“I will be reopening my recruitment with hopes of pursuing basketball opportunities closer to home,” Noah said in a social media post announcing that he wouldn’t be going to South Carolina.
As it turned out, that opportunity will come in Lexington as part of Pope’s new-look Kentucky squad.
“Trent Noah is one of the elite shooters in this class,” Pope said in a UK news release announcing Noah’s signing. “He is a tough, hard-nosed player with a special physicality. As an eastern Kentucky native, Trent will bring a grit, toughness and determination to the program that is representative of this state. We’re looking forward to Trent joining this talented group.”
Noah is now the third first-year player in the fold for the Wildcats next season. He joins Travis Perry, the former in-state star at Lyon County High School who is the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school boys basketball history, and Collin Chandler, who was originally a member of the 2022 recruiting class before opting to serve a two-year mission trip before starting his college career.
Perry and Noah are the top two prospects in Kentucky in the 2024 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.
Noah joins Kentucky after one of the most distinguished high school careers of any eastern Kentucky player ever.
His 3,707 career points during his time as a high school player rank, unofficially, as the fifth-most all-time in the commonwealth.
As a senior in 2023-24, Noah was the star player for a Harlan County team that won the 13th Region and advanced to the Sweet 16 championship game in March at Rupp Arena.
Noah and Harlan County lost to Perry and Lyon County in a memorable title tilt.
“We’ve played in a lot of all-star games together, we’ve played some AAU together,” Noah said of Perry prior to the state championship game. “He’s a really special player. I’m excited to see what he’ll do next year at the next level.”
Noah had a scoring week for the ages during this year’s Sweet 16 tournament: He had 35 points in an opening-round win over defending state champion Warren Central, 48 points in an overtime quarterfinal win over Campbell County, 29 points in a semifinal win over Evangel Christian and 17 more points in the state championship loss to Lyon County.
The 48 points Noah scored against Campbell County were the fourth-most ever scored in a Boys’ Sweet 16 game.
“I’ve been coming to the state tournament my whole life. I’ve watched Chris Lofton … Richie Farmer, Allan Houston, going all the way back there. He (Noah) became a legend tonight — a Sweet 16 legend,” Campbell County coach Brent Sowder said after that game. “That’s something that’s going to stay. We’re going to talk about that. I hate being on the other side of it.”
Noah also set a Boys’ Sweet 16 record by making 19 3-pointers at this year’s state tournament. The previous 3-point mark was set by Mason County’s Chris Lofton.
Prior to this year’s Sweet 16, Harlan County had never won a game at the state tournament.
Noah’s 129 points across four games were the fourth-most in any Sweet 16 — behind Wayland’s Kelly Coleman (185 in 1956), Clay County’s Richie Farmer (137 in 1988) and Shawnee’s Ronnie Daniel (130 in 1973). Noah’s total scoring output was the most since Lofton scored 112 points in the 2004 tournament.
Noah averaged 29.9 points per game on 56% shooting from the field, 43% shooting on 3-pointers and 89% shooting from the free-throw line as a senior at Harlan County.
The Black Bears won only their second ever region championship last season.
In reaching the state championship game, Harlan County became the first 13th Region champion since 1988 to reach the Sweet 16 title game. On that occasion, it was another eventual Kentucky Wildcat who led the way for a mountain school: Clay County, led by Richie Farmer, lost that year’s state championship game to a Ballard team led by future Tennessee player Allan Houston.
During his initial high school recruitment, Noah picked South Carolina from a final group of schools that also included Butler, Dayton, Saint Louis, Seton Hall, Stanford, Richmond and Western Kentucky.
“Trent is a ferocious competitor that has a passion and commitment to the game that is hard to find,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said in a news release when the Gamecocks announced the addition of Noah in November. “On the court, he is a supremely confident and a skilled shooter that has a great feel for the game.”
At the time of his commitment, Noah (who is listed as a small forward by 247Sports) was ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a three-star recruit and as the No. 145 player nationally in the 2024 recruiting class.
Currently, Noah is ranked as a four-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite and as the No. 105 player in the 2024 recruiting class.
According to UK, Noah has family ties to Wildcats athletics. Noah’s grandfather, Charles “Perky” Bryant, played football for Kentucky from 1961-63.
Harlan County’s Trent Noah is ranked as a four-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite. Jared Peck/jpeck@herald-leader.com
Trent Noah is another first-year addition to Mark Pope’s Kentucky roster
Noah is now the 10th player lined up to play at Kentucky next season for Pope.
He joins the following players, which include two other incoming freshmen and seven additions via the NCAA transfer portal.
First-year guards Chandler (a former BYU signee) and Perry (a former Lyon County High School star), third-year guard Otega Oweh (who previously played two seasons at Oklahoma), fifth-year guards Koby Brea (who previously played four seasons at Dayton), Lamont Butler (who previously played four seasons at San Diego State) and Kerr Kriisa (who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia), fifth-year forward Amari Williams (who previously played four seasons at Drexel), fifth-year forward Andrew Carr (who previously played two seasons each at Delaware and Wake Forest) and second-year center Brandon Garrison (who played last season at Oklahoma State).
Pope’s first UK team also appears unlikely to have any scholarship holdovers from John Calipari’s 2023-24 Kentucky squad.
Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State), Jordan Burks (Georgetown), Joey Hart (Ball State), Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas) and Adou Thiero (Arkansas) are players from the 2023-24 Kentucky team that will transfer to new schools. Additionally, Ugonna Onyenso and D.J. Wagner are still in the NCAA transfer portal.
Also from last season’s team, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard have declared for the 2024 NBA draft. Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves have exhausted their college eligibility.
College basketball players had until May 1 to enter the transfer portal. The early-entry deadline for the 2024 NBA draft was April 27, and players who entered the draft with remaining NCAA eligibility have until May 29 to remove their names from consideration and return to school.
Harlan County’s Trent Noah (2) set a Boys’ Sweet 16 record by making 19 3-pointers at this year’s state tournament. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com
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