October, 1998
News
| News thru Saturday, October 31, 1998 |
We have received word
that senior standout Amy Muelhausen
(5'8" G) of Logansport has accepted a scholarship offer to play at
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) next year.
Muelhausen, who has been the starting point guard for the 4A Berries since
her sophomore year, will bring her outstanding defensive and ball-handling
skills to the Division I Jaguars.
The Valpo camp was probably abuzz at practice this morning
with news that Hoosier Basketball Magazine has ranked the Vikings
fourth in their state pre-season rankings. Valpo, led by the veteran tandem
of Jeanette Gray
and Erin Sampsel,
will need to provide leadership for an inexperienced, but talented, supporting
cast. The HBM will not be available locally until later next week, but
according to a Connersville
News-Examiner article, the top five teams are as follows:
1. Ben Davis
2. Connersville
3. New Albany
4. Valparaiso
5. Martinsville
Interestingly, the Top 12 Poll here at the
Region Roundball Review also matches four of the top five in Ben Davis,
Connersville, New Albany and Martinsville. But replacing Valpo in the RRR
Top 12 at No. 4 is Kokomo. In the RRR poll, Terre Haute South ranks 6th,
Valpo 7th, Rushville 8th, Center Grove 9th, Evansville Memorial 10th, Northwood
11th and Jeffersonville 12th.
Michael Detcher from Oxford, Ohio,
a loyal and devoted Miami University RedHawks fan, has sent us the following
report about former Hoosier players now at MU:
Miami's Hoosiers Must Step Up - With only eight scholarships players on the roster, the Miami University RedHawks must get significant contributions from three former Indiana high school players. Jamie Stewart (Rushville) was Honorable Mention All-MAC last year and new coach Maria Fantanarosa needs to get even more from her this year. Fantanarosa described Stewart as being too unselfish in her point guard role and wants to see Jamie, who hit 39.6% of her 3-point tries last year, shooting the ball more this season. 1997 All-Star Jenny Martin (Center Grove) averaged 14 minutes a game last year as a freshman and will probably be the first player off the bench. Miami needs Martin's all-out hustle and sound fundamentals in the lineup. Lapel's Lindsay Winkler has gotten preciously few minutes in her first two years in Oxford but that should change this year. Fantanarosa described Winkler as "one of those players who will basically walk through walls for you". She's one of only two RedHawks 6-foot or taller.
If you'd like to follow the RedHawks this season, you can view their web site at http://www.muohio.edu/sportsreport/Basketball.html.
| News thru Friday, October 30, 1998 |
Today, the Kokomo
Tribune is carrying an article
about Kokomo senior Tia Davis
(5'9" G/F) and her choice to attend Toledo of Ohio. The most interesting
aspect of the article dealt with the fact that because Tia excels in academics
as well as athletics, she had more options open to her in the college selection
process. Something for all of you players out there to keep in mind.
Speaking of the college selection process, we hope all
of you will drop in at our new College
Bound area at the Region Roundball Review. You will find some truly
helpful information there if you or someone you know is considering pursuing
college basketball scholarship opportunities. There are a lot of features
there that are interesting to the non-college bound as well, including
some great links to Indiana college women's programs, and a listing of
all of the seniors who have made verbal commitments. If you get a chance,
hop over and take a look.
University of Southern Indiana senior Cathy
Tepool ('94 North Posey) will most likely
be missing her senior year of college basketball. Tepool, the Lady Eagles
6'1" starting center, is still recovering from back surgery she had
this summer to correct a lingering back problem she has endured since her
freshman year at USI. Although it was known early on that Tepool would
not be able to play, her teammates voted her in as a team co-captain for
the upcoming season. Coach Chancellor Dugan will be looking to sophomore
Leah Mercer (5'11''
Evansville North) and freshman Casey Hughes
(5'10" North Knox) to fill in for Tepool.
USI is looking for their fourth consecutive conference championship this
season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. They are also hoping to repeat
their successful season of 1996-97, when they reached the championship
game of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
| News thru Thursday, October 29, 1998 |
Several days into the
practice season, Hanover Central girls varsity coach Tim
O'Connor was mysteriously relieved of his
coaching duties. When the JV coach quit due to being passed over for
the head coaching job, the Wildcats were left without a coach for the upcoming
season. Former Hebron boys coach Denny Foster
heard about the opening, decided to take and
shot and was hired Tuesday to pick up the girls coaching duties. Foster,
who still teaches at Hebron, was the boys coach there for 12 years before
being let go this past May. His record at Hebron was 161-110, and he enjoyed
boys sectional title wins in 1990 and 1994. The Hanover Central girls program
has enjoyed success of its own the past few years behind the efforts of
long-time coach Terry Heldt,
who quit before last season due to the stress of holding down a demanding
outside job and trying to administer his coaching responsibilities. The
Wildcats finished 14-7 last season and are expected to be strong again
this year, especially with the addition of top freshman Julie
Moniak (5'11" G/F) to the roster. Hanover
Central lost to North Newton in the 2A Sectional semi-final to end their
season last February.
