Frank Sinatra’s 1962 hit, ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ contains a lyric that goes “Still it’s a real good bet, the best is yet to come”. This proved to be true for Fordham Basketball, as they landed their fourth freshmen recruit in Noah Best. He joins the 2022 recruiting class for the Rams that includes Will Richardson, Angel Montas and Romad Dean.

Best, a 6’5” combo guard, hails from Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx is rated as a three-star recruit by 247sports.com with an overall score of 80 and a composite score of 83 (when rounded). He stands as a top five shooting guard in the state of New York, a top 60 shooting guard nationally, and a top 320 recruit in the entire nation. He earned Class AA third team all state honors this past season and averaged 19.1 points per game as a senior. Best played his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the legendary Riverside Hawks based in Harlem. 

Best stands out in the three point department, where he is widely recognized as one of the most impactful three-point shooters in the state. He’s also worked on his defense which always goes a long way in basketball and is a skill that Fordham values in the type of players they go after. Best also provides some off the dribble game with the ability to create for both himself and his teammates. 

In an article with zagsblog.com, Best said that his decision to choose Fordham went beyond the 94-foot-long court.“Fordham academics are on such an elite level, it puts me in a great position to do something after basketball,” said Best. He also becomes the first recruit native to the Bronx since the recently departed Chuba Ohams.

He also said in the interview that he picked Fordham because of how close it is to home. “I live right around the corner from my high school and now I live 15 minutes away from my college… Really want to win a championship for my city.”

Fordham ousted the likes of some of the top local Metropolitan area schools such as Rutgers University, Manhattan College, Columbia University, Bryant University, Princeton University, Saint Peter’s College and even the University of Illinois to land the Bronx combo guard. 

Local recruiting buzz is what the Rams have been missing for quite some time, and now Fordham has gained three metro area players in the span of eight months: Richardson of Teaneck, New Jersey, transfer portal snag Khalid Moore who is a native of Briarwood, Queens, and now Best. 

He’ll look to factor into the equation as another all around guard option who does three things that head coach Keith Urgo looks for in his players: three-point shooting, defense and playing within a team system. Best also adds to Fordham’s deep depth chart at the guard position. Minutes will be hard to come by, but his future impact on the program looks promising with his skillset. 

As the rebuild of the Fordham men’s basketball team continues, Urgo will have options to choose from come Atlantic 10 play. The roster versatility and diverse set of skills at his disposal will make the Rams a matchup nightmare for opposing sides. 

Adding local talent adds an element for future New York based basketball players looking to stay at home. Urgo and his staff have clearly made that a priority and can only help the program down the road to bring Fordham back to the winning ways of old.