Nerlens Noel Quotes

I didn't decide on what college I was going to go to until the day I had to.

It was always like there was no doubt in anybody's mind that I was going to UCLA, so once UCLA started recruiting me, everybody started pushing me there.

People would ask what college are you going to, and I'd say, 'San Diego State.' And they'd say, 'Why?'

I chose Stanford for Stanford and not for the coach. I was going to Stanford regardless.

I applied to Yale, and I got in.

I got accepted at Yale but never went.

On signing day, my mom brought me the national letter of intent to Arkansas. I should feel like I'm making the right decision. You get that many people telling you that. I had been dreaming about it. I signed 'No' where I was supposed to sign my name and put an exclamation point.

I haven't had a chance to pick where I wanted to play since 2007 when I chose to go to Michigan State.

I never thought about college, but my mom thought about it for me. I knew 100 percent it wasn't for me.

Stanford just stood out, not even close to the other schools. I was going to wait, see what else comes into play, but when I got there, I knew I wanted to be there.

My second choice would've been Carolina. And when I told my mother I was going to Duke and not Carolina, she just cried, and that made my decision process a little harder. But I still went with what felt right, and it ended up working out well for me.

I made three visits during my senior year of high school to Duke, UNC, and Virginia. If I hadn't gone to Duke, I would have went to Carolina, just like a lot of Carolina players who, had they not gone there, would have went to Duke.

All the people who can't get into Michigan go to Michigan State.

Finding out whether I had made the grades for my first choice university course or whether I needed to rethink my future was terrifying.

I didn't actually figure out how to get guidance, so I just decided to go to school at University of Southern California because they sent me a glossy brochure.

They were often the first students in their family to go to college and the very idea of higher education was still foreign to them. They had to make a conscious and often difficult decision to come to college.

Then you've got Georgetown, and I really just like everything about them. When I went down there with my mom, it really opened my eyes to what they were all about. I have to factor in what a school like that can do for me, even away from being a basketball player.

Before high school ended, I started applying to college. It really wasn't even a choice because of the brainwashing of my parents.

So I decided on science when I was in college.

It occurred to me in my junior year of high school. I got my first letter from a big college. I still have that letter to this day - a letter from Indiana.

When I was 18, I applied to go to BYU like my six brothers ahead of me - I have eight boys and one girl in my family.

In spite of the fact of my dad telling me that if I did well, I could go to the military, I said, 'No, I want to go to college.'

College is right for some people, and it's not for others. I shouldn't rush into it just because that's what everyone does after high school is you go to college.

So, college was kind of the only option that I looked at, and I was fortunate to have great coaches when I was at UCLA. They helped me improve on and off the court.

When I came to BYU, I had no idea what I wanted to study. It really was a decision based on football. I wanted to come here and play football. The decision has turned out to be so much more than football.