CROOKSTON, Minn. - Basketball runs through Micaela Noga's veins. She is the daughter of John Noga, who has over 500 wins in a 34-year career of coaching high school girl's basketball at Parkers Prairie and Akeley High Schools. If that wasn't enough, Micaela's sister Sari played four years in the Big Ten at University of Minnesota and was the state of Minnesota's Associated Press Player of the Year in 2010. It has always been her self-proclaimed "thing" ever since playing pick-up basketball at home with Sari and her brother Kellen. Micaela Noga will soon see that basketball career come to an end, but it won't be without a ton of memories and a lasting impression she has left at the University of Minnesota Crookston, where she will forever be etched in history as a member of the 1,000 point club.

Noga has roots in the small town of Parkers Prairie, Minn., with just over 1,000 inhabitants in Otter Tail County in the lakes country of Minnesota. If she wasn't playing on her home court with her siblings, she was getting into the Parkers Prairie High School gymnasium, where she had 24-hour access due to her father John's standing as the successful coach of the girl's basketball program. From there, it turned into a successful high school career where she was a two-time All-State pick and a staple on the All-Little Eight Conference team. She also had a successful stint with the North Tartan Elite AAU team. For Micaela, it was the great high school teammates and AAU teammates she had, and her family that pushed her to want to be better and that instilled in her a love for the game.

Basketball was always something very comforting for me," Noga said. "I had so much fun playing high school and AAU basketball. I had a really great group of girls around me growing up that loved basketball just as much as I did. It helped push me to want to get better. I also had my sister Sari to look up to. I saw that she got to a high level of basketball so it helped push me to be able to get to that level too. I always pushed myself to be the best that I could be."

From there, Noga made her way to Minnesota Crookston, a program that was on the rise after winning 10 games the previous season but having a lot to look forward to with a strong team returning to the fray led by juniors-to-be Alexa Thielman and Katrina Moenkedick (Nordick). Ultimately, it was the bond she formed with the teammates she met on her visit and with her coaches, especially Head Coach Mike Roysland, that let Noga know that Crookston was the place for her.
"The biggest draw here was Coach Roysland," Noga said. "He was very welcoming and he really wanted me to come here. My sister and my family always told me to go somewhere you feel wanted. Minnesota Crookston was definitely the place where I felt the most wanted. The campus was great and so was the coaching staff. The team was very welcoming when I came here and it just felt like the right fit and worked out really well."

Noga's competitive spirit and ability set her up for playing time from the get-go. She was able to be a part of two of the program's best seasons as a freshman and sophomore. In her second season as a starter, Noga was a major part of the team's school-record 18 wins. She was also part of Minnesota Crookston's first two home playoff games in any sport at Lysaker Gymnasium. In addition, she has been a part of a school-record three-consecutive appearances at the NSIC/Sanford Health Quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. A big part of her experience early on was getting to learn how to be a leader and a great teammate under Thielman and Nordick, two of the program's best all-time players.

"Katrina (Nordick) and Alexa (Thielman) were definitely great role models and leaders when they were here," Ngoa said. "They are some of my best friends that I have to this day. It was very welcoming coming in and having that great success right away was awesome. Who wouldn't want that right away when they are coming in as a freshman and sophomore. It was really fun to be able to make history with those girls and the teammates that I have today. I have still enjoyed my journey even as I have gotten older and as my role has changed on the team. It is still fun and I still get nervous before every game. Even if we aren't winning as much as we did my first two years, I'm still on the grind. I still want to get better every day and I still want to push my teammates to be the best they can be. I think it has been a fun ride so far."

In the last two years, like Noga said, the Golden Eagles haven't found as much success but they were still able to make their way to the Sanford Pentagon again last year. One of the keys for Noga through the last two seasons has been falling into whatever role the coaches ask of her, something that has been ever changing during her time in the Maroon and Gold.

"Knowing your role and accepting your role is one of the biggest challenges," Noga said. "You have to be able to embrace it and take it to the best of your ability. I think I have done a good job at embracing my role, whatever it may be. I just have listened to our coaching staff on what they want me to do and what I need to do to be successful for our team. I think that being a good example and showing that I am doing what is best for the team sets a good example for what other players need to do."