There is an interesting article
in the Purdue Exponent about Kelly
Komara (Lake Central) and her expected contributions
to the Boilermaker's bid for a Final Four appearance this year. Many comparisons
are made between Kelly and Purdue senior Stephanie
White-McCarty (Seeger) and how their careers
have pretty much paralelled one another over the years. Worth a read.
The Valparaiso University women's program finds themselves
in a novel situation in the pre-season as the top vote-getter in the Mid-Continent
Conference women's poll. Valpo U began an intensive recruiting effort three
years ago, and it is starting to finally pay off. That initial recruiting
class included Sarrah Stricklett
(Valparaiso) and Megan Newcomer (Northwood).
Also now playing for the Crusaders is 1995 Miss Basketball Lisa
Winter (Huntington North) who transferred
from Ball State to VU after her freshman year. The Crusaders made
it to the championship game of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament
last season, losing to champion Youngstown State. IUPUI, also in the Mid-Con,
was ranked 7th in the pre-season poll.
| News thru Wednesday, October 28, 1998 |
In my haste to get news
posted yesterday, I failed to point out that Valparaiso will not be hosting
a regional this year. Northwood will be the new regional host for 4A Sectionals
3 (Portage) and 4 (S. Bend Adams), and 3A Sectionals 19 (Plymouth) and
20 (Wawasee). Also, if you would like to see the AP article that has appeared
in several publications about the tournament changes, including comments
from the IHSAA, we have linked the Indy
Star story for you to read first hand.
For all of you players out there that have been told that
you're too short or small to play college basketball, let alone Division
I basketball, take heart in the career of Indiana University's Kristi
Green. At 5'2", Green is the shortest
player in the Big Ten, but was the Hoosier's leading 3-point leader and
had the second-highest scoring average for the Hoosiers last season. At
the point, the former standout from Jennings County High School sees a
lot of time on the hardwood and enjoys her role as floor leader. She is
truly an inspiration for the diminutive basketball player who is determined
to excel. If you'd like to read more about Green, go to the Bloomington
Hoosier
Times article where she is featured.
| News thru Tuesday, October 27, 1998 |
The IHSAA has released
the assignment of school sites for the 1999 Girls State Basketball Tournament
and has adjusted the format of the tournament at the regional level. Instead
of 32 one-game regionals, there will be 16 two-game regionals, with a combination
of class entries at each site. At Merrillville, the 4A sectional winners
from Merrillville and Hammond Morton will play at 2:00 in the afternoon,
and then the 3A sectional winners from Calumet and Benton Central will
play 20 minutes after the presentation of awards from the first game. It
is unclear why these games are not being played in the evening, which will
certainly be a change of atmosphere for the regionals altogether. It is
also ironic that at a time when the executive members of the IHSAA are
vocally supporting the scheduling equity philosophy for girls games to
be played on Saturday evenings instead of Saturday afternoons, they themselves
have assigned some of the most important games of the season for afternoon
instead of evening. (Could it be that there is a concern about conflicting
with some regular season boys games that will be played that evening? This
is certinaly NOT the way to correct the conflict!) Some other changes to
the tournament include the location of sites, including sites of all North
Semi-State games for all classes. The 4A North Semi-State has been moved
from Kokomo to Warsaw, the 3A from Warsaw to Peru, the 2A from Logansport
to Maconaquah, and the 1A from Huntington North to Triton. The state finals
will again be at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. If you would like
to see all of the listings, which includes some changes for sectional and
regional sites as well, you can go
directly to the IHSAA release.
If you haven't already read it on the Indiana's Game fan
forum, our IIBWA network partner, Chris Cammack, is reporting that the
Hoosier Basketball Magazine, bible of high school girls and boys basketball
fans, will be hitting the news stands in the Indianapolis area this weekend.
The far reaches of the state (including NWI) should expect to see it the
following week. If you already sent in your order, you may receive your
copy by mail early next week. If not, you'll have to wait to shell out
your $5.00 until it's at a grocery or drug store near you.
