4-Point Play: Trent Noah's coach breaks down his game, potential impact

There is a new name of interest for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats — and it’s a familiar face for Big Blue Nation. Harlan County star Trent Noah has been granted his release from South Carolina and is officially a free agent, reopening his recruitment “with hopes of pursuing basketball opportunities closer to home.”

A top-125 prospect nationally and the state’s all-time fifth leading scorer, the pairing is an obvious one for both sides. It’s a chance for Pope to fill out his roster with a high-level depth piece capable of being a foundational fit with long-term upside, but one who can step in and knock down shots right away. He represents everything the new head coach says he’s looking for, a player who represents the state and knows what it means to wear Kentucky across his chest.

But it’s a two-way street and the process has just begun, the 6-6 wing only becoming available early Tuesday afternoon. Noah’s high school coach, Kyle Jones, spoke with KSR shortly after the decision about what he brings to the table as a player ahead of what is certain to be a high-profile recruitment.

A ‘special’ talent who could ‘play for anybody’

Noah averaged 29.9 points on 56/43/89 shooting splits as a senior at Harlan County, closing out a career of 3,707 total points with an all-time run to the KHSAA state championship game where he averaged 32.3 per contest. You don’t become a top-five scorer in state history by accident, it’s a product of his demand for excellence, pouring everything into his craft to become one of the greatest to ever do it.

“Trent, number one, is an exceptional young man, just a very humble kid. He has worked and earned everything he’s gotten by hard work,” Jones said. “His basketball IQ is off the chart, he’s such an intelligent player. He always seems to make the right play, never forces anything. And he’s just a phenomenal shooter, possesses the size at 6-6, probably 210 pounds. He’s already got the college build. … He’s a very underrated passer and rebounder, handles the ball extremely well. With a high IQ and as a great decision-maker, I think he could come in and play for anybody as a two or three.”

And he’s done it against high-level competition, as well, key in his jump in the rankings.

“100 percent (he’s capable of making an impact early). I think he’s confident, not only playing the schedule we played in high school, but playing with Midwest Basketball Club on the adidas circuit,” Jones added. “He played against the best players in the country and always proved himself. He’s just a special player, I don’t know how else to describe it. He made me look good.”

“The total package when it comes to being a shooter.”

He can do it all, but the shooting is what turns heads with Trent Noah. There aren’t many capable of knocking them down at a higher rate than the nation’s No. 122 overall prospect and No. 29 shooting guard, going 102 for 237 from three as a senior.

If you’re looking for a plug-and-play 3-point specialist in college, Noah is your guy.

“With shooting, it’s like anything else, being good at it comes down to repetition. He spends countless hours in the gym,” Jones told KSR. “Oftentimes you come in and he’d be in the gym at 5:30 in the morning, shooting before school even started. He gets up thousands of shots.

“And his shot never changes, it always looks the same when he shoots, the mechanics and the repetition — he’s the total package when it comes to being a shooter.”

A body change leads to senior explosion

Noah has always been talented, but he didn’t become a national name of interest until he transformed his body and got his conditioning where it needed to be, adding some finesse and quickness to his game beyond pure fundamentals. That paved the path for his senior-year breakthrough on the big stage, capped off by Harlan County’s run in the Sweet 16.

He worked it all into existence.

“I think after his sophomore season, he started really taking his body seriously and changed his body, dropped a little weight and chiseled himself up. I’ve always known Trent was going to be a special player, ever since he was in the sixth grade. I’m actually kin to Trent, his dad and I are first cousins, so I’ve seen him play since he was younger,” Jones said. “He always had the IQ and was such a great shooter, I think continuing to grow and mature, especially going into his junior year, he had a really big summer and just jumped leaps and bounds.”

And Noah is only going to improve on that front with a high-major strength and conditioning program, no matter where he ends up. They’ll have the resources to perfect what he can’t right now in Eastern Kentucky.

“He’s already got a college-level body, but I’m sure when he gets to college — in high school, we don’t have the means to help them with their diet or the workout programs and weight room he’ll have in college,” he added. “We lift weights, but it’s not the same as having trainers and stuff like that, so that’s going to help him continue to grow as a player.”

“Eastern Kentucky bleeds blue”

As for Noah’s recruitment, it’s a little too early to get into the nuts and bolts of who is interested or how quickly things could move — he did just receive his release from South Carolina on Tuesday, after all.

“I can’t speak on it because I really don’t know,” Jones said. “… I’ve sat down and talked to him, I’m pretty close to his dad and we’re family, but I kind of got out of all that and I always left it up to them.”

What he does know, though, is that whoever lands the 6-6 wing is getting a special talent capable of making a serious impact.

“I always took calls from college coaches when his recruitment was open and talked about how special he was. I really think he’s a can’t-miss prospect, I really do,” he added. “Even though he went Division I, I still felt like he flew under the radar. Then the platform he was on in the Sweet 16, he got to show a lot more people how good he really was.”

When asked about Kentucky specifically — because Big Blue Nation is dying to know, obviously — Jones knows folks in Harlan County would be excited to see Noah make his way back to Lexington and recreate the magic he made inside Rupp Arena back in March.

Only this time, he’d be doing it in blue and white under Mark Pope.

“I can’t speak for everyone other than what I’ve seen. I’m not a big social media guy, but I’ve been getting messages all day about what people are posting. Obviously, Eastern Kentucky bleeds blue. Basketball in Eastern Kentucky, it means everything to a lot of people,” Jones told KSR. “Wherever he decides to go, he’s gonna be supported by the people here in Harlan County. He’s cemented his legacy here forever.”

What is his legacy? In his eyes, Noah is the best to ever do it.

“There have been a lot of great players to come out of Harlan County. My father coached one of them, Charles Thomas, who was Mr. Basketball and went to Minnesota,” he said. “But I think he cemented himself as the best player to ever come out of this county with this run.”

Will he continue building his basketball legacy in Lexington as a Wildcat? We’ll find out soon.