ESPN - Nerlens Noel Update From Gainesville

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Nerlens Noel (knee) helped off court

By Michael DiRocco
GatorNation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Kentucky may have lost more than just a basketball game on Tuesday night.

The No. 25 Wildcats also may be without freshman forward Nerlens Noel for a significant length of time because of a left knee injury he suffered during the second half of their 69-52 loss to No. 7 Florida. The 6-foot-10 Noel landed awkwardly on his left knee and then slammed the knee into the basket support after chasing down Mike Rosario on a fast break and blocking the shot with 8:03 left.

"I didn't see much," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They said it looked ugly, so I don't know. We'll have to see."
Noel left the O'Connell Center in a wheelchair. The school said in a statement that Noel would fly back to Lexington, Ky., with the rest of the team Tuesday night.

Noel immediately grabbed his left knee and screamed in pain. Trainers immediately rushed to his side and Calipari eventually came over and stayed with Noel until he was carried off the court by several teammates.

"He was yelling and screaming, so that's why I stayed [with him on the floor]," Calipari said. "But it's unfortunate and I just hope and pray that he's OK, but we're going to see."

Losing Noel would be a blow to the Wildcats (17-7, 8-3 SEC), who now trail No. 7 Florida (20-3, 10-1) by two games in the SEC standings. Noel leads the nation in blocked shots (4.5 per game) and averages 10.6 points per game and is second in the SEC in rebounding (9.6 per game).

Kentucky had been threatening to cut Florida's lead to single digits before Noel was hurt, but the Wildcats didn't score for nearly four minutes after his injury.

"Obviously, he's a big part of our team so to see him go down is a reminder [of how important he is]," Kentucky guard Julius Mays said. "It hurts us because he is a big guy and he makes the game different."

Calipari said he did not want to speculate about the injury or any possible recovery period.

"I'm physically sick right now," Calipari said. "What I'm hoping is it's not the extreme. I'm hoping it's some sort of twist but we don't know."

Just saw where the Xray was negative. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. MRI scheduled for tomorrow. Probably won't know anything until late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Now they are reporting that the MRI has been done and so is Noel, for the year. Torn ACL.

Sucks for him. This is what sucks about this one and done rule too. How many millions did he lose last night?

http://basketballschedule.net/how-does-noel-injury-affect-collegenba-basketball-going-forward

stuckinknoxville wrote:Now they are reporting that the MRI has been done and so is Noel, for the year. Torn ACL.

I lost my mind yesterday. All day I felt like it was Tuesday. Oh well.

Reports are coming out with all kinds of speculation. Most say he will lose nothing and will still be drafted in the top 3 to top 5.

I think we've seen the last of Noel in a UK uniform.

Listening to some local sports radio in Charlotte yesterday concerning the awful Bobcats. The synopsis, since the surgery is pretty basic and results have been good, take him. Even if he isn't available until the last part of the season, you still have a stud for your defense. He's been talked about as the #1 pick overall. Even if the Bobcats aren't the first pick, based on the lottery, fans here say to take him. Unless he just wants the opportunity to win a national title in college hoops, he's gone. Nothing else will hold him back.

Hopefully it works out for him. But here are some realities. The NBA has to be hurting. The teams you see on TV like the Heat, Thunder, Spurs, Lakers and Knicks are doing fine. But the teams who are picking at the top of the draft next year like the Magic, Pistons, Raptors, Suns, Bobcats and such, not so much. You can go on Stub hub and find tickets for those teams sometimes as low as a dollar. I've gone to several Magic games this year so I know this for a fact. I've gotten four tickets and even after paying all those fees they tack on the total was under $25. How can those teams justify paying millions to a guy with a torn up knee when they can't give away tickets?