Noel Criscuola, frozen in time, forever a Wolf hoops legend. (Photo courtesy Sharon Franzen)
The past, present, and future, all linked together.
Our ongoing efforts to track individual scoring totals for Coupeville High School basketball players pulls together multiple generations of Wolf hoops stars.
Once you’re in the fraternity, whether you played back in the program’s first season in 1917, or are suiting up for CHS this year, you’re part of something larger than yourself.
So, a day before the 2022-2023 season tips off, we pause to remember one of the greats.
Noel Criscuola, CHS Class of 1961, passed away at age 79 on Thanksgiving Day.
The younger brother of “Big” Mike Criscuola, the program’s first true superstar, Noel made his own strong impact for the Wolves.
He played, and scored, for the varsity team all four years of his high school run, compiling 298 career points in a Wolf uniform.
More than 60 years after his graduation, Noel still sits among the top 100 scorers all-time, currently residing at #97 among the 406 Wolf boys who I have been able to document rippling the nets at the varsity level.
After tossing in 20 points as a freshman, Noel added 46 as a sophomore, 70 as a junior, and 162 as a senior.
It’s very likely he would have scored more, except for playing alongside some of the program’s best bucket-makers.
Noel played three seasons with his brother Mike, #4 all-time in CHS boys history with 1,031 points, while also teaming with luminaries such as Denny Clark, Utz Conard, Gary Hammons, Denny Zylstra, and Sandy Roberts.
When he graduated in 1961, Noel was part of a 32-student group, the largest class to come through Coupeville High School in its first six decades.
In death, he will return to the prairie, and will be buried next to his father at Sunnyside Cemetary in a private ceremony.
Coupeville Sports 