OT: Impressions of Kevin Noreen

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I watched Minnesota Transitions' Kevin Noreen up close this past weekend at the state tournament and I left with mixed feelings. I found it interesting that he had just one offer from a major program, yet garnered a 4 star rating from Scout.com (3 star from Rivals). I've seen him listed at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-10, meaning he's probably somewhere in between. With that said, I think he did a good job of using his body on the blocks and drawing contact. His shot looked a little awkward, but I don't think it affected his game in a negative way. His footwork was decent, but not lightening quick. I kept waiting for him to expand his game outside the painted area, but he didn't. He was more than happy posting up and drawing a foul than spotting up from 15 feet. He has "high shoulders" and a decent frame, but obviously needs to put on some muscle and tone his frame before he makes an impact in college. He had the strangest list of college choices, netting scholarships from BC, Gonzaga, Green Bay, Northern Illinois, Williams & Mary and Liberty. Kinda scattered. Credit him for jumping on the chance to play in the ACC, but it's often said that you can judge a person's character, or in this case talent, by the company he keeps, or in this case, the scholarships he garners. He came in averaging 38.1 ppg, which is severely bloated due to such an inferior level of competition. I didn't see Cole Aldrich play in high school, but I think it would be interesting to see how he would compare to Noreen as a senior in HS.
 

If you watched the game vs. Sebeka yesterday, the reason he may not have been up to full speed is that he was apparently playing with a ruptured spleen.
 

he goes to Minnesota transitions though, what does that say about him?
 





BigGopherFan said:
That explains a lot.
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Yeah it was reported after the game he was bleeding internally since he fell in the first half and yet played through the whole game. Tough guy.

I watched quite a bit of the High School games yesterday and specifically watched Estan Tyler(?) and came away pretty impressed. Good athlete, very quick, can shoot, but is a team first player and did really force anything which is what impressed me the most.

Of course i watched Hopkins and their multiple D1 players. Specifically Coleman, Singleton and Chambers. Coleman didnt take that many jumpshots but could get to the rim at will. Finished plays very well was in foul trouble in the first half. Singleton just looked so much stronger than the rest of the players out there he had his way. Idk what position he would play because all but 1 shot came from the inside. Chambers is pretty similar to Tyler(?), quick, can shoot the 3, doesnt have the visions that Estan does but still pretty good.
 

Good luck to him.

Noreen has a nice shot and at his height is a good shooter. I am not sure after that if I see a high major player. If Noreen was going to a South Dakota State or North Dakota or any other mid major he would be a nice recruit but Boston College in the heart of the ACC? I sure dont see that at all. I think Noreen moves ok for his size but I am not sure I see him gaining 25-35 pounds and losing some of that. At best he is a 5 year college player at BC who works his way into being a rotational player.
 

Winona Gopher said:
Yeah it was reported after the game he was bleeding internally since he fell in the first half and yet played through the whole game. Tough guy.

I watched quite a bit of the High School games yesterday and specifically watched Estan Tyler(?) and came away pretty impressed. Good athlete, very quick, can shoot, but is a team first player and did really force anything which is what impressed me the most.

Of course i watched Hopkins and their multiple D1 players. Specifically Coleman, Singleton and Chambers. Coleman didnt take that many jumpshots but could get to the rim at will. Finished plays very well was in foul trouble in the first half. Singleton just looked so much stronger than the rest of the players out there he had his way. Idk what position he would play because all but 1 shot came from the inside. Chambers is pretty similar to Tyler(?), quick, can shoot the 3, doesnt have the visions that Estan does but still pretty good.
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I watched Coleman and Singleton play probably a dozen times last season. Both are well-built and talented, but I'm not sure how their skills with transfer into the college game. I think they're each 2-3 inches short of being a high major lock.
You are right, Singelton is ripped. He looked like that last season as a sophomore. At 6-5, though, he'll probably need to grow (highly unlikely) or accept a life as a Division II stud. I could be completely off, but you just don't see that many 6-5 power forwards in Division I, even at the mid-major level.
Apparently Coleman is on the Gophers' radar. I'm not sure if Minnesota is courting him in hopes of a late growth spurt, or if they just like him because his brother played there. We'll see. I could see him being an excellent D-I player though. Needs to work on his jumper.
The one player on that team that has flown under the radar is lanky 6-5 swingman DJ Peterson. He's got a nice lefty stroke and can jump out of the gym. At one point last season, he was rated as a 3 star prospect, but has since been bumped down to 2 stars by Scout.com. He told me at the end of last season that Baylor offered him a scholarship, and his Scout profile confirms that. I thought he was going to blow up this season on the recruiting circuit, but he hasn't really made much noise, electing not to sign his Letter yet.
 



