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South Bend Riley star Crystal Norman will get a once-in-a-lifetime one-on-one opportunity later next month.  The 6'1 highly recruited guard will be facing none other than LA's Shaquille O'Neal after video of a 70-foot shot she made in last season's IHSAA tournament was named a winner in a national contest.  According to the South Bend Tribune, Norman is one of 10 players (5 girls, 5 boys) from across the country who will descend on LA for the private swat session with the Shaq.

High School Sports Internet Radio and the Indiana High School Basketball Guide, both associated with High School Sports Publications, will be providing some basketball-starved fans a hint of what is to come for the upcoming season.  The third annual Tremendous Twenty-Six, which is a combination of the top 13 girls and top 13 boys players in the state, is expected to be announced within the coming weeks.  The banquet celebrating this honor will be held at the end of August.  It is also expected that the new HSSIR will be compiling its broadcast schedule for the upcoming season with Internet webcasts of Region games.  A fully comprehensive listening schedule will be available to fans all across the state and country, who will be able to listen to some of the top Region matchups of the season over the web.  This is great news for any of you who have had trouble tuning in to local coverage in the past.  And even if you can't be in front of the computer for the live webcast, archived broadcasts of games will be available on the HSSP website.

News of college signings and commitments continue to make their way to the RRR.
   
Hanover Central standout Julie Moniak will play both basketball and volleyball at Division III Aurora University in Illinois.  The 6'0 forward will be looked to for some needed height on the Aurora roster, which also includes Hoosier native Marni Green of Lawrence North.
   
Ancilla College has signed three players for the upcoming season.  LaPorte guard Theresa Vaughn (5'9), South Bend LaSalle guard Deanna Dockery (5'8) and Marion guard Sierra Jordan (5'6) will all be wearing Lady Chargers blue and gold this season. 
   
Danville Area CC coach Lyle Hicks reports that Brown County grad Ashley Keaton will be adding some depth at the point guard position this upcoming season for the Jaguars.  Keaton will be attending DACC next season on a softball scholarship.
   
Lebanon 2002 grad Chelsea Beaman will play both volleyball and basketball at Division III Hanover College this coming season.  The 6'2 center will join a Panthers roster screaming for size with just three players 5'10 or taller.
   
Lafayette Harrison rising senior Brittany Dildine, the Lafayette Journal & Courier Big School Basketball Player of the Year, has decided to walk on to the volleyball team at Purdue, despite full-ride volleyball offers from other schools.

The transfer saga of former Terre Haute South standout Reicina Russell continues, as the THS administration has asked the IHSAA to investigate the transfer of the 6'6 center to Lawrence North High School.  According to the Terre Haute Tribune Star and Franklin County Daily Journal, THS officials have conducted their own investigation and held off submitting the request to the IHSAA until they had more information about the transfer, which took place approximately two months after Russell led the Braves to a 4A state championship.  More:  Commissioner: 'If there's any evidence, we'll deal with it.'  (Terre Haute Tribune Star).

Two Region teams have received new coaches for the upcoming season.  Steve Nestich, was hired, by the same school board that let him go from his position with Hammond Morton in March, to coach at Hammond Gavit this coming season.  (They are a fickle bunch, aren't they?)  Nestich, according to The Times, is exciting about his new position with the Gladiators, who are riding a three-year resurgence of this highly regarded LAC program.  Gavit returns rising senior Jenae Glasper, who will anchor the offense after the departure of Georgetown-bound Leslie Tyburski.  Also according to The Times, Hammond's neighbor to the north, Whiting, has hired Joe Pokraka to serve as its new head coach.  Pokraka, a 1966 Whiting grad and former assistant at Bishop Noll, replaces long-time coach and still athletic director Paul Laub.  Laub and Pokraka graduated together from their alma mater.  Pokraka will be looking to returning junior Becca Papach to lead the offense for the Oilers.
   
According to the DeKalb Evening Star, five-year head coach Mark Rohm has left his position at DeKalb.  Rohm compiled a 78-22 record during his tenure and had 20-season wins in 98-99 and 99-00.  Rohm cited the desire to spend more time with his family and pursuing other avenues of his career as reasons for leaving.  Rohm is the director of DeKalb's Cisco Academy for computer networking.

