It’s been a year since Leah Nordin verbally committed to playing basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Shawano Community High School senior made it official in November by signing her National Letter of Intent to join the Badgers.
“Signing the paper was a big deal, like it’s actually here,” Nordin said Dec. 4 after scoring 29 points to help lead the Hawks to a 58-27 win over Waupaca. “I’m going to be off to college. It’s definitely a surreal moment. I knew I wanted to go there, but making it official was a highlight.”
Nordin will join a UW program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since the 2009-10 season and has a new coach in Robin Pingeton. She replaced Marisa Moseley, whose staff recruited Nordin. Moseley stepped down in March after four seasons with the Badgers.
Nordin said the coaching change didn’t affect her decision.
“When the coaching change happened, we saw it on the news. I got a text from (Pingeton),” Nordin said. “She just wanted to give me a call. It was different from other coaches, because she wanted to know who I was as a person. I don’t even think we talked about basketball. The rest of her coaching staff made me even more happy about going down there, and I made the right choice.”
“We’re really excited about Leah,” Pingeton said after the Badgers signed Nordin and two other Wisconsin players, Rice Lake’s Adaline Sheplee and Pewaukee’s Giselle Janowski.
“(She’s) a young lady that we think has a huge upside. She’s already breaking records for her scoring. She has great athleticism and size and moves really well laterally. We think she can play faced up or with her back to the basket and is going to have a great future here at Wisconsin.”
“My dad always told me that if I wasn’t going to go to school for basketball, where would you go?” Nordin said. “You’re going to get a great education in Madison. That was a big factor. It also reminded me of home, being on the lake. I live on the river, and it’s a beautiful campus. When I went there on my official visit, the girls and everybody just looked like sisters. The vibe was completely different and I just loved that.”
Before Nordin heads to Madison, however, she has some goals in mind in her final season of high school basketball.
“I’m definitely focused to just have fun with the girls I’ve been with,” she said. “I’ve been playing this sport for eight-plus years. I want to have fun with it, but also make my mark at Shawano. I want to have over 2,000 points and should get it in January. A big stretch I’m hoping for is 1,000 rebounds. I’m really hoping for that, too. I want to pick up where we left off last year and go even further.”
Nordin’s plan is to stick with Wisconsin as other players use the transfer portal and end up with other programs.
“I would love to stick it out and stay there with people who recruited me,” she said. “They decided to commit to me as well. I really want to stay there my four years.”
She isn’t sure if she’ll get playing time as a freshman or if she’ll redshirt.
“They haven’t said anything about redshirting, so I’m assuming I’ll play,” she said. “It’s up to me. I have to earn those minutes and that I’m going to be a force on the court.”
Nordin said Wisconsin recruiters noticed her while she played for the Wisconsin Blaze, an Appleton-based AAU team that includes some of the state’s top players.
“It’s definitely different from high school,” she said. “You have to be physical. You put it all out on the court during AAU, and that’s how I got recruited. I talked to Madison as a freshman and said, ‘I can actually do this, I’m good enough.’ Three years later, it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s actually happening, and I’m going to be away in nine months.’ I’m excited to get down to Madison but also scared because it’s a completely different environment.”
