Kentucky freshman Julius Randle (middle) is averaging 24 points and 14 rebounds in his first three games. (GETTY IMAGES)

The college basketball season is barely breaking a sweat and Kentucky freshman Julius Randle has pushed his way into the conversation for college player of the year and the No. 1 selection in next year’s NBA draft.

On a night when three of the five projected top picks in the 2014 draft were on display in Chicago for the State Farm Champions Classic, it was Randle who overshadowed Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. The 6-9 power forward, who turns 19 on Nov. 29, was the most dominant player in the basketball doubleheader at the United Center.

Parker (27 points and nine rebounds) and Wiggins (22 points and eight rebounds) had good games, but Randle had a great game. He scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for preseason No. 1 Kentucky in a 78-74 loss to the No. 2 Michigan State.

Randle shrugged off a slow start by flexing his muscles in the second half, and carried the Wildcats on his broad shoulders. He made eight of nine field goals, all of them inside the paint, and netted 23 of his 27 points in the half. What’s most impressive is Randle did it against one of the most physical frontcourts in college basketball.

”What I loved about him, he gritted his teeth, was ornery and nasty and he wanted to put them on his shoulders,” Izzo said about Randle, who is averaging 24 points and 14 rebounds in his first three games.

”For a freshman, that speaks volumes,” Izzo said. “He completely did that. You could see it and hear him. Tough kid.”

You could sense Izzo has an affinity for Randle, who would easily fit the Spartans’ grit-and-grind style. And Randle’s game is very similar to another power forward Izzo coached at Michigan State — Zach Randolph.

Randle and Randolph — who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies — are cut from the same cloth. Aside from both being lefties, they both have a nose for the ball and they both get better as the game gets more physical. Watch the similarities in their games:

Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel has been declared out for the season after tearing his ACL. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kentucky freshman forward Nerlens Noel was declared out for the rest of the college basketball season on Wednesday with a torn ligament in his left knee. Noel tore his ACL on Tuesday night when Kentucky lost at Florida. An MRI revealed the injury, and the 6-foot-10 forward will have surgery in the next two or three weeks.

Noel’s injury deals a serious postseason blow for the defending national champions, and some basketball experts are already predicting the doom-and-gloom scenario in which Noel’s draft stock — he’s expected to leave school after this season and enter the NBA draft — will plummet.

To borrow a phrase from ESPN analyst Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friend!”

Any ACL tear is devastating, but it is not career-ending. Noel is 18 years of age, so time is on his side. The projected recovery period is six to eight months, which means Noel will miss all the pre-draft workouts and evaluations. But this shouldn’t exclude him from any of the draft lottery spots. Remember Kenyon Martin? Martin was the consensus player of the year in 2000 and had he not broke his leg during a conference tournament his Cincinnati Bearcats may have won the national title. Despite the serious leg injury, Martin STILL went No. 1 overall in the draft and was selected by the New Jersey Nets.

Noel, who leads the nation in blocked shots at 4.5 per game, took a positive approach to the diagnosis, posting on Twitter, ”Minor setback for a MAJOR comeback! I love you all and can’t thank y’all enough for the prayers.”

Noel was hurt with 8 minutes left in the Wildcats’ 69-52 loss to the seventh-ranked Gators. He ran into the basket support after blocking a layup from behind. Noel landed awkwardly, dropped to the floor and started screaming while clutching his knee. Noel had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks before the injury.

Kentucky coach John Calipari said in a statement:

”I’ve been coaching for 22 years and this is the first injury we’ve had of this kind during the season, which makes it even more devastating,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said in a statement.

”I met with Nerlens earlier today. The meeting was really positive, and I loved his attitude. The way he is already dealing with this injury lets me know that he is going to come back stronger than ever. … Obviously this is not a career-ending injury and it’s one that athletes bounce back from all the time.”

Calipari is absolutely right about Noel’s recovery. He’ll definitely bounce back from this setback, and NBA teams are always looking for a good big man so his draft stock shouldn’t be affected at all. The only team hurt by Noel’s injury is Kentucky.

With Noel out, 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein now must man the post for Kentucky after spending most of the season as Noel’s backup. Cauley-Stein missed four games last month after having a procedure on his left knee, an absence that meant even more minutes for Noel.

The Everett, Mass., native clearly relished the extra work, which gave him a chance to display an array of skills. Besides his shot-blocking prowess, Noel was averaging 10.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, with the latter two statistics both ranking 26th nationally.

