The NBA is no place for on the job training.

Such was not the philosophy of the "one and dones", a growing presence at the upper tier of college basketball in the 2010's. Programs like Kentucky and Duke appealed to top high school athletes who, with one strong year in college, could catapult their their talent to the top of the NBA draft and an eight figure contract.

Two seasons of Greg Monroe was the closest Georgetown had ever come to a true one and done--the Hoyas didn't attract that level of talent in the early part of that decade. This would change in 2012 with the recruiting saga of 6-11 center Nerlens Noel, hailed as the greatest pro prospect from New England since Patrick Ewing.

Noel was a rising star at Everett HS who soon became part of a tug-of-war between various factions in the AAU community around the Boston area. Following a leg injury his sophomore year, he transferred to the Tilton School in New Hampshire on the recommendation of Chris Driscoll, a family advisor with ties to Providence College.

"People ask what my motives are," Driscoll said in 2012. "I want to see this kid be successful. Now, when he gets further down in his career, I'm sure we'll come to some type of agreement. Nerlens asked me to do this. That's why I'm here."

Noel was expected to be a junior in 2011-12 but reclassified as a senior in mid-season, setting off a rush of suitors. Despite some average numbers at Tilton (12.6 points, 7.2 rebounds per game), Noel's production on the AAU circuit elevated him to the nation's #1 prospect of 2012. From a list of seven schools, Providence and North Carolina were the first to fall. Noel dropped Connecticut and Florida soon thereafter. A final list of Georgetown, Kentucky, and Syracuse came forward for an announcement after the Final Four, with the Hoyas vying for their first consensus #1 pick in a generation.

The opportunity for Georgetown to elevate its center position was apparent. Its top recruit of 2011-12, freshman Tyler Adams, was sidelined with a career-ending heart condition, while sophomore Moses Ayegba had torn his ACL earlier in the year. With a pair of rising sophomore stars in Otto Porter and Greg Whittington, Noel's defensive skills could be the ticket to elevate Georgetown into the top five nationally.

"I had a chance to talk with Coach John Thompson III and he talked a lot about how successful the program had been with big men," Noel told ESPN.com. "He said that they had the blueprint to develop players like me and I've got to say that I was definitely feeling what they were saying."

"Sunday I got to watch the team practice and I sat down with Coach John Thompson Jr. That was cool just to sit down with a man like that who's accomplished so much. He was really knowledgeable. I learned a lot from him in our talk." He later attended Georgetown's NCAA selection day event.

That same Sunday Nerlens was a guest at Georgetown, he was the subject of an feature article in the New York Times titled "Everybody Wants a Piece of Nerlens Noel". It detailed a web of agents, AAU coaches and street handlers increasingly involved in his recruitment. In the article, Everett high school coach John DiBiaso told the Times' Pete Thamel he had placed a call to Georgetown during Noel's sophomore year, mindful of the program's development of big men, but that "DiBiaso said that a rift developed between him and the Noel family after he made the call, perhaps an early sign of others attempting to influence the young star," said the Times. It was shortly thereafter, according to the article, that Noel transferred to Tilton.

Still, Georgetown was a contender. It was in this whirlwind that Noel announced he would make his decision on a prime time ESPN broadcast. A week before the announcement, Noel penned an article on ESPN.com following the Final Four: In part, it read:

"Kentucky had the big win Monday night and I had a good time watching that game. I'd definitely say it makes me think about Kentucky more, and with them winning with all of those freshmen was very attractive. Just seeing that it doesn't matter how young you are, you can win a national title."

"With Syracuse, they've been on me the longest of the three schools on my list. That factors in heavy with me. That's big for me. With Georgetown, I would've been crazy not to really give them a look with all the history they've had with big men and the development that I could get there. This is going to be a hard decision, y'all."

The ESPN broadcast focused on the nation's top two signees, Noel and 6-6 forward Shabazz Muhammad, who chose UCLA. Noel then appeared with three baseball caps on the announce table: in order, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Syracuse.

Noel turned to the camera. "I'll be taking my talents for college, to play at the University of..." turning his head and revealing a "UK" symbol on the back of his neck. He became the fourth five-star recruit signed by Kentucky that spring, the consensus #1 recruiting class yet again.

"Georgetown Hoyas fans must be crushed," wrote a Syracuse columnist at SB Nation. "There were more people saying Hoyas than Wildcats today, including some reputable college basketball reporters. If I were them I'd be making a list for future reference."

Noel was the centerpiece of a Kentucky rebuild which saw four freshmen and six players overall selected in the 2012 NBA draft, including Anthony Davis at #1 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at #2. It seemed preordained that Noel was the next freshman at the top of the UK draft pipeline.

No one could have predicted the trouble ahead for Kentucky that season. Ranked #3 to open the season, the young Wildcats were wildly inconsistent, falling out of the Top 25 by early December. Noel, who had played the equivalent of just two and a half years of high school due to his reclassification, was an alert defensive player but could not generate offense for the Wildcats. He led the team in scoring in just one game all season and his 10.5 points per game average was a head-scratcher to UK fans.

On Feb. 12, 2013, Noel tore his ACL in a game against Florida, an injury later suspected to be related to the knee problems he suffered as a sophomore in high school. The Wildcats dropped four of their final five games and washed out in the first round of the NIT, but Noel nonetheless announced he would enter the 2013 NBA draft. Despite the severity of the ACL injury, Noel was still charted as the top pick of the draft, all on his enormous potential. On the night of the draft, he dropped to the sixth pick, and was immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for additional considerations.

Two months later, it was announced Noel would miss his entire rookie season in Philadelphia due to recurring knee problems. In six seasons in the NBA, Noel has been in and out of starting lineups. He turned down a four year, $70 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks in 2017, only to sign for $4 million for one season instead and be traded thereafter.

Now a journeyman player, Nerlens Noel averaged 5.1 points per game in 2020-21 for the New York Knicks, the fourth different pro team for a 27 year former high school phenom.