CHICAGO (May 6, 2019) – Braden Norris
(Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley/Oakland), a 6-foot guard who spent the 2018-19 season playing at Oakland University, is transferring to Loyola University Chicago, Ramblers head men's basketball coach
Porter Moser announced today. Norris, a 2019 Horizon League All-Freshman Team selection, will have to sit out the 2019-20 season per NCAA rules and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining at Loyola.
"We are thrilled to add Braden to our Loyola family," Moser said. "The son of a coach, he is an ultra-competitor, with an extremely high basketball IQ, and was one of the top offensive efficiency players in the country last year. Braden has deep range and a quick release but also has a knack of getting the ball to guys when and where they need it. Despite all of that, what really excites me is his tenacity on defense. He reminds me of
Ben Richardson watching him defend. He's all about winning and fits in great with our culture."
Under Moser, Loyola has had success with guards transferring in to the program, with each of the last two –
Marques Townes and
Clayton Custer – earning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as well as Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America recognition, and a third, Milton Doyle, claiming First Team All-MVC honors before going on to become the program's first NBA player in 30 years.
In his one season at Oakland, Norris made quite an impact, appearing in all 33 of the Golden Grizzlies' contests, while making 30 starts. One of six freshmen in the nation to be ranked in the NCAA top 25 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.75), he averaged 8.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and shot 45.2 percent (76-for-168) from the field, including an impressive 48.6 percent (67-for-138) clip from three-point range.
A three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week honoree in 2018-19, Norris recorded a pair of double-doubles last season and scored in double figures on 12 occasions. The point guard committed one turnover or less while playing 36 or more minutes in 11 contests. He connected on 6 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 18 points at No. 8 Michigan State and netted a season-high 23 points, on 7 of 10 shooting from long distance, while adding 10 assists, against Detroit Mercy.
Norris ranked in the top six in the Horizon League in assists per game (second – 5.2), total assists (second – 173), minutes (third – 1,176), total steals (fourth – 47), minutes per game (fourth – 35.6), and steals per game (sixth – 1.42) last season.
Loyola, which has won 52 games over the last two years, is coming off a 20-win season and its second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship. Norris joins an impressive recruiting class that includes incoming freshmen Marquise Kennedy (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice), Tom Welch (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) and Paxson Wojcik (Charleston, S.C./La Lumiere), as well as junior college transfers Keith Clemons
(Norcross, Ga./Wesley Christian/Vincennes) and Jalon Pipkins (Paris, Texas/Paris/Paris JC).
