Three locals, who stayed all four years, end their college basketball careers

In the current landscape of college basketball, talented players who stay at one school for all four years have become a rarity.

For old-schoolers like myself, that is hard to say, let alone to write, but such is the way the college game has gone. More money, going to bigger-name schools, and a desire for more playing time are usually the primary factors.

But three Chicago-area players, who all just recently finished their careers, bucked that trend. They went and played for the same school their entire careers. 

Surely, there were opportunities for all three to make a move to a bigger-name school. But they stayed.

Not only did they stay at their original schools, they also performed at extremely high levels, became team leaders and for sure made their hometowns and former high schools proud. 

Here is a quick look at the three:

Jake Fiegen – New Trier High School / Cornell University

OK, change the headline, because with Fiegen it was only three years, not four. He reclassified this year as a senior. But still, he stayed with and finished his career with the same school.

To be honest, at first I didn’t like Fiegen. As a high school junior, he was taking playing time away from my nephew, who was a senior. Not to worry, I got over it. 

You could see immediately, even as a sophomore, the talent he had.  He possessed not necessarily raw speed, but had basketball quickness, along with being an outstanding pure shooter, a good feel for the game, could defend, and he played hard. In short, Fiegen was a baller.

After a great New Trier High School career, where he was the Central Suburban League player of the year and led the team to some very successful seasons, Jake took his talents to the Ivy League and signed on with The Big Red of Cornell.

While not playing in his freshman year, he made an immediate impact as a sophomore, becoming a key player for The Big Red off the bench. In his junior and senior years, there was not a whole lot of “bench” for Fiegen.

He became an impact player and a starter as a junior, and then this year, as a senior, he really broke out. He scored 17 points a game while averaging 5 rebounds. As a senior, Jake was elected team captain and was selected to the Ivy League’s first team all-conference team. 

Even in just the three years, Fiegen will go down as one of Cornell’s best players in recent years.

Cooper Noard – Glenbrook South High School / Cornell University

He was originally planning to play at the Air Force Academy, but Noard made a late change and, like Fiegen, decided to go to the Ivy League and play at Cornell.

Noard was a scoring machine in his Glenbrook South High School days, making an impact as soon as his sophomore year. He set multiple records for three-point shooting while making all-conference and leading the Glenbrook South Titans to some of their most successful seasons ever.

At Cornell, Cooper’s progression was sure and steady—playing some as a freshman, even more as a sophomore, and then breaking out in a big way in his junior and senior seasons.

He became not just the Ivy League’s, but one of the nation’s, top three-point shooters, all while improving his defense and becoming a more complete threat on backdoor moves and driving for layups.

In his senior year, like Fiegen, he was a captain for the Big Red and led the team in scoring, averaging 18 points a game.

After the recent loss in the semi-finals of the Ivy League tournament, Cooper was in tears at game’s end while hugging his coaches and teammates. His tears were a testament to how much time and passion he put into his four years at Cornell, and knowing it had finally come to an end.

Nick Martinelli – Glenbrook South High School / Northwestern University

Much has already been written about Martinelli.

Let me add to the list.

I still remember when I first saw Nick. It was while I was walking upstairs around the Park Center track, and he was downstairs in the gym shooting around with a friend.

I had already heard about him and knew the Martinelli basketball family tradition.  Oldest brother Jimmy was an outstanding player for the Glenbrook South Titans, who went on to have a solid college career at New York University, and other brother Dom had a sensational high school career, one of the best pure scorers the Chicago suburban area has seen in recent years. Nick was the third and last in line.

I watched him shoot around and to me, honestly, he looked a bit lazy. Kind of sloppy in his body language and even a bit slow-footed. I thought maybe the third Martinelli was going to be a bust.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Read more on Chicago Star

• A Chicago-area star to watch during March Madness–and she is only a freshman!

• College basketball’s March Madness begins

• Get ready for punchlines as comedian Shane Gillis comes to Chicago for two nights of laughs

• The biggest winners and losers from this year’s 98th Annual Academy Awards

Like Noard and Fiegen (and his brothers!), Nick Martinelli went on to have a stellar high school career for Glenbrook South, making all-conference, all-area, and being known as one of the state’s top high school seniors.

But no big-time D-1 offers came his way, so he signed on to play for Elon University, a very good mid-major school in North Carolina.

Fate, though, stepped in. Elon’s coach left for another school, causing Nick to reconsider and then accept an offer to play at Northwestern, which had a spot open.

As the saying goes… “the rest is history.”

Signing on for a likely role as a complementary player for the ‘Cats, it didn’t quite work out that way.

He actually played some in his freshman year, and even then, in the little playing time he got, you could see that Nick had that something special. The ball found him, and he found a way to score—even in limited minutes.

In his sophomore year, he was more of a factor and was starting to gain a reputation in the Big Ten. That was just a preview of things to come.

As we know now, Martinelli became a star both his junior and senior seasons, becoming one of the top scorers in the nation and one of the Big Ten’s best players. His unique style, and ability to score in a multitude of different and creative ways, became legendary.

But while he was known for his scoring, Martinelli’s biggest gains were in other areas. He became a solid defender, built his body up to become quicker and stronger and—while never naturally vocal—became a tremendously respected team leader for Northwestern.

So much for the “lazy” kid I saw shooting around some ten years ago.

Like Noard, Martinelli left the court after Northwestern’s final game in tears and to the applause of a big crowd at the United Center.

Who knows where they go from here? Other basketball options may be possibilities, but Jake Fiegen, Cooper Noard and Nick Martinelli all made their hometowns proud. Great college careers, while showing the loyalty to stick around for the same school the entire time.