Wednesday, Sep. 10, 2008

Carly Noyes commits to WSU

Moses Lake senior post Carly Noyes, the two-time CBL 4A Player of the Year, has made a verbal commitment to sign with Washington State's women's basketball program.

Noyes made her decision after taking her official visit to the Pullman campus over the weekend. National letter of intent day is Nov. 12.

"Being there, seeing the new team they have, and knowing how good those coaches are, I know they're going to turn things around and that was something I wanted to be a part of," Noyes said.

The 6-foot-5 post was named the Herald's All-Area MVP last season after leading the Chiefs to the league and district titles and a runner-up finish at the 4A state tournament in their first-ever appearance. She averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game and was named the league's Defensive MVP.

She originally had visits planned to Gonzaga, UCLA and Utah, but she informed coaches at those schools of her intent to sign with WSU on Tuesday.

"Everything just felt right," Noyes said. "I wanted to play in the Pac-10, and I wanted to stay close to home. WSU has always been one of my top schools, and after taking my visit, I as sure that's where I wanted to be."

Noyes wasn't scared off by WSU's recent track record. The Cougars went 5-25 a year ago and 2-16 in conference play, marking the third straight year they finished last in the Pac-10 and the eighth time in nine seasons. They last had a winning season in 1995-96 and last made the NCAAs in 1991.

She is convinced the program is about to turn a corner under second-year coach June Daugherty, the former UW coach who made that program a perennial Pac-10 power. The Cougars have a top-25 recruiting class coming in this season.

"I have a good relationship with the coaches," Noyes said. "And being there, seeing the new team they have, all the new girls they have in the program, they're all so athletic. I just know they're going to turn it around."

Noyes already is Moses Lake's all-time leader in scoring (1,325 points), rebounding (677) and blocked shots (257) and is a three-year starter for the Chiefs.

"As a Cougar grad, I'm ecstatic about this," said Chiefs coach Matt Strophy. "She was part of the rebuilding process here at Moses Lake, and I think that intrigues her to do the same thing at Washington State.

"Also, making this decision early was, I think, a big stress relief for her. She has that type of personality that she wants to please everyone, and she's been stressing about having to tell somebody no. This is a big relief for her."