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According to the Louisville Courier-Journal,  New Washington senior Sonya Wahl sustained life-threatening head injuries in a car accident early Friday morning.  The  6'1 center, who is planning on attending the University of Southern Indiana on a full basketball scholarship, averaged 26.9 points and 14.3 rebounds per game as a senior.  She was named to the Louisville Courier-Journal First Team All-State and recently played for the South team in the annual Reebok North/South Indiana All-Star Classic.  Our sincere best wishes and prayers for recovery are sent to Sonya, her family, teammates and friends.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Triton Central has lost its top returning player to cross-town rival Shelbyville for next season.  Audra Blackford, a 5'10 junior point guard who averaged 18.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this past season, is heading to the Golden Bears program due to a "family situation which caused Blackford and her mother to move into Shelbyville."  Blackford will join a solid group at Shelbyville, which includes junior post Katie Douglas and sophomore guard Gretchen Haehl.

A few more college signings:
  
Calumet College has added 5'10 forward Emily Johnsen of Bishop Noll and 5'8 forward Silvia Montes of River Forest to its 2002 recruiting class.
    
New Albany senior Regina Marshall has signed with IUPUI.  The 5'8 guard averaged 16.0 points per game as a senior.
   
West Central 5'11' forward Hope Hickman has signed with Lake Land Community College in Matoon, Illinois, and 5'9" guard/forward teammate Courtney Cervenka has signed with Indiana Wesleyan.
   
Kokomo 5'11senior center/forward Mica Hendrix has signed with Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
   
Warsaw 5'9 forward Janna Knisely has signed with Huntington College to play next season. 
   
Ft. Wayne Snider standout Megan Mattson will play at Taylor-Ft. Wayne next season.  Her teammate, Jasmine Fullove, has accepted a  scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Tennessee.
   
Terre Haute South guard Kristen Clary will play tennis at Xavier.  Clary was a member of this year's 4A State Champion Braves and was selected to the AP 4A All-Tournament team.

Anderson coach Johnny Wilson was recently terminated from his head coaching position, according to the Anderson Herald Bulletin.  Wilson, who has been with the Indians for the past three years, compiled a 20-44 record during his tenure, including a 4-17 outing this past season.
   
Central Noble has hired Bert McLaughlin as its girls head basketball coach, stepping in for Brett Burrough, who left the program but who will still coach baseball there.

Former Hammond Morton player Angie Drapac is featured in an officiating article in The Times.  You may see Drapac at the upcoming Gus Macker Tournament (June 1-2 at Hammond) in an officiating team with her dad.

According to a recent article note in Knox News, 1999 Miss Basketball April McDivitt (Connersville), who recently left the Tennessee program, has visited both Kansas State and North Carolina State as two transfer possibilities.  According to the article, she is also believed to be considering California Santa Barbara, where she will be working as a camp counselor this summer .

Lake Central and Purdue grad Kelly Komara has been waived by the Indianapolis Fever.  Komara, who recently had surgery for a broken cheekbone, was let go due to the Fever meeting an 11-player roster limit deadline.  According to the Post-Tribune (one-day link), the Fever general manager stated that Komara was not cut due to the injury and that she had a very good camp.  More in the Indianapolis Star.  Also, Blackford and IU grad Jill Chapman, was retained on the Detroit Shock roster.  The Shock will will travel to Indianapolis on June 1 for a season-opener with the Fever.

If you haven't visited our College Message Boards page (accessible from the RRR Message Board), you wouldn't know that we've added some additional college board links for your enjoyment.  With the post-season lull of the spring and summer, its a great way to catch up on a lot of the rumors/speculations of various college teams from fans around the country.  A Ball State women's basketball board is the newest addition.  The just-created board doesn't even have a single message on it yet.  With all the Indiana players on that team, you could be the first to wish them good luck for next season!

Yesterday marked the end of the NCAA Division I late signing period, and although not all DI, more signings and commitments have trickled in over the past week.
      