The 17U and 18U AAU Indiana national qualifiers made an outstanding showing in last weekend's AAU National tournaments for those age groups.  The 17U Indiana's Finest finished their undefeated tournament run with a national championship trophy.  Three of the Finest were named 17U AAU All-Americans.  Sharika Webb (Cathedral/Purdue) and Carrie Smith (Brebeuf/Indiana) received team honors, while Katie Gearlds (Beech Grove/Purdue) was named 17U AAU Nationals MVP.  In the 18U AAU National Tournament, the Terre Haute Shooting Stars finished tied for 5th, giving 18U National Champion Arlington TX it's closest game of the tournament in a two-point loss.  The Shooting Stars had two players honored with 18U AAU All-American status -- Cyndi Valentin (Bloomington South/Indiana) and Melanie Boeglin (Terre Haute South/Indiana State).  More coverage from the AAU nationals:
   
Dark, Branson help team to national crown - (17U) Crawfordsville Journal Review
Valley players nearing AAU title - (18U) Terre Haute Tribune Star
Myers, Strandmark lead Shooters to rout in AAU Nationals - (15U) Madison Courier
Georgia ends Shooters’ run in AAU Nationals - (15U) Madison Courier

The prestigious Nike Girls All-America Camp was held at IUPUI in Indianapolis earlier this month.  According to a short blurb in the Louisville Courier-Journal, three Indiana players were in attendance.  Christina Cunningham of Perry Meridian, Brandi Carter of Indianapolis Manual and Reicina Russell of Lawrence North (Terre Haute South) were all invited to attend this major recruiting event that practically guarantees the attendance of every major college coach in the country.  Russell only stayed at the camp for one day, as she left to attend the AAU Nationals with her team.  More:  Quinn, Perkins top summer campers (USA Today).

The influence of Purdue recruit Katie Gearlds (Beech Grove) may prove to be a big boon for the Boilermakers.  According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Gearlds was talking up the gold & black to some key recruits on coach Kristy Curry's wish list.  Gearlds spent time with the other players at the USA Basketball Developmental Camp last month.

Coach Frank Decker of Bedford North Lawrence has been putting the new IHSAA summer rules to good use.  According to the Bedford Times-Mail, Decker has been going non-stop since the start of the summer period, .

Lay coaches are the topic of an article in the New Castle Courier-Times.  Mentioned in the article is head coach John Lewellen, who has coached at Cambridge City Lincoln since 1987 as a lay coach.

You may have noticed that we've added the count-down for the upcoming season on our home page.  Just as a refresher, here are the important IHSAA dates for the upcoming high school season:
   
First Authorized Practice - October 21
First Authorized Contest - November 11
Tourney Draw - February 2 (noon)
Sectionals - February 11, 14, 15
Regional - February 22
Semi-State - March 1
State - March 8

It's been an extremely tragic summer for Indiana high school girls basketball.  First we heard of the death of New Washington standout Sonya Wahl when she suffered traumatic head injuries in a single-car accident.  Then several weeks ago, former Eminence player Meaghan Buis was also killed in a single-car crash.  Now another one of Indiana's high school basketball alumni has lost her life in a car accident.  According to the Richmond Palladium Item, former Hagerstown guard Jessica Hale was killed Sunday in a two-car accident that also claimed the life of former classmate and football player Josh Johnson.  Hale, who was also a Ball State student, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Coaching hires continue to take place around the state.
  
According to The Times, Merrillville stayed inside the DAC with its choice for a new head coach.  Portage assistant varsity coach Bob Maicher has been tapped to lead what is probably one of the DAC programs with the most unrealized potential.  Maicher, who was the girls head coach at Munster from 1974-81, will have a young but talented group to mold.  Returning junior Marshay Jolly (5'10 G/F) has been an All-DAC selection since her freshman year, and incoming frosh Brittney Moore (6'1 C/F) will give the Pirates the athletic and solid inside presence they have been lacking for a number of years.
   