For those of you who have not visited Chris Cammack's web
site, the Southeastern
Indiana Sports Journal, we suggest you take a look. Chris covers both
girls and boys basketball in the southern end of the state, and does a
fine job of it. Drop by and sign his guestbook while you're there. Also,
I would suggest hopping over to Randy Beckett's Fifth
Quarter, where he has written an extensive article about the four top
candidates for 1999 Miss Basketball honor this season. It is definitely
worth a read.
| News thru Monday, October 26, 1998 |
Three AAU Terre Haute
Hoosier Hotshots teammates, who are freshmen this year, are expected to
make an impact for their teams in the Wabash River Conference (south of
Lafayette). Candace Dark
(5'9" G/F) will be making her first appearance in the high school
ranks for the 2A Fountain Central Mustangs. Candace is an off-guard with
great athletic ability, outstanding passing and shooting skills, and savvy
court sense. Her impact for the rebuilding Mustangs should be immediate,
as she is considered one of the strongest freshmen coming onto the high
school scene this year. At Turkey Run, Bridget
Branson (5'11" F/C) will make her presence
known for the 1A Warriors. Bridget is a smooth presence in the paint and
has a soft touch around the basket. She has a knack for getting her hands
on the ball, whether off the long pass or a wayward bounce off the rim.
At 1A North Vermillion, freshman Ashley Hughes
(5'6" G) should establish herself right away as an integral part of
the Falcon offense. She's deadly from outside, reads the floor well, and
knows how to get the ball to the open play. Hughes teaming up with 1999
All-Star candidate senior Kristy Thomann (5'11"
F), will make North Vermillion one of the favorites for the conference
crown. Interesting conference matchups for North Vermillion in the upcoming
season include Turkey Run on November 24, and Fountain Central on December
10 and January 7. To make this conference even more interesting, watch
for 2A Seeger to challenge with junior Stacey
White (5'11" G/F), talented sister of
Purdue's Stephanie White-McCarty.
(Thanks to North Vermillion fan Jeff Crowder for game dates.)
According to Fast
Break, Louisiana Tech senior Monica Maxwell
(5'9" East Chicago) was named to the
Naismith Award pre-season candidate list. Maxwell, who was a part of the
outstanding East Chicago Cardinal team ranked nationally in 1994 by USA
Today, averaged 11.9 ppg and 6.4 rpg for the 1997-98 season. Louisiana
Tech made it to the 1998 NCAA Final Four, but fell to unbeatable Tennessee
in the national championship game. You can see Monica and the Lady Techsters
on national TV this year on November 30 (ESPN2) when they take on Tennessee
for a rematch of that championship game. You can see Monica locally when
she and her Louisiana Tech team play at Market Square Arena against Purdue
on December 19 in the State Farm Classic. And if you'd like to follow Monica
and the Lady Techsters' this upcoming season, bookmark the Louisiana
Tech women's basketball home page.
| News thru Thursday, October 22, 1998 |
According to a knowledgeable source, senior
guard Tia Davis (5'9") of Kokomo has
verbally committed to the University of Toledo. Tia had shortened her list
to Rhode Island, James Madison and Toledo, and although she was heavily
recruited by James Madison, the Toledo Rockets got the nod. Tia will join
Toledo freshmen Kristin Wischmeier (Brownstown
Central) and Courtney Risinger (Terre Haute
South) on the court at Toledo next year. Last year, the Rockets posted
a 24-7 record, won the Mid-American Conference West Divison Championship
and earned a berth in the NIT. The Toledo women's program has been in nine
post season national tournaments within the past 10 years. Interestingly,
Tia will be playing against her Kokomo teammate Heather
Cusick (5'8" G) next year at Toledo. Cusick just recently committed
to Miami University of Ohio, which is on the Toledo conference schedule.
The Bloomington Hoosier
Times is reporting that Bloomington North standout Nok
Duany (6'0" F) has chosen to attend Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C., on a basketball scholarship. Duany is the fourth member
of her family to receive a Division I basketball scholarship. She has siblings
currently playing at Wisconsin, Bradley and Syracuse. Nok will look to
give the Hoyas some help in the post, as Georgetown was 9-19 for the 1997-98
season.
| News thru Wednesday, October 21, 1998 |
3A Indianapolis Cathedral sophomore Jill Corbett (5'10" G) has been named to the Indianapolis All-City Soccer team for the second year in a row. Last year as a freshman, Jill was named City Soccer Player of the Year. Although Cathedral was ranked 8th in this year's final Indiana coaches' soccer poll, they were recently eliminated in sectional play. That means Jill is now back on the hardwood practicing with her basketball team. This season, the Irish will be looking to reinstate their six-year sectional run of 1992-1997 with some talented individuals, including Corbett, sophomore Asjah Zinnerman (5'5" G), senior Beth Roederer (5'10" G/F), and senior Jennifer Callier (6'3" C). Zinnerman will bring some high-level experience to her high school game this season after playing with The Family AAU team that placed 5th in the nation this past summer at the 14U AAU National Tournament in Lafayette, Louisiana. Senior Roederer has verbally committed to play at the Miami University of Ohio next year and teammate Callier has verbally committed to play at Michigan State.
(Please note: If you are aware of any other
notable basketball players who are receiving all-team honors in fall sports,
please e-mail us with your information,
and we will post it here.)
