Highland Heights, KY – Northern Kentucky has leaned into finding under the radar guys who have an international flair this offseason, bringing in several guys from across the globe! This is installment #2 of Meet the Norse, presented by Sansom Sports Media! Today, we’re getting to know a bit more about Noah Pagotto.
Noah grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, around 53 miles south of Sydney, a coastal city and the start of the NSW South Coast. His hometown is likely the driver that led Noah to love the beach and being around the ocean. Perhaps the most well known Wollongong natives are Emma McKeon (Australia’s most decorated olympian), and Alexander “The Volk” Volkanovski, a former UFC Featherweight champ.
When Noah decided to play college, he took a massive chance on himself, traveling around 8,408 miles to get to Canyon, Texas and hoop at West Texas A&M. He spent the 2023-24 season and 2024-25 season playing for the DII Buffaloes. His career at West Texas saw him convert on 22-84 3-point attempts, showing that was not a significant part of his game. He did show significant year-over-year improvement at the free throw stripe, going from 59% to 71% while in Canyon.
He played in 35 games year 1, starting just once and coming off the bench the other 34 times, averaging 16.5 minutes per game. He scored 5.5 points, pulled down 3.7 rebounds per game, while blocking 11 shots and recording 14 steals. He did have 27 turnovers on the year and committed 58 fouls, fouling out just one time. His highest scoring performance came on 11/30/2024 @ Arkansas Fort Smith, where he played 24 minutes, scoring 18 points, pulling down 5 rebounds, blocking a shot and recording a steal. He did have 1 double double on 11/25/2023 when he scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds @ Oklahoma Baptist.
In year 2, Noah started every single game for the Buffaloes, playing 28.2 minutes per game; he averaged 13.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1 assist per game. He also blocked 15 shots, recorded 22 steals, and committed 89 fouls (fouling out 4 times). In 2024-25, he put up 1 double double, however, he had 11 games with 8 or more rebounds, showing his true potential to clean up the glass. From a scoring lens, he had 4 20-point+ performances, and two games with 26 points. On 1/9/2025, at Angelo State, he played 28 minutes, putting up 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. In this outing, he went 3-5 from deep and 3-5 from the FT line. This performance is significant as it shows that while he’s not known for stretching the floor, he can get hot and stretch the defense out a bit!
Noah transferred up to Division I after his second year, landing at East Texas A&M and playing in the Southland Conference. Per Kenpom.com, the Southland was the 18th best conference in the country last year, while the Horizon was 19th — though that gap is a bit skewed, since the Southland is dominated by two programs (McNeese and Stephen F. Austin). East Texas A&M finished 11-21 and last in the conference last season, good for 288th nationally per Kenpom.com. NKU, as we know, finished 20-14 last year, good for 176th in the nation.
Noah averaged 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and an assist per game. He started 22 games last year, appearing in all 32 games and averaging 26.1 minutes. One thing that jumped off his page last year was that he had 32 assists to 32 turnovers this last season, and while that’s not an eye popping stat, it’s significantly better than his sophomore campaign, and shows that he’s taking care of the ball well and putting players in position to score. Noah had 18 blocks and 28 steals, continuing the trend of versatility on the defensive side of the ball!
Noah’s best game last year came on 2/21/26 vs. Incarnate Word, where he put up 26 points, 8 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and a blocked shot. He hit 2 threes in this game, while going 2-2 from the free throw line and 11-14 from the field overall. His six offensive rebounds were a season high for him and helped propel East Texas A&M to a victory! In the introduction, I mentioned that Noah’s 3-point shot was not a significant part of his game and his percentage had been sub-30. However, last year, Noah took 51 threes, making 19 of them, good for 37%! Being able to threaten the defense from deep is significant, as it helps open the paint up for the dynamic guards that NKU has brought in this year. Noah also shot 77% from the free throw line (63-82) last year, which shows consistency and will help Noah stay in the game when the inevitable Horizon League ref gets whistle happy like we’ve all seen.
Why all the numbers? They show a clear progression. He went from DII to DI last season, and did so smoothly. Many times, guys take that jump and struggle, but Noah showed that despite the increase in competition, he was able to hold his own. Now, he’s jumping to another program with the intention of keeping that exact same development and consistency going.
I like to try and give some comparisons to former Norse players when I can, and I try to keep it to last year’s team. Noah feels like he’ll be tasked to help take over some of the impact that LJ Wells provided for the Norse. LJ’s 15/7/2 average last year is higher scoring than what we’ll likely see from Noah, but Noah can absolutely follow the path LJ always talked about: get the rebound, and the scoring will come. NKU had to replace practically its entire roster this year, and I expect to see Noah’s versatility get utilized in several different ways moving forward this season!
Exclusive Noah Pagotto Q&A
Noah was kind enough to answer a handful of questions for me. I just want to say thank you to him for taking the time to answer!
Q: What made NKU stand out when you were in the portal? A: I thought the NKU play style and basketball would fit my game very well and the coaches and players were very welcoming.
Q: How was the portal recruitment different from coming out of high school? A: Coming out of high school I didn’t have a lot of schools recruiting me as I was in Australia, so it was a lot harder to get seen by coaches. So after playing in America for 3 years now, the portal has been a lot easier.
Q: Who deserves the most credit for getting you to this point? A: I think my parents mostly, and then my club coach back home in Port Macquarie, Nick Proud, for teaching me how to play basketball.
Q: What’s one thing about your game you’re most excited for Norse fans to see? A: How versatile I am and how hard I play.
Q: What do you want fans to know about you that has nothing to do with basketball? A: I love the beach and being around the ocean.
Q: Have you tried Skyline yet? A: I have not.
If you’ve ever needed better online security and wanted to save a ton of money while doing so, make sure you check out this link! We’ve partnered with NordVPN to get you 65%+ off at the link below. Sansom Sports Media is happy to partner with them to keep our connections safe, and you should consider it as well!
https://go.nordvpn.net/aff_c?offer_id=1002&aff_id=147031