Carroll (Ft. Wayne) standout Tiffany Miller has signed with NAIA Bethel College.  The 5'10 forward, who averaged in double figures for the Chargers, was a serious post presence during an impressive 20-4 campaign that included a sectional championship in a tough field that included Wawasee, Warsaw and Columbia City.  The Chargers ended their season in a 3-point loss to Northrop in the Regional championship final.
     
According to the Indianapolis Star, several seniors have inked their futures.  Decatur Central forward Leslie Mehlrich will play at Franklin College next season, and teammate Shanon Abney will play at Glen Oaks Community College.  The news of these two means that DC coach Jill Meerman has helped secure opportunities to play college ball for five of her senior players this season.  She also sent three senior players off to the next level last season.  Additionally in The Star, Sarah Bowling of Southport will play at Marian in Indianapolis.
    
East Noble junior Amber Peterink has verbally committed to the Division I Dayton Flyers program in Ohio.  The 6'1 forward averaged 11.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game this past season and was selected all NHC for the second year running.
   
St. Francis head coach Gary Andrews recently signed 5'6 guard Courtney Feagler (Garrett) from Independence Community College where she averaged 10.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 3.0 assists. Feagler was the all time leader in scoring and steals and 3-pointers made at Garrett.  Andrews also signed 6'0 forward/center Shanda Smith of Indianapolis Arlington. Smith averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals , and 3 assists, and was also named the City MVP for the recent City v. County All-Star Game in Indianapolis.  According to Coach Andrews, "We are very excited about both of them. Along with Carissa Triplett (Crown Point) and Ashley Powell (x-fer from IPFW) we are very pleased with our recruiting."  Andrews expects to sign one or two more players before next season.
      
Senior Darby Sturtevant of Hamilton Southeastern will play with NAIA IU South Bend next season.  The 5'10 forward was a senior leader for a young team that went 14-7 this past season.

Clinton Prairie senior Melissa DeVore will continue plying her passing skills at Danville Area Community College next year.  The outstanding point guard averaged 13 ppg, 5 apg, and 5 spg during her senior year while being named All-Conference and All-Area.  She joins seven previously announced Indiana players heading to DACC.

 
Jeanine Haase of Hammond Gavit (5'10 F) has received a volleyball scholarship to attend NAIA Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri.  Haase was an integral part of a successful Gavit campaign the past two seasons.

A number of Southern Indiana players were listed recently as Top 60 material for 2002-03 by High Potential Basketball Recruiting Service out of Kentucky.  The Louisville Courier-Journal gives a partial listing for players in the area. 

The controversy surrounding the move of former Terre Haute South player Reicina Russell to Lawrence North in Indianapolis seems to continue on in the Terre Haute area and media:
   
Russell family member says move justified - TH Tribune Star
South, Lawrence North officials meet to discuss basketball player transfers - TH Tribune Star
Tanoos concerned with transfers to Lawrence North - TH Tribune Star

Southwestern (Shelbyville) head coach James Todor has not been rehired to return next season, according to the Shelbyville News. During his three-year tenure with the Spartans, Todor compiled a 27-35 record.  Southwestern plans to form a committee to search for a new head coach for next season.

In a landmark decision that could be a source of recovery for coaches, a Minnesota court awarded a high school basketball coach $47,000 in a defamation case for comments and actions taken by a disgruntled parent.  According to the Pioneer Press, the coach claimed that he was harmed by defamatory statements the parent made about him in an article published in a local newspaper.  The parent had stated that the coach "criticized and harassed team members during the 1998-99 season to the point where they lost confidence and felt disrespected."  Another coach in the area has a suit pending against a parent for similar reasons.

Some interesting news around the country regarding college coaches:
   
St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer has named John Raff as the new women's coach for the Pumas.  Raff, who comes to St. Joe's from Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, replaces Lynn Plett, who resigned earlier this spring.  Raff inherits a young squad that went 9-18 last year and 8-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  All five starters from this past season will return next fall, including Heather Allen of Clinton Prairie, Andrea Milliser of Rochester, Erin Sampsel of Valparaiso, Michelle Wegner of Winamac, and Karin Morrisroe of Morgan Township.
   