Another surprise vacancy has hit the Indianapolis area.  According to the Indianapolis Star, highly regarded Brebeuf head coach Teressa Lewis resigned her post last week, citing time demands as her reason for leaving.  Brebeuf returns a very strong trio in IU-bound senior Carrie Smith (6'0 F/C) and juniors Amanda Quattrocchi (5'5 G) and Amber Jackson (6'1 F).
   
Carroll (Flora) has announced the hiring of Brad Smith as its new head coach.  Smith replaces Dave Schneider, who resigned after a 0-21 season.  According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, this is Smith's first head coaching assignment after stints as a varsity assistant at Rochester for two years.
   
As we reported in our last update, Chad Wetz has been selected as the new head coach at Anderson.  The Anderson Herald-Bulletin has the details regarding the hiring.  Wetz is hoping to get his program jump-started and players active after two months while the coaching search was conducted.
   
According to the Muncie Star Press, Cowan has hired Terry West to lead its girls basketball program this upcoming season.  West his hoping to build a new basketball tradition at Cowan after a combined 4-36 record over the past two seasons.
   
West Vigo has hired former boys coach Steve DeGroote to lead the girls program there, according to the Terre Haute Tribune Star.  He replaces Dave Cassell, who recently was appointed the head football coach at WV.

As we reported in our last update, Liz Honegger of Lafayette Jeff has committed to Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  The Lafayette Journal & Courier has the details regarding her decision. 

Another top junior who has her options wide open at this point is keeping the college coaches busy this summer.  Reicina Russell, who has transferred from Terre Haute South to Lawrence North for her final season of high school basketball, was the object of a recent article in Student Sports.  Russell reportedly is being recruited by all of the top programs in the nation, including Connecticut, Tennessee, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Penn State and Duke.  The hubbub regarding Russell's controversial transfer has quieted down quite a bit, but according to the Terre Haute Tribune Star, THS administrators are still continuing their investigation into a number of top athlete transfers from their school to Lawrence North.

She wowed 'em in Wawasee, and now she's ready for an even grander scale in Tennessee.  The Knoxville News-Sentinel has put together a lengthy preview article on Shanna Zolman, pending her arrival at the Volunteer campus.  Interesting tidbit in the article:  A fervent fan petitioned the Wawasee school board to commission a life-size bronze statue of Zolman to be erected outside the gymnasium entrance.  The school board politely declined.

Glenn girls coach Dan Hutton has left his mark in a number of gyms across Indiana, but not the way you'd expect.  In the off-season, Hutton can be found leaving his artwork on the walls of gyms across the state, including one familiar to those who have frequented the gym at Valparaiso.  According to the South Bend Tribune, Hutton paints elaborate mascots at the request of schools who are looking to display their school pride in an obvious way.  Hutton's specialty is displaying school mascots that appear to jump right out of the wall.

The new "summer season" is in full swing, and the Louisville Courier-Journal has a recap of a recent shootout event that featured several southern Indiana high school teams.

A number of Indiana teams are currently playing in AAU National Tournaments around the country.  You can follow along at the AAU Girls Basketball national website, where results are posted daily.  Also check out Hoosierland Report, where game results are being recapped on a regular basis.

New Butler head coach Beth Couture is hoping to mine some Indiana talent for her team this summer and next to get the Bulldogs program back on track.  According to the Indianapolis Star, some recruits are putting Butler back on their lists after some troubling years have dogged the program, making it an undesirable destination for some home state recruits.

Tecumseh rising senior Julie Briody has verballed to the up and coming women's basketball program at the University of New Mexico, according to the Evansville Courier, Albuquerque Tribune and Albuquerque Journal.   The 6'0 guard, who averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds as a junior, chose the Lobos over offers from Texas Christian University and Alabama.  Vanderbilt had also offered before the head coaching change there.  The program at UNM enjoys a great fan following and averaged over 9,000 in game attendance last season.
   
Lafayette Jeff rising senior Liz Honegger has committed to Bowling Green State in Ohio.  The 5'11 forward has been an impact player for the Bronchos since her freshman season with a nice combination of strong perimeter shooting and solid post play.  
   
