America East Basketball: 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
12. Obadiah Noel
While UMass Lowell has only been a D1 program for the last ten years, there are some intriguing players on this program, including Noel of course. He’s a 6’4 guard from Frederick, Maryland who developed into a high-profile scorer for the River Hawks. This most recent season was UMass Lowell’s breakthrough, but Noel helped lay the groundwork, playing between 2017 and 2021 for the program.
After putting up decent figures as a sixth man-type player as a freshman, Noel was a full-time starter in the backcourt from that point forward. He shot nearly 52% from the field as a sophomore and hit 40% of his 3-pointers the following year. He was up to 18.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in that junior year and had even better scoring numbers as a senior in the season shortened by the national pandemic. Noel scored a career-high 35 points against Illinois State as a senior and ended his career on a high note, averaging more than 21 points per game as the River Hawks fell in the AEC Tournament finals in 2021.
Noel was twice voted First Team All-America East and was on the All-AEC Tournament team for that excellent ending to his career. One of the top scorers in the conference’s recent memory, he actually ranked 11th in the nation with his 21.4 points per game as a senior. His production could easily be forgotten, with UMass Lowell finishing under .500 in each of his four seasons, but Noel was an important weapon for Pat Duquette and this program, still very much in its D1 youth.