3A Northwood's Amy Zercher
(5'10" G) is featured in an in-depth article
found at the Goshen News. Amy verbally committed to Ball State
University after considering offers from Valparaiso University and University
of Toledo. Amy not only excels in basketball, but in the classroom as well,
where she is tied for valedictorian honors so far this year with teammate
Natalie Will (5'9" G/F) with a 4.0 GPA.
The Panthers will be looking to make a fourth straight semi-state appearance
in the IHSAA tournament next February.
There is a nice feature
article about 2A Bluffton in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette that
is certainly worth a read. The Bluffton Tigers, who were runners-up in
the 2A state finals last season, are starting out 1998-99 with a new coach--well,
kind of new, anyway. Last year's assistant coach, Vicki
Van Matre, is stepping into the head job after head coach Ron
DeWitt left coaching to get some rest from his double duties as
coach and Bluffton athletic director. Although the Tigers return some key
players in Jill Shanklin (6'0" C) and
Natalie Ballinger (5'11" F), it is questionable
if Bluffton will be able to repeat last year's exciting tournament run
without standout graduate Abby Salscheider
(5'11" F), who now in practice for her first college basketball season
at Division I Michigan State University.
Columbus Multimedia has released its pre-season poll for
1998-99 Division III women's basketball. Logging in at 7th place are the
DePauw University Tigers of Greencastle. De Pauw was the Indiana Collegiate
Athletic Conference Tournament champ last year and qualified for Division
III NCAA tournament play. However, they were elimiated in the sectional
final by this year's 4th-ranked University of St. Thomas. Former Indiana
high school players that played for the 1997-98 Tigers include Kristin
Rhinehart (Valparaiso), Meagan Jennings
(Connersville), Erin Wolfe (Plainfield), Susan
Bender (Roncalli), Kelly Morrison (Huntington
North), Ann Hall (Triton), Mary
Hand (Zionsville), Amy Hasbrook (Indianapolis
Cathedral), Dona Hasket (Brownsburg), Amie
Williams (Waldron), Kelly Bailey (Carroll)
and Amanda Hall (Kankakee Valley).
| News thru Tuesday, October 20, 1998 |
Although she had not yet completed the scheduled
round of visits to the schools on her short list, 4A Valparaiso senior
Jeanette Gray (5'10" F) made a verbal
commitment Sunday evening to play at hometown Division I Valparaiso University
next year. Even before visiting the campus this past weekend, Jeanette
knew where she wanted to be next year, but wanted to wait until after the
visit was over to reaffirm her choice. Late Sunday evening after the tour,
which included VU's Midnight Madness celebration, she went to tell coach
Keith Freeman and assistant Tracy
Roller that her mind was made up. Jeanette will join several formal
Valpo H. S. teammates at VU, including Sarah Stricklett,
Beth Goldman and Allison
Kissinger. Jeanette will be no stranger to the personnel at Valpo,
as she played with VU's team at open gym over the summer. Jeanette's short
list also included the University of Toledo, Purdue
University (who she was supposed to visit this weekend), and the Air Force
Academy. Valpo girls basketball fans, including her happy parents,
will enjoy watching Jeanette play close to home for the next five seasons.
The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette is listing their pre-season
Top 5 for the Ft. Wayne area in a short girls
basketball preview piece. From top to bottom:
1. Snider
2. Homestead
3. Huntington North
4. DeKalb
5. Leo
Snider made a semi-state appearance last year at Kokomo, and defeated Valparaiso in a double-overtime thriller, only to lose to Lake Central in the semi-state final.
| News thru Monday, October 19, 1998 |
IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
Indiana high school girls basketball is officially
in-season, and it looks to be another exciting year for Indiana fans. Locally,
Gary West Side held it's long-time traditional Midnight Madness practice
at the Gary West Side gym late last night and early this morning. Players,
parents and fans were all included with a pre-practice get-together starting
at 9:00 p.m., and then at 12:01 a.m., the Cougars took the floor for the
first practice of the season. West Side looks to have a great shot at getting
to the semi-state this year. With only one senior lost to graduation, Coach
Rod Fisher is happy to see a tournament-seasoned
group returning to the hardwood after last season's appearance at the Merrillville
Regional. Although they lost to eventual state championship finalist Lake
Central, Gary West proved that good things are yet to come by giving Lake
Central everything they could handle before the final regional buzzer.
Leading the way for the Cougars this season will be senior standout and
Junior All-Star Kristin Cheairs
(5'7" 2G). Kristin had a great AAU season this past summer
and was invited to the prestigious WBCA Summer Camp in Chicago as one of
the best 85 seniors in the nation. She also played on the team representing
Indiana in the Junior Nationals in Washington, D.C. She will most likely
be joined by senior Tamara Somerville (5'6")
at the point, junior Megan Yancey (6'0")
at center, sophomore Kim Smith (6'0")
at power forward, and Tahkisha Sweezer (5'7")
at the wing position in the starting lineup for the Cougars.
