Nerlens Noel, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2012, announced he will attend and play basketball at Kentucky next season.

Noel had previously narrowed his choices down to three schools: Kentucky, Syracuse and Georgetown.

Noel made the decision in a live telecast on ESPNU, one hour after the No. 2 recruit, Shabazz Muhammad, decided to attend UCLA. Noel, known for his flattop haircut, shaved the UK logo into the back of his head.

‘I’ll be taking my talents for college to play at the University of …’ Noel said, before swiveling around in his chair to reveal the UK logo.

‘I felt comfortable with these three schools,’ Noel said on ESPNU. ‘I built good relationships with the coaching staffs. I felt I could play well in any three of these styles.’

Noel, rated the top recruit in the class by Scout.com, is a 6-foot-10, 205-pound center from Tilton School in Tilton, N.H. He was originally a member of the Class of 2013, but reclassified and moved up a year in February.

Syracuse’s recruiting class for next year currently features the No. 6 center in the class, DaJuan Coleman, and the No. 7 power forward, Jerami Grant. Had it included Noel, Syracuse would have shot up the recruiting ranks, and likely the preseason ranks for next year.

For the Orange and the Hoyas, missing out on Noel is a big hit for their 2012-13 national championship aspirations.

‘You lose someone that can help you go to a Final Four. I mean, it’s that simple,’ Scout.com national recruiting analyst Brian Snow said. ‘It’s not easy to get to a Final Four, and to get there you have to have guys that are professional basketball players. That’s the only way to do it.

‘And Nerlens Noel is a professional basketball player.’

Snow said Noel, a talented shot blocker, can completely dominate a game without scoring. And the top recruit will slide right into the Kentucky lineup to replace national player of the year Anthony Davis, who will likely declare for the NBA Draft. Davis is projected as the No. 1 overall pick in a mock draft on draftexpress.com.

Noel immediately places Kentucky at the top of national championship contenders next season, Snow said. He said the center is even better than advertised, warranting comparisons to former Georgetown great Alonzo Mourning.

‘They needed him. Now, granted they would have been fine without him, they’re Kentucky, but they needed him to get back to the level that they want to be at, which is holding up a trophy on the final day of the college basketball season,’ Snow said. ‘So they needed him and for college basketball, it just means you got to chase the Wildcats again.’

In the end, he decided to join Kentucky, making the defending national champions the early favorites in 2013.

‘I just thought it was the best fit for me, personally,’ Noel said. ‘I talked to my mom. She liked it as well.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

rjgery@syr.edu

–Staff writer Michael Cohen contributed reporting to this article.

Published on April 11, 2012 at 12:00 pm