Kentucky All-American Anthony Davis is the biggest catch in the 2012 NBA draft. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Anthony Davis is the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA draft. His resume reads like a laundry list that is normally reserved for legends: SEC player of the year, Naismith Award and Wooden Award winner, AP player of the year, AP first-team All-American, and the most outstanding player in the Final Four after leading Kentucky to a national title.

So what’s next for Davis? How about NBA superstar.

That may be quite a lofty status for a guy who only burst onto the scene two years ago after a 7-inch growth spurt catapulted him from an unknown shooting guard in high school to being named the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. But Davis is a special talent. He has the skill set comparable to Kevin Garnett and a demeanor similar to Tim Duncan. If Davis comes close to accomplishing what KG and TD did in their NBA careers, he’ll do just fine.

“He understands how to play basketball. He is always in position defensively,” former college coach and current ESPNU analyst Dan Dakich said about Davis, who rejected 186 shots as a freshman and averaged five blocked shots per game.

“There’s a confidence there that only comes out when it’s game time,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “His job is continue to improve, win games, and increase his earning power. But at the same time I want him to have fun.”

Davis has an unlimited ceiling. He is listed at 6 feet 9 inches tall but has a eye-popping 7-6 wingspan. At 222 pounds, he may need to add a few more pounds to absorb all the banging in the paint, but his athleticism is off the charts and has guard-like skills.

And as far as that ridiculous unibrow, well, let’s just say it is not going away anytime soon.

“When I first got to Kentucky guys were saying ‘Get rid of it.’ But me being me loving who I am and being thankful the way God created me, I just said ‘No.’ I really can’t cut it because it has gone global so I really have to keep it now.”

Now that Davis’ famous unibrow is here to stay, one nickname seems appropriate: The Unablocker.

Davis’ basketball acumen will be tested immediately at the NBA level. The New Orleans Hornets are already calling him “the savior,” which is a ton of pressure placed on guy who is just two years removed from high school. New Orleans is starving for a superstar after its favorite son, Chris Paul, turned his back on the city and approved a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers.

New Hornets owner Tom Benson needs a headliner to fill seats and Davis is going to be the face of the franchise for years to come. “Boy, he is just a delight. I get a good feeling from him,” said Benson, who also owns the New Orleans Saints.

“New Orleans is a great city. I know [the team] really works hard. Their main goal is play hard and play defense,” Davis said. “When I come here I just try to contribute as much as I can and do what Coach [Monty] Williams want me to do.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Shabazz Muhammad was named the MVP of the 35th annual McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago. (GETTY IMAGES)

Heading into national signing day, there were five high school All-Americans who have yet to decide on which college to attend in the fall, and one of them was Shabazz Muhammad.

The 6-foot-6 forward from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman was named the MVP of the 35th annual McDonald’s High School All-American Game in Chicago, scoring a game-high 21 points in leading his West team to a 106-102 victory. He was easily the best player on the court, and his good friend Kyle Anderson (who is headed to UCLA) was the only player close enough to challenge that claim.

Muhammad put on a show for his three college suitors: Duke, Kentucky, and UCLA. He displayed a skill level that is already tailor-made for the NBA and his approach was very business-like. He recently put on an impressive show at the Nike Hoop Summit in Oregon, and one NBA scout said “he’s the only one who can play in the NBA tomorrow.”

On April 11, Muhammad told the college basketball world that he is going to be a Bruin, instantly making UCLA one of the favorites to make it to the 2013 Final Four.

Muhammad is the No. 1 rated high school senior by almost all of the prominent recruiting services, with the exception of ESPN. The Worldwide Leader inexplicably has center Noel Nerlens of Everett, Mass. as the top college prospect. Why? Not quite sure, especially after watching Muhammad clearly distance himself from the field with his performance at the McDonald’s game. Not too long ago the Worldwide Leader had Xavier Henry as the nation’s No. 1 recruit. Where is Henry now? He’s currently struggling to keep a job in the NBA. We’ll forgive the Worldwide Leader for putting Muhammad at No. 2 . . . for now.

The three schools on Muhammad’s wish list were three of the most storied programs in the nation. Under John Calipari, Kentucky has become a landing spot for blue chippers looking to rent space for seven months until they become draft eligible. Duke is in the running because, let’s face it, it has living legend Mike Krzyzewski. How can you say “no” when Coach K calls your cell! And then there is UCLA headed by a coach who badly needs a hug after a recent Sports Illustrated article painted his program as an out-of-control institution.