According to the Indianapolis Star, Simone Benion (South Bend Washington), has signed with Southern Indiana after a two-year stint at Vincennes University.
   
Center Grove senior Morgan Clemons will continue her college career at Ancilla, according to the Franklin County Daily Journal.  The 5'8 forward averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a senior.
   
Marian College in Indianapolis will be seeing some new faces on its roster this upcoming season.  Kristi Koselke (North Newton), who transferred out of Valparaiso, will be playing for the Lady Knights, as well as Meghan Pilarski of New Prairie.  These two will join fellow newcomers Allison Harris (Martinsville) who transferred from St. Francis, and Sarah Bowling of Southport, both announced earlier.  The Lady Knights finished 20-11 last season in a three-way tie for the Mid-Central Conference regular season championship.  Coach Cade Stockwell is hoping that this new recruiting class will bring Marian even more success, both on and off the court.

Lots of coaching news over the past couple of weeks.
   
After three seasons, popular Hammond Gavit coach Tom Spina is retiring from his post with the Gladiators to meet the demands of a new job and family.  According to The Times, Spina was recently promoted at work with a marine survey company that will require more of his time and attention.  Also playing into the equation of the decision was the loss of his coaching staff for various reasons.  The Gladiators lost a strong senior group, but return talented junior forward Janae Glaspe and a promising crop of young talent.
   
Another popular coach, six-year Decatur Central head coach Jill Meerman, has stepped down from her coaching position with the Hawks, according to the Indianapolis Star.  Meerman was selected this past spring to coach the North Team in the Reebok North-South All-Star game, where her team was victorious over the South Team coached by Indiana All-Star head coach Donna Cheatham (Southwestern Hanover).  Meerman will stay on at DC in her present position as assistant athletic director, and expects to return to coaching sometime in the future.
   
According to The Times, South Central has hired Glenn JV head coach Dan Huizenga.  Huizenga comes to the Satellites after a four-year stint at Glenn.  He will try to revive a program that went 4-17 with the departure of former coach Dan Dunbar before the season ended.  Huizenga will also teach business at South Central.
   
Frankton head coach Dan Riddle is leaving after nine seasons, according to the Anderson Herald Bulletin.  Riddle departs with a 135-51 record with the Eagles.  Riddle is leaving to pursue business opportunities in Muncie.  He will take with him his daughter Elizabeth Riddle, who was expected to be an impact player for Frankton next season as a freshman.  She will attend Muncie Central next season.
   
The Anderson school board is expected to hire Chad Wetz as its new girls basketball coach at Anderson in July.  Wetz, who has been involved with the Indians' boys program for some time, will be taking a new direction in leading the girls.  Anderson is coming off of a 4-17 season, but has a promising group that includes a number of good returning players who saw a great deal of time on the floor as freshmen last season.
  
Lapel coach Kevin Brattain has left his position as head coach after 12 seasons, according to the Anderson Herald Bulletin.   After a rebuilding first-year record of 2-17, Brattain logged a 149-81 career record at Lapel.
   
Brad Shortridge has been named the new head coach at Yorktown.  Shortridge was a varsity assistant at Shenandoah two seasons ago and was the athletic director at Frankton last year.
   
South Bend Riley coach Mike Megyesi was recently named the South Bend Tribune Girls Coach of the Year for all sports.  Megyesi led the Wildcats to a 4A State Finals appearance in March and looks to have a competitive squad next season as well, with almost all of his starters returning. 

As you've seen sitting on our home page the past few weeks (hey, we have a graduation open house coming up, enough said), the Indiana All-Stars redeemed the Class of 2002 with a win over Kentucky at Conseco.  In case you didn't catch it earlier, we've linked all the game recaps and feature follow-ups on our Scores page.  In a quick look at the roster, here are the stats from the four games played by the All-Stars, minus a few stats here and there where we couldn't find them.  However, the averages are all on target for what we found.
    

For those of you who want a good look at some of the action from the All-Stars game with the Juniors at Wawasee, there is a nice photo gallery on a website by Shane Frost.  Called "Shanna's Encore", the gallery is a nice collection of shots from the game.  Also, Ed Robinson of Southern Indiana Basketball has a few video clips from the Indiana-Kentucky game at Conseco.  Ed also has a complete photo gallery from the game.

