Strong Football IQ

Although Kyle Van Noy denies a leader, he favors Arizona State, California, Oregon, Colorado and BYU. "The Arizona State coaches told me that an offer is on its way," Van Noy said. "I love the whole program there. The facilities are really cool and they just built a new indoor practice facility, which is supposed to be amazing." He says that the Sun Devils are recruiting him for tight end.

Kyle Van Noy, the 6-foot-4, 202-pound four-star linebacker/wide receiver from McQueen High School in Reno, Nev., helped lead his team to the finals of the state championship and a 13-2 record. Van Noy finished his junior season with 69 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, seven sacks, seven fumbles caused and two interceptions. On offense, he had 805 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns.

"I have great lateral movement on defense," Van Noy said. "I have pretty good technique and good football IQ. On offense, I run great routes and I can get open fast. I'm also pretty big and can be explosive, but I still want to work on my speed. I want to be faster when breaking away and get better separation after the catch."

Van Noy says he can bench 255-pounds and squat 350. He credits himself with 4.6 forty speed and has a 32-inch vertical jump.

Arizona, Stanford, California, UNLV, Boise State, Colorado, BYU and Nevada have all offered scholarships.

Although he denies a leader, Van Noy favors Arizona State (no offer), Cal, Oregon (no offer), Colorado and BYU.

"The Arizona State coaches told me that an offer is on its way," Van Noy said. "I love the whole program there. The facilities are really cool and they just built a new indoor practice facility, which is supposed to be amazing."

He says that the Sun Devils are recruiting him for tight end.

The only school in Van Noy's top five that he's already visited is BYU. "My parents really like BYU," he said. "We're LDS and they really get along well with the coaches. I think their favorites are BYU and Cal."

Van Noy says he's not going to go on his Mormon mission.

The Cougars are recruiting him as an athlete, while the Bears want Van Noy as a linebacker. "Cal offers a great education," he said. "The coaches are really cool too and I like how they are switching to a 3-4 defense because I think I'd be able to fit in well."

Oregon is another school recruiting Van Noy for defense. "I really like their program," he said. "They are always winning and are a very competitive team. I haven't really talked with the coaches about an offer yet, but they seem very interested."

The only other school recruiting Van Noy for tight end besides Arizona State is Colorado. "They were the first ones to offer me," he said. "It was just after my sophomore season and they've shown me the most attention the whole time. They are definitely recruiting me the hardest."

The Buffs may be recruiting Van Noy the hardest, but are they doing anything different from the other programs? "Their marketing is unbelievable," he said. "They send me stuff everyday. Just yesterday they sent me this cereal box thing that had facts about Colorado all over it.

"Another time they sent me this top ten list of reasons I should go to Colorado," he said. "They are always doing stuff like that."

Growing up, Van Noy says he never followed a specific team. "I grew up liking certain players and just watching football in general," he said. "I don't have a favorite, but I just remember watching guys like Deion Sanders, Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Vince Young, Reggie Bush…guys like that."

Van Noy, ranked as the No. 9 weakside linebacker in the country by Scout.com, says he plans to take his time before making a decision. "I probably won't decide until after our season," he said. "I want to worry about my football team and not recruiting during the year. I'll probably pick one once our season is over during the Christmas break."

While Van Noy may still be very open, he admits that he's most eager to see Arizona State and BYU play next season. "Arizona State had a good year and have great coaches, so I think they can have a really great season coming up," he said. "BYU is also really good and I think they'll definitely be a top team next year."

Planning on majoring in either business or architecture, Van Noy says he wants to get his degree. "I want to get a good education," he said. "That's important.

"I also want to play and go where they have a good depth chart," he said. "I prefer a city-type environment, but I don't care about the weather. It can be hot or cold. It doesn't make a difference."

He reports a 3.5 core GPA and is awaiting his SAT results.