The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Dukes’ Diermyer commits to Bluffton
Wellington’s Noah Diermyer is continuing his athletic career at the next level.
The senior announced his commitment to Division III Bluffton on March 20 on Twitter.
“It feels good,” Diermyer said. “I always wanted to take basketball further than high school, and I just have to work out hard this summer and try to get some playing time. It was a big decision that I had to think and pray about a lot. Bluffton seemed right, and once I committed, it felt like a big relief.”
Diermyer averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and one steal per game while also shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc during the 2019-20 season.
Diermyer played point guard for the Dukes. However, he will be changing positions in college.
“This season I took the point guard role because we didn’t really have a point guard,” Diermyer said.
“I tried to pass the ball a little bit and I (threw) it up to (teammates) Mason (McClellan) and Ben (Bliss). In college, I’m going to be a shooting guard, so it’s going to be a little different coming off of ball screens.”
Diermyer isn’t worried about transitioning to shooting guard because it’s a position with which he’s familiar.
“It’s not going to be too much of a difference because I’ve always been a shooting guard,” Diermyer said. “This is the first year I actually played the point guard role. It just comes natural being a shooting guard. Point guard (is something) I had to adjust more to.”
Other schools were in play for Diermyer. However, he knew Bluffton was the right place for him.
“Hiram (College) was another one I was looking at. However, Bluffton’s record and their coaching staff ... I loved (those) a lot,” Diermyer said.
The 6-foot-2 versatile guard took home first-team Lorain County League and honorable mention Northeast Lakes District honors after leading Wellington to a 10-14 record this season. He helped lead the Dukes past Manchester in a sectional semifinal before falling to Waynedale in a sectional final.
“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to end,” Diermyer said. “We thought we had more goals to accomplish. (As far as) personal goals, me, Ben and Mason averaged a good amount of points, I got first-team LC8, Mason got secondteam LC8 (honors) and I thought we played pretty well.”
Diermyer is looking forward to getting to Bluffton’s campus. However, cancellations due to the novel coronavirus pandemic have prevented him from getting together with his teammates.
“(I’m looking forward to) hanging out with the team and building that bond with all of the players and coaches,” Diermyer said. “I was supposed to go up there for open gyms and to hang out with the team, but it’s been cancelled probably three times now.”
Wellington coach Dan Gundert was happy to hear about Diermyer’s commitment.
“I’m proud of Noah. He’s worked extremely hard on his craft,” Gundert said. “He puts in a lot of time and is probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. It’s good for him and it’s good for our program and for the younger kids to see guys that work that hard and (get) that reward.”
Gundert knows Diermyer meant a lot to the Dukes’ basketball program.
“He’s a kid who’s always in the gym and always working hard,” Gundert said. “He’s a kid who we could always count on to be at every workout and lead groups all the time at workouts. He’s definitely going to be a tough kid to replace.”