WolfontheProwl said:
Noreen has a nice shot and at his height is a good shooter. I am not sure after that if I see a high major player. If Noreen was going to a South Dakota State or North Dakota or any other mid major he would be a nice recruit but Boston College in the heart of the ACC? I sure dont see that at all. I think Noreen moves ok for his size but I am not sure I see him gaining 25-35 pounds and losing some of that. At best he is a 5 year college player at BC who works his way into being a rotational player.
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+1
 

WolfontheProwl said:
Noreen has a nice shot and at his height is a good shooter. I am not sure after that if I see a high major player. If Noreen was going to a South Dakota State or North Dakota or any other mid major he would be a nice recruit but Boston College in the heart of the ACC? I sure dont see that at all. I think Noreen moves ok for his size but I am not sure I see him gaining 25-35 pounds and losing some of that. At best he is a 5 year college player at BC who works his way into being a rotational player.
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Kevin has intangibles.

His team depended on him, and even after going down hard (and rupturing his spleen) one minute into the game (he said the pain was 10 out of 10), he still out up 24 points, 15 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.

That is one tough dude.
 

BigGopherFan said:
I watched Coleman and Singleton play probably a dozen times last season. Both are well-built and talented, but I'm not sure how their skills with transfer into the college game. I think they're each 2-3 inches short of being a high major lock.
You are right, Singelton is ripped. He looked like that last season as a sophomore. At 6-5, though, he'll probably need to grow (highly unlikely) or accept a life as a Division II stud. I could be completely off, but you just don't see that many 6-5 power forwards in Division I, even at the mid-major level.
Apparently Coleman is on the Gophers' radar. I'm not sure if Minnesota is courting him in hopes of a late growth spurt, or if they just like him because his brother played there. We'll see. I could see him being an excellent D-I player though. Needs to work on his jumper.
The one player on that team that has flown under the radar is lanky 6-5 swingman DJ Peterson. He's got a nice lefty stroke and can jump out of the gym. At one point last season, he was rated as a 3 star prospect, but has since been bumped down to 2 stars by Scout.com. He told me at the end of last season that Baylor offered him a scholarship, and his Scout profile confirms that. I thought he was going to blow up this season on the recruiting circuit, but he hasn't really made much noise, electing not to sign his Letter yet.
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Are you sure you weren't mistaking him with Joe Coleman? I would say Peterson is an average athlete at best and that is the one main thing holding him back from being a high major player. By the way, if you follow recruiting enough (not saying you don't) you will come to realize that Baylor "offers" almost everyone. You will find many players whose only "offer" comes from Baylor. I don't take any Baylor offers seriously unless the player has other high major offers as well. Just something that I've caught on to.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Are you sure you weren't mistaking him with Joe Coleman? I would say Peterson is an average athlete at best and that is the one main thing holding him back from being a high major player. By the way, if you follow recruiting enough (not saying you don't) you will come to realize that Baylor "offers" almost everyone. You will find many players whose only "offer" comes from Baylor. I don't take any Baylor offers seriously unless the player has other high major offers as well. Just something that I've caught on to.
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So does UW-Green Bay and Colorado State around these parts (for obvious reasons).
I did, however, see some very nice things from Peterson last season. Good leaping ability.
 



BigGopherFan said:
So does UW-Green Bay and Colorado State around these parts (for obvious reasons).
I did, however, see some very nice things from Peterson last season. Good leaping ability.
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It's more believable for a 2-star type player to have a mid-major offer than it is for them to have a high-major "offer" though. My point is that I don't believe that his offer from Baylor is legitimate. Not trying to hate on Peterson though, because I enjoy watching him play and I do think he is a solid player. I guess everyone has different standards for qualifying as "jumping out of the gym," so it looks like we will just have to agree to disagree, which is okay.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
It's more believable for a 2-star type player to have a mid-major offer than it is for them to have a high-major "offer" though. My point is that I don't believe that his offer from Baylor is legitimate. Not trying to hate on Peterson though, because I enjoy watching him play and I do think he is a solid player. I guess everyone has different standards for qualifying as "jumping out of the gym," so it looks like we will just have to agree to disagree, which is okay.
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Yeah. I just remember him twisting in mid-air to adjust to a bad alley-oop pass last season only to grab the ball and put it through the net with his back to the basket. I like his lefty shot and length. Legit 6-5.
 

