Sarasota Athlete of the Week: Noah Spenn

Sarasota Christian boys basketball, 17-10 as of Feb. 9, secured the FHSAA Class 1A-District 11 title Feb. 7 with a 54-49 triumph over Keswick Christian. Junior Noah Spenn was instrumental in the winning effort with a team-high 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting. On the 2025-26 season, the 6-foot-4 forward is responsible for 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Spenn is the Sarasota Athlete of the Week.

With regionals up next, what's the team's mentality for the road ahead?

We have a great group right now. We're very united as a team — everyone wants to keep playing. We've got three seniors, and I've played football with (guard) Justin (Brock), who's one of them, since seventh grade. And I've played football with (guard) Ben (Milliken) and (guard/forward) Travis (Miller) since eighth grade. We're all very determined to keep it together because after this, we're all split up.

How have you improved as a player since last season?

Overall, my confidence throughout the game (has improved). Last year, I was much more timid, being a sophomore coming off the bench. I was more scared and more anxious to take shots — more scared to miss — resulting in a lot of underperformance. This year, I'm just putting it all out there and doing everything I can. 

When and why did you start playing basketball?

I started playing basketball in fourth grade in Houston, Texas. My old school (Cypress Christian) had elementary sports leagues, so fourth grade was when it started for basketball. My dad (Sarasota Christian athletic director and football coach Jacob Spenn) grew up in Illinois, but he was a big basketball fan, like the same atmosphere from Indiana. With it being a family tradition, I just wanted to keep that on by playing the sport, and then realized I love it so much.

Why have you stuck with the sport after all these years?

I walk around places and people are like, "Do you play basketball?" I just love the game. Coach (Kevin) Bruinsma and assistant (Jon) Allen really pour into me — they really motivated me to keep going. Even when I was in eighth grade on JV, they saw the potential I had in me, so they really worked hard with me on the side. They motivated me to keep pushing through.

Also playing football and volleyball, how do you juggle so many sports?

It's definitely hard. The offseason was very loaded this summer — every summer, it's a lot. Just focusing on the sport I'm in is something I've definitely worked on. During this year, we did some throwing stuff during basketball season for football, and then at one point, we were like, "This is the cutoff, we've got to focus up." With academics, it's going to be a lot of late nights, but we'll get it done.

Is there a quote or piece of advice that you've always carried with you?

There's two main ones — they're our football quotes. The first one is, "The reward for hard work is more hard work." We won the district championship, we worked hard to win it and now we've got to work harder to win the (regional quarterfinal). Then we'll work hard from there. And then the second one is, "You can always do one more." You're tired, you don't want to play another quarter, but you've got one more quarter to go and you can do one more.

When you do have free time, how do you spend it?

I like cooking steak and smoking meats. If I'm smoking something, it's probably going to be a pork butt, and then I do an occasional brisket. Brisket scares me a little bit, because if you mess it up, you're cooked.

Finish this sentence. Noah Spenn is...

Disciplined.