Bishop Noll had a great deal of losses last year at the end due to the IHSAA investigation that involved 6-foot-10 transfer student Lamous Brown who enrolled at Bishop Noll for athletic reasons. The boys basketball team seemed to deal with a swirl of emotions at the end of the season. When head coach Drew Trost left Bishop Noll to return back to his home state of Utah, his absence caused a shake-up in the basketball team. One of the main things that hurt Bishop Noll was the loss of their only senior starting shooting guard, Matt Sandoval. However, Matt Sandoval and Derrick Rose have something in common – they both will be returning to their homes this season. Rose will return to Chicago after his injury and play again this season. Sandoval will be returning back to Bishop Noll, not as a fan, but as an assistant boys varsity basketball coach.

“I’ve just always wanted to coach or help out with the program here at Noll,” said Sandoval.

He will get his chance this season to show that he can be a good alumn and coach.  The team this year is really excited to see a coach that they can connect to and relate a little more with, since a good amount of them have played side by side with Sandoval.

When asked if it was a dream to return to state this year as a coach, he said “I wouldn’t necessarily call it a dream to return as a coach, but it would be an amazing experience once again.”

Sandoval plans on the team doing very well this year and maybe even making a run.  He doesn’t think that the team has changed much since last year, since they only lost one senior.

When he was asked what tied him to the school, he stated “I don’t think basketball particularly ties me to the school. I don’t know really what it is. I guess there is no place like Noll.”