University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Spotlight: Sari Noga
1/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Note: This is a feature story on freshman guard Sari Noga that was written for GopherSports.com following the Q & A that ran in a recent Minnesota Basketball Game Program. Noga, a native of Parkers Prairie, Minn., has played in 14 of 16 games for the Gophers and is averaging 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. She had a career-high 10 points and three steals in the Dayton game, and pulled down a career-best four rebounds in the win versus Cal Poly. Noga talks about playing high school ball for her father, being the state of Minnesota's all-time leading rebounder as a 5-foot-10 guard, and how she wound up being a Golden Gopher.
By Justine Buerkle, Athletic Communications student assistant
"It's always been Minnesota."
That is how Golden Gophers freshman guard Sari Noga describes her allegiances in college athletics.
Exhibit A: In 2004, a photograph of then-Gopher guard Lindsay Whalen with several admirers appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. If you look closely, there stands young Sari Noga, wearing a number 13 Minnesota jersey. The photographer had asked Noga and other Whalen fans to be in the picture.
"Of course, I loved Lindsay Whalen, so I was like, 'Yeah. I want to do that, get a picture with Lindsay Whalen.'...So it was just kind of a coincidence now that I'm actually on the team," Noga said.
Noga was already a devoted Gophers fan before Whalen-mania struck.
"I don't really remember exactly how it started, but I know that one of the girls on the team was number four," she said. "I just watched her on TV once, and I loved basketball by then anyway, but from that point on I wanted to be a Gopher, just because that girl was so cool and they played on TV and it was my home state. It was kind of a whole bunch of things."
As she got older, Noga's parents took her to more Gopher games, making the trip from Parkers Prairie, Minn. These excursions reinforced Noga's desire to play at Minnesota, and throughout her high school career, she worked to make that happen.
Perhaps the best example of Noga's hard work is her high school rebounding total. She set the Minnesota state record for career rebounds at 1,701. She also finished third on the points list with 3,507, but the rebounding record is especially impressive considering that Noga is only 5-10.
"When it comes to rebounding, you could be the shortest person on the team and be the best rebounder," she said. "It's just wanting the ball and going after the ball, and that's kind of just what I always wanted, was to get after it and get the ball. I knew my team didn't have anyone over 6-0, so someone had to get rebounds for us."
Aside from her rebounding record, Noga also set the record for three-pointers in a game.
"That was a crazy game," she said. "Everyone on my team was shooting really well, too, so it wasn't just me. I shot 13-for-15. We were winning by about 60 or so. My dad was the head coach, and he pulled me out with about 10 minutes to go. He told me later on after I missed my last shot, that was when he was going to take me out...I set the state record for myself, but my team also set the state record for most threes, so it was a good night for us as a team."
Noga began playing varsity basketball as a seventh grader. As she mentioned, her father, John, is the coach at Parkers Prairie, and he played a big role in Noga's development as a basketball player.
"He's helped me get into the gym to get in more shots," she said. "He put in his own input on what I could improve on and all that kind of stuff. He's been a big mentor for me, kind of telling me where I need to be to play at what level I wanted to be at."
Those hours in the gym paid off, as Noga earned all-state and all-tournament honors, leading her team to a third-place finish in the Minnesota Class 1A state tournament in 2010. She was also named the Associated Press Player of the Year for Minnesota and was nominated to be a McDonald's All-American.
But those awards do not compare to one more important honor -- a scholarship offer from Minnesota. Noga had always wanted to be a Gopher, and she said she knew she had the talent to be a Gopher when the recruiting process started around her junior year. In the first game of this season, Noga finally had her chance to take the floor wearing the Maroon and Gold
"I was nervous," she said. "And I knew that I didn't want my first shot to be an airball or way over the top, so I was pretty happy when my first shot was kind of a layup or bank shot. I still did airball one over the top. I was really nervous, but once I kind of got out there, I was like, 'This isn't too bad, if I get my nerves calmed down a little bit.' Now it's excited nerves."
Despite her success at the high school level, Noga still needs to adjust to the college game like any other freshman.
She said the biggest challenge is "the speed of the game. I went from playing Class 1A. But I played AAU basketball, which is about the same [as the bigger classes]. But just the speed and the learning curve. The speed is everything."
Noga has played in 13 games so far this season, and has averaged 11.4 minutes per game. This time on the floor gives her a chance to experience the speed of the game and to make contributions for her team. In the game against Dayton in November, she scored a career-high 10 points. Noga averages 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. As she gains experience, she will improve and be able to contribute more.
Sari Noga is living the dream, getting a scholarship to play basketball for her favorite team. Who knows -- maybe her number 21 will become the new 13, and some young girl who aspires to become a Gopher someday will find her inspiration by watching Noga play.