A day before her dominating presence in the paint at Saturday's game with Kentucky, NorthWood's Carol Duncan was named the South Bend Tribune Female Athlete of the Year.  The 6'1 power forward was also an elite athlete in volleyball and track, garnering Indiana All-Star honors in volleyball two years running, and appearance at the state track meet in both the shot put and high jump.  According to track coach Kirt Hunsberger, "[Duncan] has to be the most decorated female athlete NorthWood has had. And that's saying a lot. She's so competitive."

The Duneland Lakes 14U AAU team out of Chesterton recently qualified for the AAU Nationals in Rochester, Minnesota.  The team, which includes ten local high school players, was recently featured in The Times.  The Lakers, coached by Mike Boukis of Chesterton, placed 4th in the 14U Indiana AAU State Finals in June, giving them a chance to compete against some of the country's best talent in their age group later this month.  The Lakers are the first all-Region team to quality for the nationals in over five years.  You can find out more about the Lakers on their team website at www.eteamz.com/ladylakersaau and follow their progress from July 19-27 at the AAU National website.

Leo senior Lindy Carey was named the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel Female Athlete of the Year.  Carey, who excelled in both basketball and volleyball will continue her basketball career close to home at Division I Indiana-Purdue Ft. Wayne.

The Top 21 Freshman of Impact for the 2002-03 season have been named by womenscollegehoops.com, and several Indiana rising college freshmen have been named as Top 21 impact players or just under the cut.  Dana Collins (Decatur Central), who is headed to Ball State, was listed as a Top 21 player who will make an immediate impact for the Cardinals, as was Wawasee scoring phenom Shanna Zolman for Tennessee. Also, Jessica Wright (Cathedral), who is headed to Illinois, was named as a player that can help the Illini be "consistently good".

The South Bend Tribune has a series of articles about the new IHSAA summer participation rules.  Dave Cox from the girls basketball program at Plymouth is interviewed in one of  the articles.

Some more good news for the Cardinals was released last week.  The field for the Preseason WNIT has been released and Ball State, coached by Crown Point alum Tracy Roller, has been invited to play in the first round against a strong Kansas State team in Kansas on November 15.  According to the BSU WBB website, this will be the first-ever appearance by the Cardinals in the WNIT.  One other team in the 12-team 2002 WNIT field that include Indiana players on their roster is Colorado State with Jackie Campbell (Chesterton) and Elizabeth English (Rushville).

Last September, North Newton standout and IPFW freshman Becky Schuster suffered a life-threatening vehicle accident when she was hit by a semi-truck on I-69.  The Times reports on Becky's recovery and her plans for the future.  Becky has already overcome tremendous odds in coming back from the injury, and the story about her ordeal is definitely worth reading.  We wish Becky continued progress in her recovery.

Four Indiana players at Miami (Ohio) will be returning from a European team trip tomorrow.  Kim Smith (Gary West Side), Heather Cusick and Hillary Beck (Kokomo) and Beth Roederer (Cathedral) have spent the past week touring and playing in Switzerland, Germany and France.  You can read all about the trip, view pictures, and read the fun diary entries of some of the Indiana players on the Miami WBB website.

According to the Goshen News, Amy Saal (Elkhart Central) has been named a tri-captain of the U. S. Army's women's basketball team for 2002-03.  Saal is a three-time letter winner and received the team's Hustle Award last season.

It was announced earlier this year that Indianapolis would be the site of the 2005 Women's Final Four, but the site of that event -- Conseco or the RCA Dome -- was not yet chosen.  You can now pencil in the Dome as the site for the 2005 Final Four, according to ESPN.

Bryan Alexander of Hoosierland Girls Basketball Report will be hosting a college exposure event on July 21 at Ben Davis High School.  The Adidas Midwest Explosion will be from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on four courts, will all players getting three games.  Alexander expects over 100 players and 40 college coaches for this event, which is $75.00 for players.  For further information, contact Bryan at hoosiergbr@yahoo.com or at 877-754-3229.

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