After being a considerable part of the WSU team that had won an NCAA Tournament game two seasons prior, he had hoped to be the Raiders starting point guard last year. But then Trey Calvin announced — rather than pursue a pro career overseas — he was returning for a fifth season.
Calvin had started 61 games over the previous two seasons and was well on his way to a career that would end up with back-to-back first team All-Horizon League honors and 2,139 career points, eighth most in conference history.
And when Tanner Holden returned from a one-year dalliance at Ohio State for a fifth season and what would lead to a 2,100-point career as well, the die was cast.
The 2023-24 Raiders would be Calvin’s and Holden’s team to lead.
The previous 2022-23 season had been an 18-15 disappointment for all the Raiders including Norris, who’d played in 33 games, started 13, but averaged fewer minutes on the court than he had as a freshman and contributed just 3 points per game.
Each player ended that season with a meeting with head coach Scott Nagy and associate head coach Clint Sargent
“(Keaton) had had a disappointing sophomore year in a season where we all failed,” said Sargent, who took over as head coach this spring when Nagy left for Southern Illinois.
“Keaton’s a very vocal, direct kid and he wants to be the one who stirs the drink, not only in what we do on the floor, but in getting the guys connected off it.
“But with Trey around, there was just some handcuffing of what (Keaton) hoped to do. He’d have to take on a different role at a different position.
“Any and all options were on the table, but what typically happens in situations like that, some guys just decide to leave.
“But Keaton had a real loyalty to his teammates and the program, and he owned his situation and decided to develop and grow.”
In a move few players ever make, he decided to redshirt in mid-career and sit out a season to develop both physically “and especially mentally,” he said.
“When the game is taken away from you by a decision I made myself, it’s not easy, but I put a lot of thought into it,” he said. “I had a lot of conversations with my family, especially my older brother because he’d played a year in the Horizon League (at Oakland) before going to Loyola.
“They all knew what my situation was and what kind of player I can be.”
Hoops family
That Keaton Norris expects a lot from himself is understandable. He’s from a family of basketball achievers.
His grandpa, Dan Norris, was a hall of fame athlete at Arcanum High, then went to Kent State where he was a starting forward on the basketball team and a starting pitcher with the baseball team.
He later coached at Preble Shawnee and Versailles high schools and was an administrator at Convoy Crestview in Northwest Ohio.
Keaton’s dad, Brett Norris, was a prep standout at Versailles and Crestview and became the No. 2 all-time career scorer at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne with 2,280 points.
He would go on to coach Delphos St. John’s to the state basketball crown, assist at Capitol University and Upper Arlington High School and lead Hilliard Darby and Hillard Bradley high schools.
Keaton’s mom, Carrie, also played basketball at St. Francis.
And his older brother Braden made the Horizon League All-Freshman team at Oakland, before transferring to Loyola, won all-conference honors three seasons, and ended his career starting 157 of the 160 games he played in and scoring 1,513 points. He’s now playing professionally in Germany.
After averaging 11.5 ppg as a senior for Hilliard Bradley , Keaton came to WSU and played in 36 games with eight starts as a freshman. Accurate from three-point range in high school, there were times in his first two college seasons where he showed a reluctance to shoot.
“My first two years I just wasn’t there mentally like I should have been,” he admitted. “Taking a look at the next two years I could have, I decided I needed to get myself better.
“You never want to not play the game you love for a year, but I don’t regret it. I thought it was the right decision for me.”
‘Keaton chose his own path’
Although Sargent admitted he and the team wanted Norris to play last season, he said, ‘Keaton chose his own path…and now I’m thankful he did. He knows who he is and what he’s capable of.” Sargent said he’s watched a teenager turn into “a young man.”
“I can’t say enough how critical he is for our team,” he said. “It’s his leadership, his mentality, his day-to-day work ethic. And I use the word humility, too.
“He’s very blue collar. Serious. Driven. A big part of him on the court is his moxie. His confidence in being a leader.
“He has a real ability to make his teammates better. If you talk to the guys he’s grown up with in the program, they’ll tell you. He makes Brandon Noel better. He makes Alex Huibregtse better.
“He just understands some of their triggers and he knows what to do or say if they get in a bad spot. He knows how to uplift them.
“And he’s just scratching the surface of what we’re going to see. I think he’s going to get stronger and stronger as we get into our games.
“He’s going to add a ton this year.”
Roundball reality has changed for Keaton Norris.
About the Author