October, 2004 S M T W T F S           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31             Important Upcoming Dates: 10/16/04 - First NCAA practice 10/25/04 - First IHSAA practice	Region Roundball Review October, 2004 News & Updates    REFRESH to See Latest Updates Report News | Archives

Gary West Side seniors Michelle Hamblin and Isabell Rhenwrick will both begin the season with a few less worries about their futures. The talented duo have given verbal commitments to two quality college programs. Hamblin, a 5'11 guard/forward, has committed to Kent State head coach Bob Lindsay, while Rhenwrick will join the highly successful D-II program at the University of Indianapolis, coached by Teri Moren (Seymour).

Hamblin (left), who missed half of her junior season after tearing her ACL during the Gary Holiday Tournament last December, was averaging 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals prior to her injury. Kent State, the school that continued communicating and supporting Hamblin throughout her injury, was Hamblin's choice over other schools she continued to receive interest from, including Miami (Ohio), Stetson, Valpo and IUPUI.

Rhenwrick, who averaged 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season as a junior, also received interest from IUPUI, Butler, San Jose and several other programs before deciding on the Greyhounds.

Both players will play an integral part to what is expected to be a successful run by Ron Fisher's Cougars this season. Last season, West Side (22-3) qualified for regional level competition for the 12th time in the past 15 years. They were unable to advance to the semi-state, however, falling to Valparaiso 55-37 in the regional finals. A talented senior group, including Hamblin, Rhenwrick, Ashley Gates, Ashley Cheairs and Candise Mathews, together with expected transfer Shanee Butler from Gary Mann, are determined to make a run for Conseco this season.
Rhenwrick photo courtesy of strempkagallery.com.

We have added Rensselaer forward Leslie Rowan to our 2005 Prospects listings. The 5'10 forward averaged 17.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals as a junior, while averaging 51% from the field and 76% from the charity stripe. Rowan is currently receiving interest from Manchester and Earlham.

Earl Mishler, author of E.T. Pearl's Basketball Corner, is planning on adding some enhanced features to his site services this season, including player stats and game box scores. Check out www.etpearl.com to view more details.

From the staff at Valparaiso University:

If you missed the 2004 Valpo Coaches Clinic, get it on tape and watch it again and again. Highlighting the weekend were two presentations by Harry Peretta (Villanova), the only coach to beat UCONN in each of the last two years. Whether you have a small team and need to control tempo just to compete, or you have a talented team and are looking for that special something to take you to the next level, Harry Peretta's "5 Out Spread Offense" may be just what you are looking for. With the players from Indiana Wesleyan demonstrating, you'll get all the drills and teaching progression to input this system that even Pat Summit called to learn about. Also included is Peretta's zone offense and clinics from all three Valparaiso University coaches as well as Plymouth coaching greats, Dave Cox and Jack Edison. Get over 7 hours of coaching wisdom for just $20! Call Chris at (219) 464-5784 to order your copy today!

Indiana girls basketball news:
Is this the year of the East Chicago Cardinals? - The Times

Waiting is the hardest part (Lindsay Humes, Valparaiso)- The Times

School fire has Ingots shifting - Post-Tribune

College news:

Valpo Tabbed as Preseason Favorite in Mid-Con; Stangler and Boone Earn Preseason Honors - VU website
UE women ready to give Roberts Stadium CPR - Evansville Courier-Press

Preseason ranking a gift to ISU women's team - Tribune Star

Behind the Scenes with IU's Two New Faces - IU website

Louisiana center commits to Purdue - Boilerstation

Purdue women's scrimmage exposes likes, dislikes - Boilerstation

Webb eager to point the way - Boilerstation

Purdue women face questions - The Times

Women's Basketball Annual Media Day - PU website

Depth no longer dilemma (IUSB) - South Bend Tribune

Batteast Named Basketball News Preseason National Player Of The Year - ND website

