College Commitment: Jace Norton (2019 La Salle HS)
Jace Norton simply stayed the course. The solid 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard from La Salle High School knew he wanted to continue his playing career at the college level, but he just needed a chance. So while options strangely fizzled out despite another All-League type of year where he helped lead the Falcons to the 5A state tournament, Norton kept the faith. His patience was recently rewarded as Norton received an opportunity to play college ball in Wisconsin.
This summer, Norton signed with Silver Lake College, an NAIA program located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. “They contacted me and I wasn’t really thinking about going there until we applied and with basketball and academicscholarships, the price is only like 2,900 a year,” Norton said. “I also like the fit both school and basketball-wise with it being a pretty small school.”
“Talking to the coach he thinks I’ll have playing time at both (guard) spots,” Norton continued. “Coming in as a freshman it sounds like I’ll have more of a catch-and-shoot role as we have a really good returning point guard. It will then grow into more attack-based play as I go along.”
Norton made a visit to campus in late June and committed not long after. He previously had been trying to latch on with one of the local NAIA or JC programs, showing up at open gyms and hoping to impress college programs in that way. But Silver Lake discovered Norton seemingly out of the blue through one of the national recruiting websites and the connection was made. Norton couldn’t be happier about how it all turned out.
“They found me somehow and emailed me,” Norton said. “It was really random how they found me but I’m excited.”
Norton ranks as the #38 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2019 rankings.