Previewing the 4A Sectionals in NWI early in the season,
Gary West Side should be the outright favorite in Sectional 1, with little
to challenge them otherwise.
In Sectional 2, a big question mark best describes the favorite after last year's hands-down favorite, Lake Central, lost most of its talent to graduation and the college ranks. However, that does not mean that there is no strength in Sectional 2. The talent is strong, but now more evenly spread around, which means the favorite is likely to emerge far into the season schedule.
In Sectional 3, Hobart and Valparaiso look to be the odds-on favorites, although Chesterton, Portage and LaPorte will make a tough go of it for the eventual sectional champion. This most definitely is the toughest sectional in NWI this season, with two strong teams and several wild cards. This sectional features two Indiana All-Star candidates in Valparaiso's Jeanette Gray and Chesterton's Jackie Campbell.
| News thru Thursday, October 15, 1998 |
The Purdue Exponent is reporting that
former Purdue head coach, Nell Fortner, is
trying to work out a deal with the Purdue athletic office that would let
her return to Purdue and the collegiate coaching ranks for the 2000-01
school year. Fortner, who coached at Purdue for one season as head coach
in 1996-97, left to coach the U. S. National Women's Team in the 2000 Olympics
in Australia. Purdue would like to bring a quick end to the replacement
search for departing head coach Carolyn Peck,
because a number of high school senior recruits have passed up Purdue as
a viable option as of late. Not knowing who will be coaching at Purdue
next year is too big a hurdle for most recruits to overcome in the commitment
process. Senior standout Kennitra Johnson (New
Albany) passed up the Purdue program in favor of Connecticut for
that very reason. The arrangement to return Fortner to Purdue might include
letting her oversee the Purdue women's program from her USA Basketball
post while an interim coach temporarily holds things together for the 1999-2000
basketball season. Interestingly, Purdue has also shown an interest in
hiring Colorado State head coach Tom Collen,
who at one time was a Boilermaker assistant coach. This would be a real
twist of fate for Indiana high school seniors Jackie
Campbell (Chesterton) and Elizabeth English
(Rushville), who within the past few weeks made verbal commitments to attend
Colorado State next year. This has to be unsettling for both as the early
signing period quickly approaches. If you'd like to read the entire Exponent
story, you
can get there from here.
Word has it that Logansport point guard, Amy
Muelhausen (5'8"), has been offered a basketball scholarship
to play with the Division I Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
(IUPUI) Jaguars next year. Amy has been a staple of the Logansport Berries
varsity team for some time, where she has displayed outstanding ball-handling
and defensive skills. It is uncertain at this time if Amy will be accepting
IUPUI's offer. (In case anyone lost any sleep over this item as it was
previously posted, my apologies for listing IUPUI as a Division II school.
IUPUI is going Division I as of 12:01 on October 17, as was quickly pointed
out by someone who thought we should know better. What can I say? We can't
all be perfect... )
Former Indiana Miss Basketball and Purdue senior Stephanie
White (Seeger) was nominated this week as a candidate for the Naismith
College Basketball Player of the Year Award. She follows in nomination
votes behind Tennessee senior and 1998 Naismith winner Chamique
Holdsclaw, Alabama senior Dominique Canty,
and Tennessee sophomore Tamika Catchings.
The voting body for the Naismith Award is composed of leading basketball
coaches, journalists and administrators.
After all the news coverage the last two years from their
back-to-back state championship run, the Martinsville Lady Arties are in
the news again. The Indy Star ran a feature
piece today on senior standout Cortney Cooper
(5'10" F), who seems to have it all, including offers to model at
$200 per hour. The Martinsville Reporter also ran a feature
story on former Lady Artesian Kristen Bodine
(5'11" PG), who will be playing
for the Butler University Bulldogs during the upcoming college basketball
season. And last, but certainly not least, you can watch state championship
basketball team member and golf titleist Leigh Ann
Hardin on ESPN on Monday, October 19 at 2:00 p.m., when she will
be highlighted on ESPN's Scholastic Sports America, covering high school
athletes. You might notice that we do not list Leigh Ann's height or basketball
position. That is because the Martinsville junior just recently decided
to forego high school basketball in order to concentrate on her promising
golf career.
The Women's Basketball Coaching Association has announced
its WBCA Academic Top 25
Team Honor Roll for college women's basketball. In Division I, Butler
University (Indianapolis) was ranked 3rd with a team GPA of 3.362.
In Division II, St. Joseph's College (Rensselaer) was ranked 7th, with
a team GPA of 3.412. And in the NAIA, Huntington College (Huntington)
was ranked 4th with a team GPA of 3.480.
| News thru Wednesday, October 14, 1998 |
The girls team at Lafayette Central Catholic
is walking a lighter step this week, as CC has finally named a replacement
just one week before the first practice of the upcoming season. Former
CC girls coach Ann Hensley recently left
to take an assistant position at her alma mater, the University of Indianapolis.