No doubt: Ball in Duffy's hands (ND) - South Bend Tribune

Irish To Hold Open Practice And Autograph Session Saturday - CSTV

BSU baskeball star is academic star as well - Muncie Star Press

Hey, Dave ... read the letter, man (BSU) - Kansas City Gazette

Three Lady Vols named to Preseason All-SEC teams - CSTV

Other news of interest:

River Forest grad Cisneros member of champion wheelchair hoops team in Athens - The Times

Brown County standout Mara Freshour has verbally committed to Florida State. The 6'1guard averaged 18.4 points and 5.3 rebounds as a junior for Eagles head coach Mark Harmon. The AP All-State Honorable Mention standout helped Brown County to a 13-7 record in 2003-04. Freshour and the Eagles open their season on November 11 at Batesville and will face 4A power Bloomington North on November 23. Photo from the Brown County Democrat.

Former Highland standout and Big Ten Preseason All-Conference guard Jenny DeMuth of Indiana tore her ACL minutes into her team's exhibition scrimmage at the IU Midnight Madness last Friday evening. DeMuth, who tore her right ACL as a high school freshman, will be rehabbing the torn ACL in her left knee after expected surgery. DeMuth, who was the Hoosiers leading returning scorer (18.3 ppg) and rebounder (7.7 rpg), will sit out the 2004-05 season and have one year of eligibility remaining next season.

DeMuth deals with another ACL injury, with class - Post-Tribune
Midnight sadness - The Times
IU's DeMuth lost for year with injury - Indianapolis Star

After a strong showing this summer on the AAU circuit, Merrillville junior Brittney Moore has trimmed her long, long list of top Division I possibilities to 14 schools before the season begins. Still in the mix and making contact with the 6'3 frontliner nearly every day are Arizona State, Ball State, DePaul, Duke, Florida State, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Purdue, Valparaiso and Xavier. Moore is hoping to concentrate on the impending season with the shorter list before making a college choice after her junior campaign. Photo courtesy of strempkagallery.com.

Former New Albany standout and 2000 Indiana All-Star Abby Scharlow (right) has been named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year. The 5'8 UW-Green Bay guard, who garnered HL Tournament MVP honors as a junior last season, averaged 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, while leading her team to a 23-8 record, Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003-04. The Phoenix returns all but one player from last season's team and will add Indiana product and Southern Mississippi transfer Alex Webster of Crown Point to the roster in 2004-05. UW-Green Bay, coached by five-time Horizon League Coach of the Year Kevin Borseth, recently received recognition in Street & Smith's 2004-05 season preview as one of the Top 35 teams in the country. Also recognized by the Horizon League in preseason voting was Loyola guard Meskhenet Lands (Southport), who was named to the HL Pre-Season All-League First Team. Horizon League member Butler, which advanced to the Horizon League Tournament semi-finals last March, tied for third place in preseason voting after a strong finish in 2003-04.

Phoenix women favored to win conference - Press Gazette

UWGB women voted most likely Horizon League winners - News-Chronicle

Bulldogs Picked to Finish Third in Horizon League Preseason Poll - Butler

The Big Ten had its media day last week, announcing preseason team and player favorites by the coaches and media. Only the top three schools were listed in the coaches and media voting. The results were mixed, with Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota the top picks by the coaches, and Purdue, Ohio State and Penn State the picks by the media. Purdue super soph Katie Gearlds (Beech Grove) was named All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media, while Indiana's leading scorer, Jenny DeMuth (Highland), was named to the All-Big Ten Team by the media.

DeMuth Earns Preseason All-Big Ten Honor - IU website
The Chosen Ones - Purdue website
Big Ten women's race appears wide open to league's coaches - Indianapolis Star
Ohio State and Purdue Named Big Ten Women's Basketball Preseason Favorites - bigten.org
Indianapolis to host 2006 Big Ten women's tourney - South Bend Tribune

Former Princeton standout Jessica Williams will be transferring from Southern Indiana to Oakland City University after the fall semester. This will allow the 5'10 forward to compete in two sports instead of just one. She will join the softball team at OCU in the spring.
Williams to transfer to OCU - Princeton Daily Clarion

We have added South Bend Adams guard/forward Stefani King to our 2005 Prospects. If you would like to add any player to our prospect listings, please send your information to rrr@smallwebsolutions.com.

