Colfax resident Keith Noll inducted into 2022 WBCA Hall of Fame
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NOLL HONORED — Keith Noll (left) received congratulations from Jerry Petitgoue, Executive Director and Awards Chair of the Wisconsin Basketball Association (WBCA), following his induction into the WBCA Hall of Fame in the “Friends” category. The induction ceremony took place September 24 at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. —photo submitted
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
WISCONSIN DELLS — Keith Noll of Colfax, a longtime volunteer and leader with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), was recently inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Hall of Fame in the “Friends” category. The induction ceremony took place September 24 at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
Noll is a 1967 graduate of Colfax High School and was a starter on the basketball team his junior and senior years.
After high school he moved into the business world, owning several businesses in the Eau Claire and Menomonie area. His interest in basketball continued when his daughter Natalie and her friends Jodi Bosch and Heidi Morning wanted a chance to play competitive basketball during the summer. Along with Julie Dummer of Boyceville, Shannom McCombs and Lori Radcliff of Eau Claire Regis and Brooke Shaw of Eau Claire North, Noll helped them form an AAU traveling team for age 12-13 and under. They played in tournaments during the 1986-87 season in Wisconsin and Minnesota and also in the AAU National Championships in Louisiana. And if anyone around the Colfax area who had daughters playing basketball, the rest is all history.
KEITH NOLL’S Hall of Fame plaque. —photo submittted
The AAU program took off like a rocket in Wisconsin after Noll created that first club. Noll hosted the Great Lakes Shootout and Memorial Day Classic basketball tournaments from 1987-2020.Over 12,000 teams and more than 100,000 athletes competed in these two events. With the AAU program now in it’s 35th year, over 525 Wisconsin Viking Club and Team Wisconsin student/athletes have received Division 1 and 2 college scholarships worth approximately $50 million dollars, according to Noll. Thousands more went on to play Division 3 and NAIA basketball.
Over the years, Noll has earned several other awards including the Wisconsin AAU Hall of Fame Inductee in 2010, Walt Disney Sports Event of the Year Award in 2006 and the Milwaukee Women’s Sports leader of the Year in 1996. He has also won several National AAU Awards such as the President’s National Leadership of the Year Award in 1997, 2008, 2016 and 2018, National Media Promotion of the Year Award in 1999 and National Volunteer of the Year Award six times. In addition, he was honored by Team Wisconsin Girls’ Basketball Club in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Museum.
Since bringing AAU Girls’ Basketball to Wisconsin, Noll has been the Director of the Wisconsin Viking Club/Team Wisconsin Basketball, a role he still holds. Noll has coached teams to numerous state AAU basketball titles from 1987-2000 and coached his team to the AAU Women’s National Championships in 2004. Four of this year’s six inductees into the WBCA Hall of Fame Female Players category all played for Noll in the 1990s. Not only did his Wisconsin players travel all over the country for tournaments, Noll also took a team which included a couple of Colfax players to China!
Although Noll has turned over the Team Wisconsin Basketball program to his son Mark and daughter-in-law Kara, Noll has taken on several other AAU positions. After starting AAU hockey and football in 1996 from scratch he is now the National chair for both sports. Of the top 10 AAU sports, hockey is number six and football seven. He also holds five other National AAU positions and has no intentions of retiring, claiming he is having too much fun!
In his gratitude speech for his recent WBCA award, Noll thanked his daughter Natalie, son Mark and daughter-in-law Kara, and of course his wife Lydia who all had an integral part of the success of Wisconsin Viking Club and Team Wisconsin girls’ AAU basketball club.
“For all the coaches and athletes that play AAU basketball, kudos to them!,” he said. “They know the commitment and hard work it takes to succeed at the game we all love… BASKETBALL!” he exclaimed.