If you go by recent performance, it seems the choice is clear: Kentucky or Duke. But why take the easy route. If Muhammad really wanted to make a big splash in what appears to be his one and only season in college basketball, he should choose a school that needs him more than he needs it. Here are five reasons Muhammad chose UCLA:

1– Location, location, location: Shabazz’s parents are from Los Angeles and it would make for an easy transition to move from Las Vegas to L.A. if the Bishop Gorman High star decides to enroll in Westwood. The only drawback would be the simple fact that Shabazz’s dad, Ron Holmes, went to rival USC. But that’s a minor hurdle given the state of USC’s basketball program.

2– Pipeline to the NBA: Howland has sent more players to the NBA than any college coach in the last 10 years, more than Coach K and Coach Cal. Just take a quick glance at the who’s who of Bruin alums in the NBA: Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison, Arron Afflalo, Jordan Farmar, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Hollins, Malcolm Lee, and Jrue Holiday. All the players mentioned transitioned well into the Association mainly because of Howland, whose defensive techniques and principles are in line with the pro game. If you play for Howland, you’ll become a very good two-way player.

3– New digs at Westwood: Pauley Pavilion will no longer have the feel of an old gym for 2012-13 season. And from all the blueprints that have been shown so far new Pauley Pavilion is well on its way to becoming one of the hottest tickets in L.A., maybe ever hotter than The Standard hotel. What better way to christen the hottest college gym in the country with the hottest incoming freshman in the nation. And in Hollywood, it’s all about who’s hot and what’s hot.

4–Head of the class: The Bruins already have commitments from St. Anthony’s (N.J.) Kyle Anderson and Oak Hill Academy’s (Va.) Jordan Adams, and they’re also in the running for Miller Grove (Ga.) center Tony Parker. The Bruins already have a boatload of returning players next season, starting with Travis and David Wear and North Carolina transfer Larry Drew III takes over for the inconsistent Lazeric Jones.  If Parker and Muhammad take their talents to Westwood, the Bruins instantly turn into Final Four contenders.

5–Follow the Pyramid of Success: Duke is always near the top 10 in the national rankings and they’re on ESPN almost as often as Tim Tebow. Kentucky just won the national championship so they’ve already reached the pinnacle. Meanwhile, the Bruins are coming off a disappointing 19-14 season and wasn’t even invited to the NIT. Ouch! Compounding things was the damaging SI piece that put the program in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Last year, coveted high school recruit Cody Zeller chose Indiana because he wanted to help bring a once proud program back to the top. Muhammad should follow the same path. The Bruins are in hibernation right now, and all it takes is a little Shabazz to awaken a sleeping giant and help raise a 12th national championship banner at Pauley Pavilion.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins will be a force to be reckoned with the Sacramento Kings. (GETTY IMAGES)

When it comes to evaluating basketball talent, there are few in the NBA who are better than Geoff Petrie. The Sacramento Kings’ president of basketball operations was responsible for drafting Peja Stojakovic, Hedo Turkoglu, Gerald Wallace, Jason Williams, Kevin Martin and 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans.

Petrie may have picked up another gem in this year’s draft in No. 5 overall pick DeMarcus Cousins, who could be the next Moses Malone – a bigger and more tattooed version. For those who don’t know Moses Malone, shame on you. He was one of the original basketball beasts, a three-time NBA MVP and named one of the 50 Greatest Players.

Malone wore an intimidating scowl when he stepped on the court and played with a brick on his shoulder. Cousins is cut from the same mold. He walks into the arena as if his someone had just stolen his bike. Cousins possesses a little nasty streak and, just like Malone, almost relishes physical contact.

The 6-foot-11 center out of the University of Kentucky has been beastly so far in the 2010 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and his supposed attitude problem has been nonexistent so far. In fact, the Kings’ summer league coaches have been raving about Cousins’ work ethic and has showed some outstanding leadership skills, something that was a big question mark during pre-day workouts and a big reason why Cousins dropped to No. 5 in the draft. Otherwise, if you base it on talent alone, Cousins was arguably the second-best player in the draft behind John Wall, his teammate at Kentucky.

The 19-year-old from Mobile, Ala., attacks the boards like Malone. He’s not a quick leaper but knows how to use his body and rebounds extremely well in traffic. And just like Moses, Cousins has a great knack for getting to the free-throw line.

“He’s a very intelligent player,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said about his young big man. “He’s very agile, he’s got quick feet and he knows where the players are around him. And he’s a great rebounder. He’s going to be an outstanding player.”

Moses Malone was the MVP of the 1983 NBA Finals against the L.A. Lakers. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

There are two things you can’t teach: Speed and size.

Wall has the speed and Cousins has the size.