Other news of interest:
Purdue Awarded Second Annual SuperFan Cup - bigten.org
Favoring Curry - Purdue website
Curry receives extension - Indianapolis Star
Shereka Wright Becomes Newest Member Of NWBL's Hawks - Play Positive
ND gets about-face from recruit Adams - South Bend Tribune

In case you haven't been following along, be sure to catch the WNBA championship finals on ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m. (CST) tonight. Former Perry Meridian and Purdue great Katie Douglas plays for the Connecticut Sun, who will face the Seattle Storm for all the marbles. Douglas, who is a starter for the Sun, has been averaging 16.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game during the WNBA Finals. If Connecticut wins tonight, it will be their first ever title win in the WNBA. Photo from the WNBA website.

Street & Smith's has released its preview for the upcoming season. A number of present and former Indiana high school players are honored in the 2004-05 issue.

Making the S&S Girls High School All-America Teams are Amber Harris of North Central (Third Team) and Ta'Shia Phillips of Brebeuf (Sixth Team, highest ranked sophomore). Both have already verbally committed to Purdue. Listed Honorable Mention Midwest were seniors Stephanie Ford (Franklin Central), Mara Freshour (Brown County), Jodi Howell (Alexandria), Samantha Johnson (Jeffersonville), Cassie Kerns (Valparaiso), Stephanie Lynch (New Albany), Leah Phillips (Castle) and Whitney Thomas (Bloomington North). Juniors listed include Dee Dee Jernigan (East Chicago), Brittney Moore (Merrillville), Michelle Oswalt (West Lafayette) and Chanell Ridley (Concordia Lutheran). The only Indiana sophomore listed is Kristen Dockery (SB St. Joseph's). No Hoosier teams were listed in Street & Smith's Top 20 girls teams.
 
At the college level, both Notre Dame (No. 11) and Purdue (No. 14) made Street & Smith's Top 25 teams for 2004-05. Also, Jacqueline Batteast (ND/South Bend Washington) was named to the Terrific 10, while Shyra Ely (Tennessee/Ben Davis) was named High Honorable Mention. The Volunteers were named the top pick for the upcoming season. Also, Katie Gearlds (Beech Grove) of Purdue and Abby Scharlow (New Albany) of Wisconsin-Green Bay (at left above), whose team was also mentioned as one of ten teams in Street & Smith's Best of the Rest, were named Honorable Mention.
2004-05 preseason polls - ESPN.com
UW-Green Bay, Scharlow garner Street & Smith's honors - horizonwbb.com

A number of Indiana players are ranked in Rick Bolus' High Potential rankings for 2004-05. Bolus' highest ranked player is Amber Harris of 4A State Champion North Central, followed by Jodi Howell of Alexandria, Ta'Shia Phillips of Brebeuf, Tara Miller of North Harrison and Melissa Lechlitner of South Bend St. Joseph's filling out the top 5. Valparaiso senior Cassie Kerns and East Chicago junior Dee Dee Jernigan from the Region are listed in the top 12.

International High School in Indianapolis will be participating in Sectional 56 in 1A for the first time ever this season. The program, led by new head coach Evan Beauchamp, is in its second year of high school level competition. This season International will be fielding a combined varsity and JV team and is currently in the process of filling out its schedule for the upcoming season. Beauchamp hopes to have two separate teams next season. International is a school of about 80-100 students.

In case you missed it on our home page, we put together a musical photo and video collage for a little bit of fun to get ready for the season. Just click on the graphic to the right if you have a broadband connection. For slower connections, use the directions immediately following. (Requires Windows Media Player.) For best results, slower connections should right click on the graphic, select "Save Target As..."  to download the file to your desktop before playing. Total file size is 16.8MB. (Yes, it's worth the wait!)

