Noriega Officially Headed to the Big East
Aaron Seybert
SWFLHoops.com Recruiting
November 12, 2008
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North Port, FL - North Port High senior Shaun Noriega has been working towards this day for years. Finally, the countless hours in the gym and weight room have officially paid off for the 6'4" stud shooting guard, who averaged 24 ppg last season. His strongest asset has continued to be his shooting and his ability to focus on his weaknesses and improve upon them each offseason. He knows there is still a bunch of work to get done to prepare himself for what many college basketball analysts
consider the toughest conference in college hoops, but
today, he can take a deep breath and exhale. It is official,
no turning back now, the National Letter of Intent to attend
University of South Florida has been signed, sealed and
FedEx'd to Tampa. Noriega becomes the first Southwest
Florida prospects tosign with a big conference school since
Eneil Polynice signed to play at University of Mississippi,
who plays in the SEC, in 2006. We asked Shaun about his
choice to call it early for South Florida and not wait on more
offers to come his way, "The coaching staff had a big factor
in the decision, they were really great and I liked them a
lot. Location was great. So I just took it up early because I
didn't want to pass up a good opportunity like this. Butler,
Notre Dame, and Washington State weren't for sure yet, so if I would have passed on this scholarship I might have been regretting it later." We also asked him what he felt he needed to work on before now and next fall in order to increase his chance of seeing time on the floor as a freshman and he had this to say, "First of all, definitely my defense, lateral quickness needs to improve. Rebounding always needs to improve. Also, my shooting, even though that's my major strength, I need to become like a Lee Humphrey from Florida where every open shot is knocked down." South Florida Head Coach Stan Heath also commented on the his first signee for 2009 via phone conference, "We looked at our needs and with us being at the bottom of the conference in three-point shooting, Shaun was a guy who could come in and stretch the defense and create spacing for our athletic slashers to get to the basket. We have seen a lot of zone and Shaun will give us a guy that can make the defense play more honest. He is also a kid who has set high academic standards for himself. We also like that he was ready to commit to us early, where as some kids tend to make you play the waiting game. It is nice to have a kid who we want and he wants to come here just as badly." Heath also spoke about his expectations for Shaun over the next four years, "A lot of NBA scouts tend to look for guys who do one thing at a very high level, and then develop the rest through weights and training. That's what we looked at with Shaun, with his shooting being at such a high level we can develop the rest with work. The funny thing about Shaun is that his ability to shoot the ball covers his other strongs qualities. He is more athletic than people give him credit for, and we have watched him go strong to the hoop and dunk over guys. We also think he is long enough to be able to guard wings with some more work." South Florida went 12-19 overall in 2007-08 including 3-15 in conference play. They did not have player who shot better than 36% from behind the arc, and as a team they only made 33% of their three-point attempts. The only other signee in the 2009 class is 6'5" 225 pound wing Jordan Dumars from Detroit, MI. Dumars is the son of former Detroit Piston guard Joe Dumars, and will also look to help the Bulls from behind the arc with that being one of his strongest assets.
So now he can focus on trying to leave the high school ranks not only with the title of "the kid who signed to USF" or "shooter", but potentially "District Champ", "Winner", and in his mind maybe more. "I expect us to be really good, and win districts. Make a run hopefully in the state tournament, and try to make a run at the state title," Noriega said. "State Champion" would be a nice tag to have, and is supposed to be the ultimate goal for any high school athlete, and for the first time in his career he can say that without a hint of sarcasm. When we asked Noriega about his team facing a team like Tampa Sickles, who boasts the nation's #3 rated senior John Henson, and beating them a month ago in a tournament at their place he had this to say, "That definitely gave us confidence to know we can play against that level of competition. It also helped the younger guys coming up from junior varsity to know that they can play on this level and be successful. It was a great way to measure where we are at as a team." That experience should indeed prove to be invaluable to Noriega and his young teammates in their quest to reach heights that neighboring schools like Charlotte and Port Charlotte have flirted with in the past, with Sarasota Booker being the last SWFL school to bring home a state title in 2006, in class 4A.
Noriega chose USF over Notre Dame, Butler, and Washington State.
Other Notes: Noriega's high school teammate and SWFL Hoops' #2 rated prospect in the class of 2011, Kasey Wilson, is receiving attention from schools such as Auburn, Syracuse, South Florida, Ohio University, Davidson, and Florida State as of now.
Noriega signs the NLI while USF Head Coach Stan Heath (on phone) walks him through the process with his mom, Holly Wynne, and North Port Head Coach Curt Allen looking on.
