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Noreen adds first pair of offers

Minnesota Transitions forward Kevin Noreen picked up a pair of offers recently after a stellar tournament in Denver, Colorado. The 6-foot-8 and growing sophomore hit two shots late including a difficult buzzer beater in the championship game to give his Magic Elite 16s a tournament title. One of the teams offering Noreen has been tied to the Gopher program for years now.

 

At this point I'm sure you know the name of his school as well as himself. Kevin Noreen is the young man who put up 28.2 points per game this past season for Minnesota Transitions and lost to Cody Schilling and Ellsworth in the class A title game. And that's not the only connection between Schilling and Noreen as they seem to be on similar career paths. Schilling also lost a state title game his sophomore year just like Noreen. Then there is the scoring thing. Cody recently broke the all-time state scoring mark finishing with 3,428 career points. But Kevin Noreen is on pace to break that record his senior year. Already as a sophomore Kevin has produced 1,865 points.

 

Two weekends back in Denver coaches were all over Kevin's Magic Elite 16s group. With Chad Calcaterra, Marshall Bjorklund, Taylor Filipek, and Noreen sharing the frontline this team drew major attention. Guys like Tim Miles of Colorado State and members of the Iowa State staff were consistently in the gym watching this team defeat the Bay Area Elite Hoosiers, Martin Brotheres Select, the Colorado Hawks Elite and the Utah Pump n Run.

In the win over Martin Brothers Select, Kevin put up 16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, five steals, three blocks while Bjorklund had 20 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks. Kevin then scored the final four points in the championship game on first a right-hand reverse lay-in for the tie and then a left-hand reverse lay-in at the buzzer for the win.

 

This play has produced early college interest and a representative from the Minnesota Magic had this to say about Noreen's recruitment. "Concerning Kevin, he has received scholarship offers from William & Mary and Gonzaga. The teams that have expressed strong or active interest, and who frequently inquire to the Magic Club/Minnesota Transition High School for updates are: Wisconsin, Butler, Iowa, Marquette, Northwestern, UW-Green Bay, Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, Texas-Arlington, Winona State, and Bemidji State." Meanwhile, the Minnesota Gophers have also scouted Noreen to check out his progress on the floor.

 

Currently at about 6-foot-8 Noreen continues to grow into a body that seems to up by two inches every summer. "Kevin is 6'-foot-8 and 1/2" right now and according to his doctors is expected to continue to grow for at least another year or more," said the Magic coach. "Kevin will be going back to both the individual and team camps at Wisconsin this June, as well as the Adidas Phenom Camp in San Diego in mid-July.

"Kevin still has a lot to work on. This 'growing thing', a la Jon Leuer, has kept him from determining where his college position will end up becoming. Iowa State told one of our coaches that if he hit 6-foot-10 and got stronger they would become interested as a shooting post. Other schools have envisioned him in other roles, permutations of the three, four, and five spots. Kevin is now focusing on working some at each area on the floor, with the hope of having some experience pretty much everywhere. He also is working on a quicker first step, improving his handles, and more explosiveness and versatility around the bucket.

 

Courtesy of Ryan James
GopherIllustrated.com

 

Photos courtesy of Michael J Much