As reported in the Lafayette Journal and Courier, Alan
Schrope, who served as freshman and varsity assistant coach at Lafayette
Harrison last season, will be taking on the head coaching responsibilities
at CC, hopefully for the long term. Schrope will be the fourth coach in
four years for the Knights. A promise of longevity was important to the
CC Athletic Director, and Schrope has made a promise to stay and "build
a tradition." Although Schrope has no varsity coaching experience,
he is a dedicated student of the game, having watched the coaching styles
and strategies of the Purdue women's program as the team's manager for
two years. He also helped start the Harrison AAU girls basketball team
last year.
As we head toward the first week of practice for the 1998-99
girls basketball season, many coaches and players are facing the annual
guessing game of who will be there for that first Monday of practice and
for the few weeks following. With many of the fall sports winding up their
seasons, multi-sport players are being released on a daily basis as their
fall sports teams are being eliminated in tournament play. For schools
with a variety of strong girls programs, sometimes those players won't
be released until long after the start of the practice schedule. Although
girls golf clears its state tournament schedule before the first day of
basketball practice, soccer doesn't finish until October 31, and cross-country
and volleyball don't finish until November 7, which is just two days before
the first official day of games. A difficult situation for coaches and
teams who are waiting for key players to get the required number of practices
in before they can officially suit up. Schools with strong girls basketball
programs and state-ranked fall teams, among others, are Lake Central (soccer),
Andrean (volleyball, soccer but already eliminated), Center Grove (volleyball,
soccer, cross-country), New Albany (volleyball, cross-country), and Columbus
East (volleyball).
The All Star Girls Report is listing New Albany's Kennitra
Johnson 10th and Connersville's April McDivitt
13th in it's national rankings of 1998-99 top high school players. The
1999 Miss Indiana Basketball race is bound to be a very close one and will
probably be decided by a single season of play for these two outstanding
players.
Purdue University Calumet in Hammond recently announced
its Athletic Director's Honor Roll. Sophomore Nikki
Kolodziej (5'10" C/F North Newton) and senior Rita
Harper (6'1" C Gary West Side) are both listed.
Indiana University is gearing up for the college season,
but with a big question mark as to who will fill in for last year's departing
go-to center, Quacy Barnes, who averaged 18
ppg last year for the Hoosiers and is now with the WNBA. A possible contender
for the center position will be incoming freshman Jill
Chapman, a 6'5" former Blackford High School star. Jill gets
high pre-season remarks from IU head coach Jim Izard,
who says that she is further along in her development than Barnes was her
freshman year. During her high school career, Chapman was all-conference
and all-sectional three times and averaged double figures in both scoring
and rebounding. Adding to the chemistry of this year's team will be new
assistant coach Jennifer Jacoby, a former
Miss Indiana Basketball and Rossville High School and Purdue standout.
With an additional two years playing experience for the Portland Power
in the ABL, Jennifer will bring a tremendous amount of personal playing
experience to the coaching table. She will be working with the Hoosier
backcourt for Coach Izard. IU finished tied for third in the Big Ten
with Purdue and Michigan last season, and finished the season with an overall
record of 19-10. IU will open the 1998-99 season at home while hosting
Cincinnati in the first round of the 1998 Pre-Season WNIT Tournament on
November 13 at 7:30 p.m.
| News thru Sunday, October 11, 1998 |
According to e-mail we received today from
someone in the know, Kokomo senior Heather Cusik
(5'8" G) has made a verbal commitment to attend Miami of Ohio in Oxford
next year. She will be playing for first-year Miami head coach Maria Fantanarosa,
formerly of Western Carolina. Heather was also being recruited by Butler,
Central Michigan, Central Florida and Middle Tennessee State.
The Tippecanoe School Corporation has officially announced
that McCutcheon girls varsity coach, Don Burton,
will continue his coaching duties for the upcoming season, although he
has received a letter of reprimand laying out 13 directives for improved
performance during the school year. A five-month investigation costing
over $9,000 determined that Burton was found to have violated two school
policies, including using students to do personal errands and requiring
a basketball manager to run laps without a physical consent form. However,
the investigation did not uphold the claims of physical and mental abuse
brought by a group of player parents. Burton will meet with McCutcheon's
principal and athletic director to review whether or not the board's directives
are being adhered to by Burton. He will also undergo the school's regular
performance evaluation at the conclusion of the basketball season. Fortunately
for the players at McCutcheon, this issue has been laid to rest before
the basketball season officialy begins one week from tomorrow. Burton will
begin his 10th season as girls varsity basketball coach at McCutcheon on
that day.
| News thru Friday, October 9, 1998 |
The Northwest Indiana Lake Athletic Conference
(LAC), which has a membership of 13 schools including Highland, Andrean,
Munster and Lowell, has adopted a mandate for scheduling equity for boys
and girls basketball this season. Both boys and girls teams will play conference
games on a prescribed number of days--four Thursday night games, five Friday
night games, and three Saturday night games. Schools are allowed the flexibility
to move the Thursday night games to Friday night boys/girls double-headers.
