Player of the year
Nerlens Noel
C, Tilton (N.H.) School Height, weight: 6-10, 215 College: Kentucky Stattitude: Averaged 12.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Is from Everett, Mass. Has two brothers who play Division I college football. Jim Noel will be a senior defensive back at Boston College, and Rodman Noel will be a sophomore linebacker at North Carolina State. There is a Twitter account, not set up by him, dedicated to his high-rise flattop haircut.
Hair time: Just a couple of minutes in the morning, picking it out. It’s low maintenance.
Aha! moment: It was probably after the Peach Jam tournament (in summer 2008), when I played up with the 16s (he was 14 at the time) and played pretty well.
Favorite teacher: Mr. (Stephen) Gilpatrick for English. He gives a lot of insights in a lot of things he teaches. He gives different perspective to things. He’s definitely one of the more inspirational people in my life. Season highlight: My whole year. On reclassifying: Probably the next couple of days (after the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., in February), I just thought that being in high school another year wouldn’t benefit me as much as college. I had a few requirements that I had to make up to make sure I graduate.
Listening to: A lot of Moufy, who’s a rapper from Boston.
Most impressed by: Probably Ricky Ledo (a 6-6 guard who has signed with Providence) from South Kent (Conn.).
I’d like to meet: Bill Russell. I’d just like to talk to him about everything, including basketball and the NBA.
Eating in Everett: The best place is probably Kipo’s Pizza, which is about a block from my house.
Recruiting process: It’s been busy since my sophomore year. A lot of times, I don’t answer the phone and don’t turn the volume up on the ringer.