Kentucky's Nerlens Noel Out for Rest of Season

At a time when the Kentucky men's basketball team was starting to find an identity and success, it was deal a major blow, as freshman Nerlens Noel will be out for the rest of the season from a torn ACL injury suffered in Florida.

Sometime in the next couple of weeks Noel will have surgery performed on him, according to UK medical staff. Recovery from this type of injury can be up to eight months.

Noel was a defensive dynamo for Kentucky, leading the nation with 106 blocked shots, averaging 4.4 a game. He also had 9.5 rebounds a game on average.

The injury was suffered when Noel ran after and leaped to block an attempted layup from Mike Rosario of Florida.

Before the injury Noel was thought to be a probable No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.