{"id":7692,"date":"2025-04-27T14:33:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T14:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7692"},"modified":"2025-04-27T14:33:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T14:33:52","slug":"2024-25-newstribune-boys-basketball-player-of-the-year-princetons-noah-laporte-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7692","title":{"rendered":"2024-25 NewsTribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Princeton\u2019s Noah LaPorte – Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"


Princeton senior all-stater Noah LaPorte had a memorable senior season, breaking the school’s all-time scoring record and leading the Tigers to a sectional final for the third straight year. He is the NewsTribune Player of the Year for 2024-25. <\/span>(Mike Vaughn)
A conversation on a youth soccer pitch led Noah LaPorte to great heights on the basketball court.
He had just played a Princeton Youth Soccer game against Jordan Reinhardt and was approached by him and his dad, John, about playing on their travel basketball team.
\u201cI played basketball when I was younger at the Met, but it wasn\u2019t anything too serious. Jordan and John asked me after a soccer game about playing basketball, and I said, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019ll try it.\u2019
\u201cHaven\u2019t looked back since,\u201d LaPorte said.
LaPorte was destined for stardom in basketball the moment he picked it up. He went from a bit of an understudy role as a sophomore starter on Princeton\u2019s<\/a> 2022-23 No. 1-ranked sectional finalist to the leading role on two more Sweet 16 teams.
This season, LaPorte averaged 20.3 points, 12 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks and about a dunk a game.
Along the way, he became Princeton\u2019s<\/a> all-time scoring leader, garnering all-conference and all-state honors.
For all of his accomplishments, LaPorte is the 2024-25 NewsTribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
\u201cWhat more could you ask for of a kid?\u201d Tigers coach Jason Smith said. \u201cHe was a leadership-by-example kid and would speak up when needed to. He took pride in being the guy that would outwork you.
\u201cWhen you have talent to go with that, that\u2019s a perfect combination. He\u2019s so humble and kind. You just don\u2019t find too many Noahs at his age that has the talent that he does with the attitude and humility he has. It\u2019s pretty special.\u201d
Princeton senior all-stater Noah LaPorte had a memorable senior season, breaking the school’s all-time scoring record and leading the Tigers to the sectional finals for the third straight year. He repeats as the BCR Player of the Year in 2024-25. <\/span>(Mike Vaughn)
Smith said LaPorte\u2019s absence missing five games \u2013 all losses \u2013 with an early-season ankle injury showed his importance in many ways.
\u201cHe meant so much to our team in just his presence and leadership alone,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe took a lot of pressure off of so many others because of the attention he would get. He was a starter on three straight regional championships and played a significant role in all three. He will definitely go down as one of PHS\u2019 all-time greats.\u201d
LaPorte said it was a great senior season, although it didn\u2019t end the way he wanted it to.
\u201cSo many great memories, and I had a great time playing with the kids I grew up with and winning a lot of games and playing for my coaches,\u201d he said. \u201cJust a great experience overall. One of the best seasons I\u2019ve ever been involved with.\u201d
One shining moment LaPorte will never forget is when he broke Grady Thompson\u2019s two-year-old school all-time scoring record with the game-winning, last-second shot to lift the Tigers to a 53-51 win over Byron. He needed 27 points to tie the record and got 29.
\u201cThat was unreal. Kind of crazy how it drew up to be that exact moment because I missed five games,\u201d he said. \u201cI could have broken it earlier, or I could have broken it later, but it happened at that exact bucket, at that exact time, which is crazy. It was like a movie.\u201d
He went on to score 145 more points over the final eight games, bringing his school record to 1,616 career points.
LaPorte said he learned how to \u201cbe a basketball player and control the pace of the game\u201d playing with Thompson and Teegan Davis, both 1,000-point scorers from the Class of 2023 during his sophomore year when the Tigers were ranked No. 1 in Class 2A for much of the season.
\u201cEvery year I\u2019m just trying to get better and learn from my mistakes,\u201d he said. \u201cLast year, I kind of let things get under my skin a little bit. This year, I tried to let things go. Think I did a better job, but there\u2019s always room for improvement. It\u2019s not going to get any easier from here on out.\u201d
Princeton senior all-stater Noah LaPorte had a memorable senior season, breaking the school’s all-time scoring record and leading the Tigers to the sectional finals for the third straight year. He repeats as the BCR Player of the Year in 2024-25. <\/span>(Mike Vaughn)
Princeton fans will remember LaPorte for many things on the basketball court, especially his dunks. He aimed to please.
\u201cI know the crowd and my teammates fed off those,\u201d he said.
After he takes his final swings for the Princeton baseball team this spring, LaPorte will continue his athletic endeavors playing in Big Ten football stadiums for Northwestern University. While he will miss playing basketball, he knows there are bigger things ahead for him.
\u201cThere\u2019s always certain ways to look at things. I may never play basketball again, but I\u2019m going to play college football. I\u2019m going to go have fun,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just how you look at things. If you think of it in a negative way, it\u2019s going to be negative. But if you think about it in a positive way, it\u2019s going to be positive. That\u2019s kind of how I think about it.
\u201cI don\u2019t regret anything when it comes to basketball. I\u2019ve loved every moment with my friends.\u201d
LaPorte said his parents always thank John Reinhardt for asking him to play on their basketball team.
Coach Smith often thanks the Reinhardts, too.
Princeton’s Noah LaPorte aimed to please fans and teammates with his patented slam dunks. <\/span>(Mike Vaughn)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Princeton senior all-stater Noah LaPorte had a memorable senior season, breaking the school’s all-time scoring record and leading the Tigers to a sectional final for the third straight year. He is the NewsTribune Player of the Year for 2024-25. (Mike Vaughn)A conversation on a youth soccer pitch led Noah LaPorte to great heights on the basketball court.He had just played<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t