According to an article in The Times, Lowell coach Patti
McCormack objected to her AD when the LAC initially wanted to play
all girls conference games on Thursday nights. The Lowell AD brought McCormack's
concerns to the LAC membership, one thing led to another, and the resulting
conference mandate has been put into place. The Duneland Athletic Conference,
which has a membership of 8 schools including Crown Point, Valparaiso,
Hobart, Chesterton and LaPorte, will be implementing equity scheduling
for the 1999-00 season with alternating Friday and Saturday night conference
games.
The Women's Basketball Journal (WBJ) yesterday announced
their 1998-99 Top 25 preseason college rankings and All-American teams
for the upcoming college season. Purdue fans will be pleased to see the
Lady Boilermakers ranked third in the nation. They fall in behind No. 1
ranked Tennessee and No. 2 Louisiana Tech. UCLA and Connecticut round out
the top five picks for the WBJ. Also ranked at No. 10 from the Hoosier
state is Notre Dame. Purdue's senior standout Stephanie
White (Seeger) is on the WBJ Pre-Season All-American 1st Team with
some prestigious company, including Tennessee senior Chamique
Holdsclaw and sophomore Tamika Catchings,
Memphis senior Tamika Whitmore, and Colorado
State senior Becky Hammon. Notre Dame's 6'5"
sophomore Ruth Riley (North Miami) was selected
3rd Team All-American and Northwestern senior Kristina
Divjak (Lake Central), was selected 4th Team. For anyone interested
in reading a little more about the two 1st Team All-American teammates
from Tennessee, we found this interesting
article at The Hoosier Times out of Bloomington.
| News thru Thursday, October 8, 1998 |
Word to the Region Roundball Review is that 4A Valparaiso senior standout and 17U National AAU All-American, Jeanette Gray (5'10" F), has narrowed her field of college choices from six to four after officially removing Princeton and Colorado State from her short list. Jeanette will be visiting the four remaining schools during the month of October, with trips to the University of Toledo (October 10), Valparaiso University (October 17), Purdue University (October 24) and the Air Force Academy (October 30). Purdue, who has been interested in Jeanette since her outstanding play this summer with AAU teammate and Purdue freshman Kelly Komara, may be at jeapordy in the selection process due to the coaching uncertainties there. How that situation will affect Jeanette's final choice is unclear at this point. However, Jeanette is expected to make the final decision as to where she will continue her education and basketball career during the first week in November.
| News thru Tuesday, October 6, 1998 |
When we heard from 4A
South Bend Riley coach Mike Megyesi
a couple of months ago about sophomore point guard transfer Christa
Ragukonis (5'9"), we thought he seemed
pretty enthusiastic about her. Now we understand why. Christa is the daughter
of Frank Ragukonis, the newly hired Director of Education for the Mishawaka-based
Hoops, Etc., which just opened one year ago. According to the South
Bend Tribune, the elder Ragukonis brings with him an incredibly impressive
background in the basketball consulting business. His credentials include
working with Al Rhodes (state champion Warsaw H. S. coach), authoring with
Rhodes the well-known instructional basketball video, "A Boy, A Ball
and A Dream," and working instructionally with NBA players Grant
Hill and Christian
Laettner, and Purdue's Jaraan
Cornell. He also names college men's coaches
Gene Keady (Purdue)
and Dean Smith
(North Carolina) on his list of references. Coach Megyesi tells us that
Christa receives lots of one-on-one instruction from her dad, and apparently
it's paid off. Christa comes to the South Bend Riley program with averages
of 17 ppg and 8 rpg as a freshman point guard in Wilmington, North Carolina,
where Ragukonis had moved his consulting business for a time. But now they're
back and Coach Megyesi is smiling. With standout senior Erin
Miller, South Bend Riley should be optimistic
coming into the season.
Former West Side player, Brea
Gates (5'6" G), recently transferred
from University of Tennessee-Martin to Purdue University Calumet. She will
be playing for the PUC Lady Lakers this season with former West Side teammate
Rita Harper,
who tore up the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference with Player
of the Year and NAIA Division I All-American 3rd Team honors last season.
Harper averaged 20.5 ppg and 7.6 rpg last season. These two will also be
joined by Northwest Indiana former high school players Amanda
Stutler (5'9" Hobart), Kelly
Rich (5'10" Portage), Emily
Schwoegler (5'8" Chesterton), Megan
Smith (5'7" Wheeler), Christina
Chandler (5'5" Portage), Dawn
Czany (5'8" Lake Central), Renee
Boryla (5'10" Lake Central), Trya
Poe (6'1" Gary) and Nikki
Kolodziej (5'10" North Newton). The Lady
Lakers were 25-4 last year and were co-champions of the CCAC.
