Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1989
- Class:
- 1973
One of the standout performers on what was arguably the best team in the history of Marshall basketball, Randy Noll played two seasons for the Thundering Herd after transferring from the University of Kentucky. In one of his first games at Marshall, the Villa Hills, Ky., product boosted the Thundering Herd into the Associated Press Top 20 poll when he scored 33 points and pulled down 21 rebounds as Marshall beat No. 8 St. John’s 110-107 in the Marshall Memorial Invitational.
Featuring Noll and fellow Hall of Famers Tyrone Collins, Mike D’Antoni and Russell Lee, all of whom averaged more than 15 points per game, Coach Carl Tacy’s Thundering Herd remained in the poll the rest of the season on the way to a 23-4 record, rising as high as No. 8 during the season and finishing at No. 12 in the final poll after an NCAA Tournament berth, both the best numbers in school history. Noll averaged 16.8 points per game and led the team with 12.6 rebounds per contest.
Noll was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the ABA’s New York Nets after his junior season, but chose to return to Marshall for his senior year and led the Herd with 19.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Following his senior season, he was again selected in the NBA Draft, this time as a fifth-round pick of the Buffalo Braves, and played professionally for several seasons in Europe. Noll was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.
