification do to Calipari's 2013 recruiting plans since we all know Calipari works in advance and already has one 2013 commitment from Derek Willis? Scout.com recently released its top 100 2013 prospects and nine of the top 10 players (that included Noel) all had Kentucky named on their recruiting list. Only No. 9 Isaiah Hicks, who has committed to North Carolina, did not include Kentucky.
So even taking Noel out, that's still a huge group of big-time players once again interested in Kentucky in the 2013 class, but the bigger impact is that if Calipari could land both Muhammad and Noel to go with the players he already has, his 2012 class will once again be the nation’s best and more than offset the loss of four to seven players from this year’s team.
