What does that mean? I don't know. But that's what Nerlens Noel, the No. 1-ranked player in the class of 2012 -- and the No. 1-ranked old-school high-fade sporter in the history of everything, as far as I'm concerned -- posted to his Twitter account Monday night:
Gon shock the world !!
See? Told you. Now let the rampant, baseless speculation begin.
Why? Because Noel's choices are down to Kentucky, Syracuse and Georgetown. "Shock the world" implies a surprise, and with everyone in the world saying, "Well, Kentucky is Kentucky, so Nerlens Noel will probably go there," there would hardly be anything less surprising than Noel choosing the Wildcats. Which, as you'll see at the above tweet link, didn't stop UK fans from making one last digital sales pitch:
hopefully it's a good descion! #BBN the best college fan base in america! also home of history! good luck go cats!b
You see @AntDavis23 on Jimmy Kimmel the other night? #KentuckyEffect
you better shock the world by becoming a UK Wildcat!!!
And so on. Again: A Kentucky decision would not be shocking, guys. You know that, right? But then that would also imply that Noel was actually offering real hints rather than just throwing people off the scent. The kind folks at Casual Hoya, not exactly used to landing the No. 1 recruit in the country (not recently, anyway) have taken a somewhat fatalistic approach. ("Just means he’s going to declare for Kentucky today instead of tomorrow. SHOCKING.")
The good news? Noel and No. 2-ranked Shabazz Muhammad -- another UK target who is also considering UCLA and Duke -- both announce their decision on the ESPNU waves Wednesday. Which, given Noel's experiences at the Final Four, will surely be a welcome sensation. At the very least, fans of Syracuse and Georgetown and UK will be able to sleep again. That's a positive step. The sooner the recruiting madness concludes, the better off we all are.