The advice to recruits that you'd better choose a program where you like the school and your teammates is ringing true for a number of Indiana players as their college coaches are either moving on or are being replaced.  Unless you've been keeping up with the merry-go-round of college coaching changes and hiring gaffes over the past month, you wouldn't know that the following schools with Indiana player ties are experiencing coaching changes or rumors of changes.  (Try not to let your head twist around -- a la The Exorcist -- too many times while we try to explain a bit of all of this.)
   
Vanderbilt/Ohio State/Colorado State - Cathedral grad Jill Corbett is waiting to hear who her new coach will be after Jim Foster left to take the opening at Ohio State after Beth Burns was fired there.  Both Ashley Allen (Ben Davis) and incoming recruit Candace Dark (Fountain Central) will be finding out what new coach Foster is like over the next few months.  Colorado State head coach Tom Collen was hired for the Vanderbilt job after Foster left, but then vacated it the same day after a resume flap could not be straightened out with the Vandy AD.  Collen was not asked back to Colorado State, which leaves CSU rising seniors Jackie Campbell (Chesterton) and Elizabeth English (Rushville) without a coach on their way back home for the summer.
   
Minnesota/Denver - Brenda Oldfield (previously at Ball State) left the Gophers after one very successful year for Maryland, and while there are no Indiana players on the the Minnesota roster, the current frontrunner (after a series of frontrunner fallouts over the past month) is Denver coach Pam Tanner.  Ben Davis senior Amber Johnson is probably on pins and needles while her charismatic Denver coach-to-be looks to move on to a different program.
   
Other schools and Indiana players getting new coaches for next season:
   
Butler - Christine Cox (Carroll Flora), Maria Marchesano (FW Elmhurst)
Cornell - Karen Force (Columbus East)
Illinois-Chicago - Kristin Cheairs (Gary West Side)
Western Kentucky - Sara Reideman (Greensburg)
Wofford - Maria Renner (Decatur Central), Ricaye Harris (Muncie Central)

According to the Indianapolis Star, Fever rookie Kelly Komara (Lake Central/Purdue) will undergo surgery today to repair a fractured cheekbone, which she injured during practice in a collision with a teammate. 

Off topic from basketball, but interesting nonetheless, 1983 Argos basketball player Marilyn "Sis" Thayer will be playing for Indiana's first-ever women's professional football team.  According to the South Bend Tribune, Thayer, a 5'10, 220-pound offensive tackle, for the South Bend Golden Hawks.  The Hawks, who are 0-2 and scoreless so far this season, will take on the Detroit Danger on Saturday.

Merrillville sharpshooter Heather Renehan will be playing for Indiana University Northwest next fall.  The 5'10 shooting forward was well-known around the Region during her high school career for the long-distance bombs that kept her team close in many games, especially this year as a senior leader.
   
Portage standout guard Nicole Tesseneer, an All-DAC selection this season, has signed with Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan.  Says Glen Oaks head coach Don Price, "She brings great playmaking to our program along with the ability to play solid defense."  Tesseneer joins 2001 Morgan Township grad Jody Byers on the Lady Vikings roster.
   
Boone Grove all-time career scoring leader Kim Sliwa will take her high-scoring prowess to Division II Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.  The All-PCC guard averaged 18.1 points per game this season.
    

Lindsey Houin of Plymouth has accepted an academic scholarship and will play basketball at DePauw University next fall.  The 5'10 guard was a member of the 3A state runner-up Pilgrims in 2001, and led the way for a very young Plymouth team this season.  According to the South Bend Tribune, Houin was All-Northern Lakes Conference and led the Pilgrims in scoring, rebounding and assists during her senior campaign.
   

