GREENVILLE – Noah Vanhorn will be a two-sport athlete in college as the Greenville senior committed to the Manchester University men’s basketball and track and field teams on Thursday.
Vanhorn, the son of Mike and Stacy Vanhorn, said he’s ready for the challenge of being a multi-sport athlete in college.
“It will keep me busy, and hopefully it will keep me in check with my grades and stuff and academics,” he said. “That way I’ll have more help, too, which is nice.”
Manchester in an NCAA Division III university that is located in North Manchester, Indiana, west of Fort Wayne. The Spartans compete in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with Anderson University, Bluffton University, Defiance College, Earlham College, Franklin College, Hanover College, Mount St. Joseph University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Transylvania University.
Vanhorn plans to study history education in college with a minor in coaching. He hopes to become a junior high or high school history teacher and coach after graduation.
The Greenville senior has family members who have attended Manchester, he said, and when he visited the university he loved the welcoming atmosphere.
“I’ve had a lot of family go there, and then we went on a visit and just the feel of the campus, just the people around it, everyone you meet is nice and friendly and welcoming,” he said. “And they have a real good education program.”
In track and field, Vanhorn will compete with the Spartans’ throwers. This season he’s Greenville’s top competitor in the shot put with a throw of 41 feet 1 inch.
Manchester’s men finished fourth out of 10 teams at the HCAC outdoor track and field meet while the Manchester women finished as the conference runner-up.
In basketball Manchester is coming off a 6-19 season. The Spartans were 4-14 in the HCAC.
Vanhorn said he’ll do whatever is needed of him to help the Spartans win.
“I love basketball so it’s just awesome to be able to compete at another level for four more years,” he said.
Vanhorn is a 6-foot 5-inch forward. During his senior season he averaged 5.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for Greenville.
“I think he’s still just scratching the surface of what he can be as a player as he continues to grow into his body and get stronger,” Greenville boys basketball coach Kyle Joseph said. “I think he has an opportunity to go there and work really hard and become a really good player at that level.”
Vanhorn missed four games during his senior season because of a knee injury, but he still contributed while he was out with his leadership.
“During that time when he was out he was just another coach on the floor at practice, encouraging the guys,” Joseph said.
“He’s a great energy guy. He has good size and can score with his back to the basket, be a physical defender in there, boxing out and rebounding. A great team player as well.”
