Diana Esterkamp Noles was born into a true basketball family. From the minute she was old enough to play ball, Diana’s older brothers began preparing her for what would ultimately result in a decorated career for the Otterbein women’s basketball program. A 2004 graduate, Noles helped the Cardinals improve each season that she donned a uniform, becoming part of a class that went 72-33 over four years and helped the program post its first 20-win season.

A surgical floor general, Noles is the only player in the women’s basketball record books to finish with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Her 674 career assists remain a school record and she ranks among the top 11 all-time in scoring, rebounding, and steals.

Noles busted onto the scene as a sophomore, starting every game and averaging an all-around 13.1 points, 6.6 assists, and 5.3 rebounds en route to her first All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) award. The Cardinals improved to 19-7 during her junior campaign, with Noles averaging 11.4 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.5 rebounds to attract first-team All-OAC recognition. That year, she became the first, and only, female basketball player in school history to record a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds against Mount Union.

Her career culminated when she led the Cardinals to a 23-5 season in 2003-04, advancing to play in the program’s first OAC Tournament championship game. Noles, with a nightly 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, and 6.1 rebounds, finished second in all of NCAA Division III in assists per game and notched a second triple-double by dominating Heidelberg with 25 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds. Her output warranted a third all-conference selection, which was only to be followed by an honorable mention All-American spot.

Diana finished each of her final three seasons leading the OAC and ranking among the top-5 nationally in assists per game, while also posting the best assist-to-turnover ratio (+3.0) of all conference players her senior year. She holds the school record for best three-point field-goal percentage in a season, making 48.6 percent of her attempts as a junior.

Noles returned to her alma mater in the summer of 2012 as the full-time assistant women’s basketball coach and is now the head coach of the Otterbein program.  She and her husband, Pat, a 2001 Otterbein graduate, have three children; son P.J., and daughters Charlee and Jayla.