According to the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, IPFW has boosted its 2002 recruiting class to nine in number with the addition of senior guard Hilary O'Connell of Warsaw.  The 5'8 off-guard, who was a member of the Indiana Junior All-Stars last summer, averaged 14.2 points and 4.5 assists per game during her senior season.  O'Connell joins Lindy Carey of Leo, Jessica Ramey of West Noble, Geneva Murdock of Ft. Wayne North, Ashley Elmore of Jennings County, and Kelly Boyd of North Judson to form the six-member 2002 Indiana contingent for new head coach Bruce Patterson. Danville Area CC rising junior Angela Chambers (Broad Ripple) also joins the Mastadons next season. Two other players from Illinois and Michigan round out what is most likely the most talented group to ever enter the program at IPFW.
   
Two other Danville Area CC players will continue their remaining college eligibility at four-year institutions.  Christina Pedarre of Mt. Vernon (Fortville) has signed with Division II Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia, and Mindy Tilford of Zionsville has signed with NAIA Tri-State University.  Pedarre, who will major in sports therapy and sports management at Augusta State, averaged 6.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game at Danville.  Tilford, an education major, averaged 8.5 points per game and was third in the nation in free-throw percentage and 15th in three-point percentage.

According to the Marion Chronicle-Tribune, Marion head coach Ron Vermillion has resigned his post as head girls basketball coach after returning to the job for three seasons after a break that ended an earlier 10-year stretch with the Giants.  Vermillion is looking to apply for the athletic director's position at Marion and hopes to stay involved in school athletics in the future.  Vermillion compiled a 176-87 record during his combined years at the helm for Marion.
   
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville Presentation head coach Joe Voelker will take over the reigns at Floyd Central next season.  Voelker, who compiled a 135-66 record in seven years at the Kentucky private school, replaces Bill Krammes, who resigned earlier this spring.
  
We've updated our Coaching Changes page to reflect all the latest coaching changes around the state.  If you have information regarding any other openings, please send them along.

We reported earlier that sophomore point guard Whitney Townsend of Caston was hospitalized with a broken back sustained in a car accident late last month.  We have since learned that she will be in a halo for 12 weeks and will be released from Parkview Hospital in Ft. Wayne today in order to attend school on a limited basis starting next week.

Notre Dame rising sophomore Jackie Batteast (South Bend Washington) has been invited to try out for the 2002 USA World Championship for Young Women Qualifying Team.  Batteast joins a list that includes 24 Division I players, one NJCAA athlete and one high school senior.  More:
   
USA Basketball
Fans Only - Notre Dame

According to the South Bend Tribune, Steve Wiktorowski has been named the new head coach at Goshen College.  Wiktorowski comes with a 123-176 career record as the boys coach at both Prairie Heights and Fairfield. 

The signing period is nearing a close, and the college commitments/signings continue on:
   

Columbus North standout Tina Bolte has verbally committed to Ball State.  Bolte is the third player from the talented Class of 2003 to commit to the Cardinals.  Bolte, a member of this summer's Junior All-Stars South Team, helped lead her team to a 16-7 record this past season.
   
According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Ashley Green of Benton Central will be playing at Southern Indiana next season.  The 6'0 wing averaged 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game this past season.  An RRR trivia footnote - Ashley Green is the player that has been guarding Alex in the picture at the top of our news page for the past four+ years.  That picture was taken at an 8th grade tournament in Valparaiso in 1998 when Benton Central played Crown Point in the championship game.
   
Broad Ripple 2000 grad Angela Chambers has committed to Indiana-Purdue-Ft. Wayne
 after competing this past season for Danville Area Community College.  Chambers, a 5'8 guard, averaged 7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 30 games for the Jaguars.  She is a business major.

Caston point guard Whitney Townsend was seriously injured in a car accident on Sunday.  The sophomore sustained injuries that include a broken back and broken arm.  Fortunately not paralyzed, Townsend is expected to be in a halo for the next two months.  More in the Logansport Pharos Tribune.