Former North Central standout and 1998 Indiana All-Star,
Kyle Black (5'11"
G), is a member of the 1998-99 University of Wisconsin freshman recruiting
class that was ranked 10th best in the nation by the Basketball Times.
Black should find her college games at Wisconsin to be exciting, as the
Badgers have led the Big Ten Conference in attendance for the past three
years. Last season, the attendance averaged 10,455 fans per game, which
was also the third highest attendance rate nationally.
According to word from Fast
Break, Purdue is at the top of the list for 6'2" forward/center
Elisa Inman from
Wadsworth High School in Columbus, Ohio. Inman has Purdue leading her short
list of schools, which also includes South Carolina, Michigan, Duke, Princeton
and Rice.
| News thru Monday, October 5, 1998 |
Today marks exactly two weeks until the start
of the official girls basketball season. We will be fine-tuning our site
in preparation for the impending competitive season with some finishing
touches in our game reporting area. We're hoping to make that area as self-supporting
as possible so that when anyone posts a score or quick game report, everyone
can see those game results without waiting for the Region Roundball Review
staffers (all two of us) to get back from whatever game we may be attending
to post the info. If we all pitch in with game scores and reports, none
of us will have to wait for the morning papers to get all the latest results.
Narratives and highlights will be welcomed, which will hopefully give us
some insight that box scores may not cover in the local papers. Please
stay tuned for the particulars on the activation of the game reporting
area. If you think you would like to help us out with game scores this
season, please e-mail us so
that we can put you on our list of "field reporters" at the appropriate
time. Thanks.
Former Huntington North High School
and Ball State University standout, Jenny
Eckert, will be inducted into the BSU Athletics
Hall of Fame on October 16. In 1986, Eckert was the first Indiana All-Star
and first Division I player to come out of Huntington North. At Ball State,
Eckert was BSU's first women's player ever to be named Mid-American Conference
(MAC) Most Valuable Player, and even upped that honor by later being named
MAC Player of the Decade. Although Eckert ended her college career in 1990,
she still plays competitively in 3-on-3 tournaments and is seriously considering
taking a shot at the new women's professional leagues.
With just two weeks to go before the beginning of the girls
basketball season, players at 4A McCutcheon High School are facing an uncertain
start. According to an article
in the Lafayette Journal and Courier, the position of successful
nine-year head coach Don Burton
is being reviewed by the Tippecanoe School Corporation in response to allegations
by a group of last year's player parents of verbal and psychological abuse
to players and managers. An independent investigator was hired by the school
corporation to carry out the investigation. Although the complaints were
made immediately after the end of last season, the possibility of a coaching
change at this point in the school year is quite incredibly bad timing
for a program coming off of an impressive appearance in last season's Kokomo
semi-state. It is uncertain at this time what the outcome will be, but
it is expected that the school board may make mention of the matter at
its next board meeting on October 13. This late in the school year, coaching
changes, if determined necessary, will be difficult for all concerned.
Hopefully for the Maverick players and basketball staff, this stressful
and unfortunate situation will be resolved before the official season begins.
During the course of the upcoming season, we will be creating
a new area on our site that we hope will be helpful to players and parents
who are uncertain about the college recruiting process. We at the Region
Roundball Review will be learning along with everyone else by putting together
a list of links with helpful information, including NCAA recruiting rules,
the official recruiting calendar, recruiting resources and other information.
What we hope will be the most valuable resource to players and parents
is an idea offered up by one of our good Internet friends. He suggests
that we follow the recruiting process of four players (senior, junior,
sophomore, freshman) through an on-line recruiting diary kept for each
player. The identies of these young ladies will remain anonymous, however,
we hope that by following their experiences over the coming months (and
possibly years), many players and their families will benefit from a more
personal take on the recruiting process. We will also be setting up a message
board in this area for anyone to ask recruiting questions or share their
own recruiting experiences with others. If you have any further suggestions
for this area, please write us
with your ideas. This feature will probably not be complete until sometime
after the start of the competitive season, but we'll be activating portions
of it as we move along toward its completion.
We've added a new link to our Best Basketball links web
page. It is called Fast
Break, and covers high school girls and women's basketball. This is
a great site with high school and AAU news, including rankings of the nation's
Top 70 Seniors, Top 50 Juniors, Top 50 Sophomores, and Top 10 High Schools.
(Last time I checked, the last three were not yet completed but are expected
to be posted soon.) This site has very thoughtful reviews and is a great
resource for college recruiting news. Be sure to check out the "New
Articles" area at Fast Break for the latest updates on that site.