BigGopherFan said:
I watched Coleman and Singleton play probably a dozen times last season. Both are well-built and talented, but I'm not sure how their skills with transfer into the college game. I think they're each 2-3 inches short of being a high major lock.
You are right, Singelton is ripped. He looked like that last season as a sophomore. At 6-5, though, he'll probably need to grow (highly unlikely) or accept a life as a Division II stud. I could be completely off, but you just don't see that many 6-5 power forwards in Division I, even at the mid-major level.
Apparently Coleman is on the Gophers' radar. I'm not sure if Minnesota is courting him in hopes of a late growth spurt, or if they just like him because his brother played there. We'll see. I could see him being an excellent D-I player though. Needs to work on his jumper.
The one player on that team that has flown under the radar is lanky 6-5 swingman DJ Peterson. He's got a nice lefty stroke and can jump out of the gym. At one point last season, he was rated as a 3 star prospect, but has since been bumped down to 2 stars by Scout.com. He told me at the end of last season that Baylor offered him a scholarship, and his Scout profile confirms that. I thought he was going to blow up this season on the recruiting circuit, but he hasn't really made much noise, electing not to sign his Letter yet.
Click to expand...

I think the key for Singleton is if he can develop a jumpshot. If he can i think he would be a good hybrid at a mid-major school. If not he would be a D2 stud.

Coleman has a Gopher offer. He is a legit D1 player, Idk if he has stopped growing or not but if he does he is a high major prospect instantly. I am curious to see how he does in AAU ball where he will play against more talented players. IIRC he plays for Howard Pulley program. Does anyone remember how he did last year during AAU ball?
 

Winona Gopher said:
I think the key for Singleton is if he can develop a jumpshot. If he can i think he would be a good hybrid at a mid-major school. If not he would be a D2 stud.

Coleman has a Gopher offer. He is a legit D1 player, Idk if he has stopped growing or not but if he does he is a high major prospect instantly. I am curious to see how he does in AAU ball where he will play against more talented players. IIRC he plays for Howard Pulley program. Does anyone remember how he did last year during AAU ball?
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I heard great things about Coleman this season. You don't average 25 ppg in arguably the toughest conference in the biggest classification without having serious skills. I wish I would have had a chance to see him play this season, but it just didn't work out. How is his jump shot progressing? If he can develop a reliable J, I think he'd be able to compete in the Big Ten at a decent level. I just remember him flying through the air on a fast break during a JV game last season and finishing with a one hand. He also was very productive in the few minutes he played last season. I can remember a couple times when he dropped 8-11 points in less than 10 minutes.
 

Coleman isn't a spectacular shooter, but he can knock down the open shot without too much trouble. Judging by his form he appears to have the potential to become a good shooter. Ball handling is another area he should continue to work on, but he isn't bad in this area either. His explosiveness and ability to get to the rim, absorb contact, and finish at will is what makes him the prospect that he is. Growing a couple of inches would certainly improve his potential as well.
 

Coleman has high-major athleticism, with mid-major height and overall skills. He will play high-major because he will continue to get better. Having seen him play a few times last summer and this year, he is continuing to get better and has improved tremendously.

Recognizing that Noreen was legitimately hurt in his game, I don't see how he will be anything other than a role player at BC. That being said, being a role player in the ACC ain't all bad.
 

My impression of Noreen was that he is not real athletic. But, not many big guys are. More important, he makes very few mistakes. He always know where he should be and what he should be doing.
 

I actually didn't see Noreen against Sebeka, but I saw him the day before against Rushford. First of all, he is not 6'10", I think he is 6'8", tops. Second of all, he just did not look impressive to me at all. I was unaware that he was going to BC and I kept thinking to myself, that he looked like a D3, maybe D2 caliber of player.

Everytime i've seen a legit D1 caliber player in HS, he looks dominant. Heck, Joe Coleman (playing at the highest level) was able to do pretty much what he wanted. We didn't get to see his jumpshot, because he got by his man at will. Against Rushford, I really didn't think Noreen looked dominant, and he had 8-10" on anyone who was guarding him. I really think if Noreen played in a big conference, he'd be an all conference type player, at best. I might be being hard on the kid, and i hope i'm wrong, but I could not believe he got an ACC offer after watching him play.
 



The Badgers are bringing in a player named Evan Anderson next season who plays a similar game to Noreen. Anderson had tons of hype early in his high school career, garnering 5 stars as a legit 6-11 freshman. However, after a transfer, major injury and some downright disappointing play, Anderson has plummeted out of the top 100 for 2010 and demoted to 3 stars. He's not vert skilled on offense, but has been a superb shot-blocker since an early age.
 

Anderson and Noreen do not in any way play a similar game. Noreen is very skilled for his size, Anderson is not.
 

To tell you the truth, I'm not overly impressed with either. Noreen is 2 inches shorter than Anderson and has played against extremely poor competition. I'm not defending Anderson, but he transferred from tiny Stanley-Boyd High School to Eau Claire North before his sophomore season and faced far better competition on a consistent basis than Noreen. The common thread between the pair is their athletic ability — or lack there of. Neither gets up, or off, the floor very well.
 



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