A few years ago the University of Denver trademarked the phrase “Lacrosse Capital of the West.” Was this a prescient move or a hopeful strategy that happened to pan out? What may have started as wishful thinking has turned into a reality. Is there another city west of the Mississippi that can boast as much high level lacrosse as Denver? With DU, the Colorado Mammoth, the Denver Outlaws, and in the summer of 2014 the FIL World Championship, not to mention the annual Vail Shootout, great lacrosse is played year-round in Colorado.
As of last week all of these things have one common element: Jeremy Noble.
Let’s proceed in chronological order to find out how Noble became one of Canada’s primary ambassadors to the sport of lacrosse in Denver.
In hindsight it should come as little surprise that the University of Denver made its first Final Four appearance in 2011, Noble’s freshman year with the Pioneers. Over the course of the next three seasons Noble would solidify himself as an important cog in the Pioneers’ game plan, playing just as steady between the lines as he did on offense.
| Year | Games | Goals | Assist | Points |
| 2011 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| 2012 | 16 | 25 | 21 | 46 |
| 2013 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| 2014 | 19 | 13 | 36 | 49 |
| Total | 64 | 67 | 80 | 147 |
| Average | 16 | 16.75 | 20 | 36.75 |
| Per Game Avg | 1.05 | 1.25 | 2.30 |
Those numbers are impressive, and if it weren’t for an injury during his junior year which cost him a few games they would likely be even better.
Noble grew with the Pioneers team, and both player and team flourished in a symbiotic relationship. It’s difficult for the local fans not to get behind the guy who helps run the offense and hustles between the lines, and runs the wing on faceoffs.
If that were the end of Jeremy Noble’s tenure in Denver it’d be one thing, But it’s just the beginning.
Noble has the rare distinction of being selected in the first round in both the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse entry drafts. The Rochester Knighthawks selected Noble second overall in the NLL, and the Denver Outlaws snagged him with the sixth overall pick in the MLL.
The financial limitations of professional lacrosse often makes for interesting player transactions. It can lead teams to pick “hometown” players ahead of their projected draft positions because the team knows that players are more likely to commit to the season. It also leads to teams shipping players closer to “home” so they can balance the league with their day jobs (like how Boston traded Cam Flint to the Outlaws). This is the reality of professional lacrosse today.
It was little surprise then that the Outlaws took Noble in the 2014 entry draft. He had everything going for him: one of the top prospects in the draft, and he was a “local” guy. The Outlaws were no stranger to having Canadian players on their roster either.
In his first season with the Outlaws Noble played in six contests and registered three assists. This may seem like a drastic production failure, but in the MLL Noble primarily took the on the role of a short stick defensive midfielder. The transition was virtually seamless for the Orangeville, Ontario native, and watching him play you would think SSDM was his natural position. Noble also had instant chemistry with the other former Denver Pioneers and fellow Canadians on the Outlaws’ roster. Being a grinder on a championship team is a sure-fire way to ingratiate oneself to local fans, and that’s exactly what Noble did.
The brief hiatus in the middle of the MLL season in the summer of 2014 brought with it the FIL World Championship. Noble, a familiar commodity to Team Canada Assistant Coach (and DU Associate Head Coach) Matt Brown, performed another about-face during this tournament. A midfielder by trade, Brown demonstrated his confidence in Noble by moving him down to attack. The shift in field position and responsibility rolled off Noble like water off a duck’s back – in other words you would never know attack wasn’t his natural position. For his efforts, Noble earned a gold medal at the World Championship along with the rest of the Team Canada squad.
Following successful MLL and FIL campaigns Noble also spent time winning the hearts and minds of Denver’s youth lacrosse players while serving as a coach for the LXTC Lacrosse Training Center. LXTC is a high level youth lacrosse program run by DU coaches Bill Tierney, Matt Brown, and Trevor Tierney.
Although the Rochester Knighthawks drafted Noble No. 2 overall, rumors emerged almost immediately about the Mammoth’s desire to acquire him. When its players reported for training camp in the winter Noble was not so conspicuously absent from the Knighthawks camp. As it turns out, the Mammoth weren’t the only ones who wanted Noble to work closer to home. It seems that Mr. Noble himself shared these feelings.
On Friday, March 13, the Knighthawks confirmed that they had reached an agreement with the Colorado Mammoth for Jeremy Noble. The K-Hawks received Colorado’s third round pick in 2015, and their first round picks in both 2016 and 2017 (the Mammoth also received Rochester’s third round pick in 2017).
On the surface the price tag seems hefty, but whether that’s actually the case won’t be determined for several years still.
In the near-term it’s clear that the pick-up for Colorado is paying dividends. In his first game with the Mammoth, just two days after being traded, Noble racked up seven points on two goals and five assists en route to a win over the Minnesota Swarm in front of a hometown crowd.
Noble has been a fixture of the Colorado lacrosse community for the past five years and has proven to be one of the most exciting, adaptable, and likeable players in the process. He embodies hard work, self-sacrifice for the team, and elite athleticism. Wherever Noble goes, the wins just seem to follow. It’s difficult not to love a winner, and right now, in Colorado, Noble is playing with house money.
