Record Setter: Noonan’s High School Career Was One For The Books

by Janice Penix

With two new state records in boys’ basketball this year, Lamar senior Ben Noonan now boasts an impressive seven career records. The senior undoubtedly left his mark on the Warriors’ basketball program.

“Ben is a great kid and a fierce competitor,” Coach Brett Sampley said. “He is a tenacious rebounder, scorer and a driving force for our team. He always gives his all from tip to the final buzzer.”

This season, Noonan set a new record for double-doubles in a season with 30 and for career double-doubles with 67. He also holds the record for consecutive double-doubles with 21, which he achieved during the 2024-25 season.

Noonan recorded 1,518 points and a state-record 1,211 rebounds in his high school career. He also accumulated 194 steals, 145 assists and 93 blocked shots.

Other records he holds as he concludes his high school career are rebounds in a season (487), rebounds per game in a season (14.9) and rebounds in a single game (26).

Noonan started playing basketball when he was in kindergarten, with his father, Bobby, coaching his Johnson County Boys Club (JCBC) team. He has played ever since.

“I always felt like I was the best on the court because my dad was pushing me,” he said. “Before JCBC, I had never played basketball at all, so we started from scratch, and I played every year from then on.”

On the court, Noonan said he found it easier to make friends.

“Around sixth grade, when I started developing friendships with the guys I was playing with, I knew it was something I was going to want to do for a very long time,” he said. “It made it easy to make friends. I like to stay to myself, really, but when you’re playing and there is chemistry there and you feel like you can be yourself, it’s nice.”

His dad coached him until the seventh grade, when he started playing for the Lamar Warriors and Noonan said his time working with his father was instrumental in his success as a school ball player.

“I feel like I’m the one he worked the hardest and he would critique me,” Noonan said. “But I also knew if I messed up, it was not the end of the world, because I was going home with him. But the coaching never stopped, even then.

“When I got in school ball, I felt like I couldn’t ask the same questions I used to ask my dad. I was scared of them judging me. But I worked and developed more, until I was good enough to where the coach couldn’t dislike me because I was a bad player.”

Even though his coaches changed over the years, his teammates – and friends – remained a constant.

“I’ve had a few of my teammates from little league until now,” Noonan said. “I always felt like they were someone I could count on, not just some random people out there on the court.”

It was especially memorable, he said, to be able to share a successful senior season with many of those teammates. The Warriors advanced to the 3A State semifinals, dominating many of their opponents along the way with double-digit wins. But Noonan said the season had a bit of a rocky start…The full story appears in the April 9 edition of The Graphic, found online and in businesses throughout Johnson and Franklin counties.

Ben Noonan