You can’t criticize Washington for taking Wall, who is an absolute blur on the court, but the three teams who passed on Cousins – Philadelphia, New Jersey and Minnesota – will ultimately regret their decisions. While Evan Turner, Derrick Favors and Greg Monroe struggle to adjust to the NBA game, Cousins has assimilated very well.

“Oh, we’re real happy with him,” Westphal said. “Nothing about his stats or anything else, what impresses me is he really knows how to play. He really has a great feel for a 19-year-old, usually that’s one of the last things big guys learn is the feel for the game.

Can you say 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year? It’s very possible, giving the Kings back-to-back top rookies.

Westphal says the arrival of Cousins expands Sacramento’s options in the frontcourt. If Cousins plays center he could play alongside up-and-coming power forward Jason Thompson, and if slides to the power forward spot he could pair up with 7-footer Samuel Dalembert, Sacramento’s newest acquisition.

Add 7-foot rookie Hassan Whiteside and 6-9 Carl Landry and all of a sudden the Kings are now equipped to handle division rival L.A. Lakers, who boasts 7-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in their starting lineup and 6-10 Lamar Odom off the bench.

“Now we’ll be able to protect the paint a lot better,” Westphal said.

In Cousins’ debut in the Las Vegas NBA summer league on Monday, he finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in just over 26 minutes of work in the Kings’ 97-68 blowout of the Detroit Pistons at Cox Pavilion. He thoroughly outplayed fellow rookie Greg Monroe, who simply couldn’t handle Cousins in the low block.

Cousins followed that solid performance with another double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against the Lakers on Tuesday at Thomas & Mack Center. Matched up against Lakers second-round pick Derrick Caracter, who has played well this summer, for much of the game Cousins displayed an array of low-post moves, a soft touch near the basket, and a face-up game knocking down mid-range jump shots. He only shot 8-for-20 from the field, but skill set was obvious.

And he also squashed any reports that he was overweight. He was listed at 292 pounds during the draft, but he might already shed a few pounds and looked fit enough to dominate. He showed his athletic ability when he blocked Caracter’s shot with his left hand, hustled down the court, bowled over two Lakers and flipped a one-handed shot for a basket.

Cousins is already ahead of the curve when it comes to drawing double teams and kicking the ball out to teammates. Early in the first quarter against the Lakers, Cousins drew a double team and dropped off a nice no-look pass to a cutting Omri Casspi, who finished the play with a dunk.

It probably won’t be the last time Cousins and Casspi will be hooking up for a dunk.

Last year, Petrie and the Kings landed two gems in the draft in Evans and Casspi. With Evans, Casspi and Cousins, Sacramento now has its own version of The Three Kings and could be serious challengers to the Lakers in the Western Conference. Just like old times.

And just like Moses, the Kings are hoping Cousins can lead them to the Promised Land.

That last entry is the root of all evil. Can someone explain to me what is a Bracketology? Is it a cross between biology and philosophy? And does ESPN’s Joe Lunardi have a doctorate in Bracketology? I love what ESPN has done for college basketball, but the whole Bracketology thing is just overkill.

So-called experts from the Worldwide Leader network lead us to believe that they are Nostradamus and they have all the answers. In reality, picking winners is one big roll of the dice. It’s easy to predict No. 1 seeds vs. No. 16 seeds. It gets a little dicey from that point on.

Here’s my prediction: The Kansas Jayhawks and the Kentucky Wildcats will play for the National Championship.

The Jayhawks have an NBA-type starting five, beginning with point guard Sherron Collins and ending with center Cole Aldrich. Both men have a championship pedigree, having experienced and played on Kansas’ national championship team two years ago. Add freshman sensation Xavier Henry and you have three legit All-America candidates.

Speaking of freshmen, Kentucky boasts two of the best this season in point guard John Wall and frontcourt player DeMarcus Cousins. Wall has shown incredible poise this season and has a knack for making big plays when it matters most. NBA execs and scouts love Wall’s size (6-3) and speed at the point, and his intangibles are off the charts. Wall has the same qualities as Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, two freshman guards who played under John Calipari, and both are budding superstars in the NBA.

Cousins, a 6-11 power forward/center, is a very physical player who has very good back-to-the-basket moves. Cousins doesn’t shy away from contact and is arguably the best rebounder in college basketball.

Kansas and Kentucky also have two very good coaches on the bench. Self coached the Jayhawks to victory in the 2008 NCAA Tournament title game against Memphis. The coach for Memphis that year…John Calipari, now the head man in Kentucky.

So, save yourself the agony and scribble in Kansas and Kentucky all the way to the Final Four and into the final game.