"I'm going to miss the players and the coaches,'' said Roller, who spent three years as one of Keith Freeman's assistants.

Next year, she will also miss winning, something foreign to Ball State women's basketball.

While Valparaiso returns all five starters from an 18-11 season and adds hometown Indiana All-Star Jeanette Gray, the Cardinals have topped .500 just twice in 21 years.

"It's not something we're putting on our recruiting brochures,'' said Roller, her sense of humor evaporating the gloom.

When asked if Valparaiso and Ball State would be playing next season, she recoiled in mock horror.

"I hope not,'' Roller said. "They're going to be fantastic.''

Freshman frolicked

Roller is accustomed to winning, dating back to Crown Point High School's 1985 state championship season (her freshman year), and at Eastern Illinois.

As a high school freshman, she still remembers getting goosebumps running out onto the about-to-be-trashed Market Square Arena court for the state finals.

"I didn't expect to play much,'' she said. "But, shortly after the tipoff, (Indiana All-Star) Anne Kvachkoff sprained her ankle."

Hastily summoned, Roller shook the jitters long enough to score Crown Point's first basket.

"Fortunately, Annie was able to come back in or I probably wouldn't be talking about a state championship," Roller said.

She also remembers the thrill of receiving her medal after the Lady Bulldogs beat Wawasee 48-31 for their second state title.

Looking up into the stands as the ribbon was being placed around her neck, she saw her overjoyed parents (Ron and Sue) crying.

It was a defining moment for the Roller family. Her father still refreshes his memory by popping a tape of the title game into the VCR.

"When there's nothing good on television,'' Roller said with a laugh. "He also uses 'state champs, 1985' as his e-mail address. Not at all a proud father.''

Roller's family influenced her decision to move south. Her parents now live in Bloomington and she has relatives in Richmond.

She took with her a lasting impression of Tom May, her high school coach, who is still plugging away on behalf of the Bulldogs.

"It was like having a four-year coaching clinic,'' said Roller, who embraced May's philosophy during coaching stints at Gavit and Jennings County.

Given Ball State's lack of tradition, her decision to exit VU seems hard to understand, but the thought of pumping life into a deflated program intrigues her.

"I wanted to go somewhere where I could make a difference,'' she said. "The past is past. We've got nowhere else to go but up.''

Met at McCutcheon

Roller met her new boss, Brenda Oldfield, while recruiting at the McCutcheon (Lafayette area) holiday tournament.

"We met and I helped introduce her to Hoosier Hysteria,'' Roller said.

Like Roller, Oldfield is young and energetic. She comes to Muncie from Iowa State, which upset UConn last season to advance to the Elite Eight.

Something Roller and Oldfield are trying to correct has been Ball State's inability to recruit in-state talent.

The Mid-American Conference school's only homegrown athletes are Amy Zercher, who won the IHSAA mental attitude award after NorthWood won the 3A title; Eastbrook's Laurie Kitts, one of the state's leading scorers; Evansville's Shannon Copeland; and Rensselaer sophomore Hannah Zimmer, who didn't play last year.

When introducing herself to a high school coach in a high-profile program, Roller presented a business card. She was suprised to learn it was the first one he had received from a BSU coach in 11 years.

"It's something Keith's been doing at Valpo for years,'' she said.

The new Ball State coaches arrived too late for current recruiting, which immediately handicaps them.

"We've got six players coming back and four newcomers,'' Roller said. "We're kind of young.''

If hard work can make a difference, Gary native Terrilyn Johnson, who worked with Roller for the last two years, believes she can't miss.

"She's very outgoing, a positive person and a (basketball) workaholic,'' said Johnson, who is leaving VU to join the corporate world.

Valparaiso hasn't announced it officially, but Steve Bruce is expected to join Freeman's staff.