Two former Indiana standouts have been named to the preseason Mid-American All Conference First Team. Kate Endress (Evansville Memorial) of Ball State and Cindi Merrill (Noblesville) of Miami (Ohio) have been named to their respective West and East Division First Teams in the MAC. Endress was also recently honored by BSU as a recipient of the 2004 Perham Indiana Women of Achievement Award for personal and professional accomplishments.
Endress Named to Preseason All-MAC Team - BSU website
Two RedHawks Earn Preseason All-MAC Women's Basketball Honors - Miami website
Committee awards two BSU seniors - Ball State Daily News

You may have noticed that we've updated our College Player Directory to reflect the current status of Indiana players in college programs all across the country. We've had a few players fall off the radar and are trying to ascertain their status. If you'll take a look at our Missing Players page, please let us know if you have any information about the whereabouts of these players so we can include them in our directory. Thanks!

We have added two players to our prospects lists. Senior 5'5 guard Jamie Schluttenhofer of South Newton now appears on our 2005 Prospects, while 5'11 sophomore forward Cassey Bowman of Waldron appears on our 2007 Prospects.

Notre Dame has finally announced its schedule for the upcoming season. The Irish have their work cut out for them, beginning with the Preseason WNIT opener on November 12 against Illinois State. Possible WNIT opponents for ND, providing they get past the Redbirds, are Duke, Ohio State and/or Arizona. After the WNIT, Notre Dame will face at least 12 teams that advanced to post-season play, including nine NCAA tournament qualifiers. One of those qualifiers, Valparaiso, will host the Irish on Tuesday, November 30, giving NWI women's basketball fans an opportunity to catch a great mid-week game.
Notre Dame Announces 2004-05 Women's Basketball Schedule - ND website
Women eager for busy schedule - South Bend Tribune
No negatives in Irish picture - South Bend Tribune
Notre Dame women aiming high for 2004-05 - Associated Press

The women's program at Valparaiso University will be holding a free coaches' clinic this Saturday on October 23. The free Coaches’ Clinic will take place from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. at the VU Athletic and Recreation Center. For the first three hours, coaches are invited to watch an open practice with the Crusaders, followed by an hour of questions and answers with VU coaches. For more information, contact Renee' Turpa at (219) 464-5146 or by email at rturpa@portage.k12.in.us.

Valpo to Hold Free “Parents Night Out” and Free Coaches’ Clinic in October - VU website

Former Jennings County standout Jenny Pfieffer has decided to leave basketball after all. After transferring from Kentucky to Louisville, the 2002 Indiana All-Star announced that she would not be playing for the Cardinals and head coach Tom Collen.

Player who left UK leaves Louisville - Lexington Herald-Leader

Former Jeffersonville standout Shelly Broughton (right) has been hired as an assistant coach at Weatherford College in Texas. Broughton was a four-year player at Olivet Nazarene in Illinois, where she graduated this past spring.
Lady Coyotes welcome new assistant coach - Weatherford College

It was announced late last month that Indianapolis has been awarded the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four in 2011. The tournament finals will be played in the RCA Dome on April 3 through 5.
Indy to get 2011 women's Final Four - Indianapolis Star
Women's Final Four in 2011 part of NCAA's plan for Indy - Indianapolis Star

The college season gets underway this Saturday, when practices will begin for all NCAA teams. Best of luck to all former Indiana high school players and coaches as they head into what should be an extremely exciting college season!

Indiana girls basketball news:
Former Horace Mann students wonder about their future - Post-Tribune
Son finds time on golf course with ailing dad therapy for both - Post-Tribune

Other news of interest:
Boilermakers will appear on TV six times in the regular season - CSTV
Cleveland center includes Boilers among final three - Boiler Station