Noga has embraced that role and that has led her to be a leader on and off the court for the Golden Eagles and an example for the younger Minnesota Crookston players. In addition, her playing ability has also shined bright for the Golden Eagles as she became the 11^th player in school history to reach 1,000 points earlier this season. Noga is now just 10 points away from moving past Stephanie Mayclin for seventh all-time and 25 points away from current Southwest Minnesota State University assistant Brittani Wiese for sixth all-time.

"I knew that it was a possibility coming into the season that I might reach 1,000 points," Noga said. "It has been a personal goal of mine and I knew that for my team to be successful that I would maybe have to produce more than I had in the past. It will be a great thing when I look back at my time here, that maybe we didn't get all the wins we hoped for that season but at the same time it was a fun experience. We had a lot of fun and be around a great culture of people. And in the end I got my 1,000^th point on top of it."

Noga is hopeful that her teammates for the last four seasons Emily Gruber and Isieoma Odor can join her in the 1,000 point club. Odor needs just 64 points to reach the milestone and she has another year to do so, while Gruber has at least three more games left and 65 points to reach 1,000 points.
"I would be ecstatic for Emily and Isy if they are able to join the 1,000 point club alongside me," Noga said. "That night that I got 1,000 points it was such a great feeling and people were so congratulatory and happy for me. I had people contacting me and saying that they were proud of me. It is definitely a good feeling to know that all of your hard work has paid off. I would love for Isy and Emily to have that. It would be cool to be able to say that four teammates I played with during my time here (including Nordick and Thielman) were able to score 1,000 points. And I think it will be another notch in history that we can remember for the rest of our lives."

Noga is heading into her final games for the Golden Eagles. A big drive for her through this last stretch as helping get her team back to the Sanford Pentagon for a school-record fourth-straight season.

"It is something that has been hanging over our heads," Noga said. "The ultimate goal is always to push further than we have been before. It is really a huge goal to get back to the Sanford Pentagon and I think we have as good of a shot as anyone else in the league. I think it comes down to who shows up that night and who wants it more. I think we have that underlying want to win in every game. I think we will get back. We have typically ended the season playing some of our best basketball. I think we will find that when we need to for the playoff game. That is always our goal and hopefully we will do it. It would be a great journey to look back on to say that I made it to the Pentagon four years and got to play in the NSIC Tournament."

Whether Noga and the Golden Eagles make it back, she still knows that her legacy will be more than her 1,000 points or the appearances she has helped lead Minnesota Crookston to in the NSIC Tournament. It will be much more about the type of teammate and great person she is.

"I want to be remembered that I worked hard for the team and I was a team player first," Noga said. "I was always a good role model and was always there if someone needed to talk to me. I also hope I am remembered as a good leader on and off the court. I just want to be the best person that I can be for my teammates, coaches and the university. That people remember me on a good note and that we made a good part of a history here at Minnesota Crookston."

It will be bittersweet when she walks off the court for the last time for Minnesota Crookston, especially since her time with her teammates, especially four-year teammates Gruber and Odor, will come to an end. She has actually been teammates on AAU with Odor since sixth grade and has known Gruber since before her college career.

"I'm definitely an emotional person," Noga said. "I think of all the great things that have happened to me and it will definitely hit me as my career comes to an end. I think Emily feels the same way. We have been through a lot together and I think we will both go out happy that we got to go through this experience. Not every person in the world gets to go through being a college basketball player. Isy of course it seems different that she gets another year here. It has definitely been a great experience that we have had here and it will definitely be emotional whenever it comes to an end. I wouldn't spend it with two other girls. They are two amazing people and I am happy I got to know them. I think we will have a friendship for the rest of our lives. We will always have that special bond together."

Noga will soon see her time on the hardwood come to an end. It has gone back to her time as a young girl in Parkers Prairie and has turned into some great memories for her on and off the court. Noga will now turn her attention to her life after basketball as she looks to return home to Parkers Prairie and work in the medical field, beginning with an internship this summer at the Sanford Health Parkers Prairie Clinic. She hopes it eventually turns into a full time job so she can be back at home, near her family. No matter what, even though she might not be playing the sport she loves any more, she will forever have memories, friends, a spot in the 1,000 point club, and a reputation as a hard worker and great person on and off the floor at Lysaker Gymnasium.