Prospect Spotlight: Sam Noland (2020 Tualatin HS)
If we were to name an all-interview team there’s no question Sam Noland would make the squad. The 6-foot, 170-pound senior from Tualatin knows how to answer questions and he does so with detail and depth. But the combo guard…
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Continue ReadingIf we were to name an all-interview team there’s no question Sam Noland would make the squad. The 6-foot, 170-pound senior from Tualatin knows how to answer questions and he does so with detail and depth. But the combo guard is more than a talking head as he can definitely play basketball. Noland, who has picked up some small college recruiting interest, recently got a chance to showcase his game at the Prime Time Top 40 Showcase.
“It was amazing and I was super excited to get the invite,” Noland said. “I remembered hearing about it the past few years and hearing about how good of an event it was and quite frankly going into fall league, it was my goal to get invited to this – that was my main focus. I was super stoked when I got the invite and it feels like my hard work is paying off.”
Going into the fall league, Noland was a bit of an unknown. Tualatin was senior-heavy last season and while Noland was a contributor, he wasn’t necessarily a star performer. This summer and especially in the fall, the senior has stepped up as a leader and scorer, and it’s from his fall league play at Become Legendary that helped him earn his invitation to the PT40. He went into detail about his performance.
“I thought I played well – it’s different as you’re playing with other high-level talent,” Noland continued. “I thought I did the small things well; I got on the glass for a small guard, I got some offensive rebounds, I thought I passed the ball well, I didn’t turn the ball over or make any stupid mistakes. Obviously you’re not going to be scoring the ball that much at an event like this, which I kind of assumed going into it. It was good to come here and play and play in front of a bunch of coaches and big people for basketball in the state of Oregon.”
Noland has started generating college recruiting interest and while he notes that he’s been in contact with a number of small college programs up and down the West Coast, the trio of George Fox, Pacific Lutheran, and Cal Lutheran have been in touch with him the most.
“I’ve been on visits for all three schools so those are the main ones right now,” Noland said. “I really like all of the schools. George Fox was super nice, the coaches are often, the staff is amazing, they’ve got great facilities and I like the team. PLU has a super nice campus and I like the coach. He’s super nice and very talkative, he pretty much took me through everything about the program. And CLU – it’s in California, Thousand Oaks – you can’t really argue with that, it’s amazing with sunny weather, 80 degrees. The facilities are unbelievable and the coach – he definitely expects a lot from his team which is good. He pushes his players to be the best that they can be.”
Noland doesn’t have a leader at this time and is staying wide open in the process as he enters his senior season. “I like all three but I’m just kind of holding off and hoping to do what I can do to get an offer,” Noland continued. “Hopefully from one of those three schools or maybe some other schools.”
A big year will certainly help out the cause and Noland is excited about the opportunities ahead. “I’m going to be stepping into a bigger role at Tualatin, especially as a senior,” Noland said. “I’m expecting a lot for myself, I’m expecting a lot from our team.”
Noland currently ranks as the #83 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2020 rankings.