Increasingly, the Cavaliers have shown signs that they're not so sold on making Nerlens Noel the No. 1 pick, which could leave him on the board for Orlando at No. 2 or Washington at No. 3. Not surprisingly, one guy who still sees Noel as the best of the bunch in this group is his former teammate at Kentucky, Archie Goodwin.
You know the story—Kentucky was 17-6 on February 12 when Noel suffered a season-ending knee injury against Florida. The Wildcats went 4-4 from there, failed to make the NCAA tournament and wound up flopping out of the NIT in the first round. Kentucky was struggling to come together as a team even with Noel—without his 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks, things came undone.
Goodwin, who is in this year's draft as well and has a crack at the first round, talked to SN about Noel's impact and how he might project in the NBA, and that will lead off today's Draft Watch. On how Noel might do in the NBA: “I expect him to dominate it. He is a hard worker. Go back and look at our games, he already has defense down pat. His instincts are unmatched. ”
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.