Hammond Noll senior Chrissy Ramker, a 5'8 senior guard, was named the Post-Tribune 2002 Leadership Award winner.  Ramker, who also competes in soccer and tennis and is involved in numerous school activities, maintains a 4.0 GPA and was named ICGSA Academic All-State.  She will attend Indiana University on an Eli Lilly scholarship where she will study elementary education.

Shanna Zolman of Wawasee received yet another honor this week when she was named by USA Today as All-USA Second Team.  It is puzzling, but this is the second time Zolman has been rebuffed for first team honors in a national publication since her outstanding performances in the McDonald's All-American and WNBA All-American games.  Zolman was named Co-MVP in the McDonald's game, so go figure.  USA Today has some pretty extensive coverage about girls and women's basketball along with the All-USA article.  It's some pretty darn interesting reading.  Included is their All-time All-USA Team, as well as a where-are-they-now? series of articles about past All-USA honorees.  It's all indexed at the link above.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier recently named their big school and small school Players of the Year -- Brittany Dildine of 4A Lafayette Harrison and Candace Dark of 2A Fountain Central.  Dildine, a junior, averaged 20.4 points per game this season.  Dark, headed to Ohio State, averaged 21.1 points per game.  All-Area teams were also recognized.  For big schools, Dildine was joined by Erin Guy of Twin Lakes, Ashley Green of Benton Central, Heather Caudill of McCutcheon and Liz Honegger of Lafayette Jeff.  For small schools,  Dark was joined by Amanda Engleking of Tri-County, Melissa DeVore of Clinton Prairie, Brianne Harwood of North Newton and Erin Trees of Clinton Central.  Related articles:
   
Harrison's Dildine voted Player of the Year
 Big school all-area boys and girls basketball teams
Dark repeats as area's best

According to The Times, Hammond Morton is expected to hire Rick Boner as the next head coach for the Governer's.  Boner, a middle school teacher in Hammond and former boys coach, will replace Steve Nestich, who did not have his contract renewed.  Morton returns two starters from a 7-15 season.
   
Yorktown head coach Connie Lyon has resigned impending a family move to Ohio, according to the Muncie Star Press.  Lyon, who is also expecting a child in August, has been with the Tigers program since 1993-94 and compiled a 118-56 record during her 9-year tenure.
   
Nick Scalf has been named the new girls basketball coach at Lawrenceburg.  Scalf replaces 6-year coach Bill Rose.  Scalf will be looking to turn around a squad that went 1-20 last season, but which graduates just three seniors.

With the departure of Wheeler to the Lake Athletic Conference, the Porter County Conference has added South Central as its newest member.  According to The Times, the Satellites were chosen to begin competition in the league beginning with the 2003-04 school year..

At the IHSAA Executive Board meeting on Monday, a number of proposals were put before the Board for consideration, however few were passed.  Among those not making the cut were moving to a three-class system and requiring private schools to participate in a separate class of their own.  Here's the scoop from official IHSAA documents and from media around the state:
   
   IHSAA Board of Directors Minutes
'Separation' proposal defeated by IHSAA - Indianapolis Star
Sticky issue isn't going away - Indianapolis Star
Schools in a class by themselves - FW Journal Gazette
Indiana rejects class for private high schools - Louisville Courier-Journal

According to The Times, Valparaiso University and Ball State will meet during the regular season in a rematch of the NIT post-season matchup which saw the Crusaders come out on top to advance to the quarterfinals of the NIT in March.  Although the complete schedule for VU is not listed, it appears that the Crusaders will not be playing Purdue next season.  However, new opponents Texas Tech and DePaul should substitute as excellent non-conference challenges.

In a surprise announcement earlier this week, Stephanie McCarty (Seeger) announced that she would be sitting out the 2002 WNBA season.  More:
   
McCarty will sit out upcoming WNBA season - Lafayette Journal & Courier
Fever's McCarty to sit out WNBA season - Indianapolis Star

Fever to play without McCarty for season - Anderson Herald Bulletin

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