In the wake of media reports that Indiana University’s men’s basketball team compiled a whopping 2.13 grade point average during the controversial spring semester just completed, it’s good to be able to salute several Wabash Valley athletes for their academic as well as athletic successes.
Through the first three years of this column’s existence, the common parallels between academics and athletics are evident in many of the most successful people — standouts such as Melanie Boeglin, A.J. Graves, Stephanie Wilson, Jenny Somerville, Ashley Hughes, Rachael Pruett and many others.
Many great achievements have been noted in this column throughout the year, and there are probably others that didn’t get noticed. Here are some of the more recent accomplishments:
• Terre Haute North grad Rob Roads was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Men's Track and Field Team. Roads is a five-time Academic All-GLVC performer in cross country and track at the University of Southern Indiana, was one of 108 Division II student-athletes to earn the award.
• Brooke Daugherty of Danville Area Community College was named a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American for the past school year. The Terre Haute South grad earned an associate’s degree in biology with a 3.76 GPA as part of her pre-physical therapy curriculum, which she will continue at Indiana-South Bend this fall.
• Lake Land College softball players Alicia Hayes of Terre Haute North and Tasha Wilhoit of Casey-Westfield were named Great Rivers Athletic Conference all-academic team members. Hayes will continue her career at IUPUI.
• Marc O’Leary of Terre Haute North graduated from Hanover College as a recipient of the school’s Distinguished Award in Communication and received Magna Cum Laude honors. He is now employed as a program coordinator at Maingate Inc., an Indianapolis-based sports merchandising and marketing company.
Undoubtedly, this trend figures to continue with highly successful student-athletes such as Koby Kraemer, Megan Craft and Michael Woodsmall and many others moving on to the college level in the rapidly-approaching school year.
• • •
• T-Birds to cross paths — North Central center fielder Nicole Miller will be playing softball this fall for Rend Lake Junior College, and will be the fourth former Thunderbird to be competing in the rugged Great Rivers Athletic Conference.
Jacilyn McClain will be a sophomore at Lincoln Trail, while Megan Cox (Olney Central) and Jacki Porter (Wabash Valley) will also be starting their college careers.
Miller batted .468 last year as North Central won another sectional championship.
She will be a pre-pharmacy major.
• Davis glad to have Bassett — Alabama-Birmingham Coach Mike Davis has wanted to coach Armon Bassett since he signed him to play for Indiana two years ago.
Davis left, however, before Bassett’s arrival on campus. The two are now reunited, though, after the Terre Haute South grad transferred to UAB earlier this month.
Bassett, a third-team All-Big Ten performer last season, will be allowed to practice with the team next season and can suit up for the Green and Gold in 2009-10. He will have two years of eligibility remaining at UAB after playing two seasons with the Hoosiers.
“Armon is a terrific addition for our program,” Davis said. “I recruited him out of high school and I am really excited to have the chance to coach him. He is a great kid with loads of potential and will help us become a better team the moment he steps foot on campus.”
During his two years at IU, Bassett played in 61 contests and made 50 starts. He averaged an astounding 43.5 percent from beyond the arc (114-of-262), collected 193 assists (3.2/game) and averaged 10.4 points over his two-year stint in Bloomington. Furthermore, he is a career 83.6 percent foul shooter.
As a sophomore, Bassett led the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage (45.4) and ranked fifth in the conference in three-pointers made per game (2.38). Additionally, he ranked ninth in the league with 3.31 assists per contest. He finished the campaign ranking third on the team with 11.4 ppg, second in assists and fourth in steals (27).
Joey Bennett is a former Tribune-Star sports reporter and copy editor who now teaches and coaches at Northview High School in Brazil. He can be reached at tribstarcollegereport@yahoo.com.
College Report
College Report: Honoring Valley athletes for taking care of business in classroom
- College Report
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COLLEGE REPORT: Kentucky baseball star Reed earns All-SEC
Kentucky sophomore baseball standout A.J. Reed of Terre Haute South Vigo High School earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in voting by the league coaches for the recently completed season.
- COLLEGE REPORT: Wabash College All-American relay team has TH flavor
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Catching up as the school year winds down
Odds and ends from here and there as the school year quickly winds down. For starters, high jumper Nick Jaeger of Terre Haute South was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s male track & field newcomer of the year:
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College Report: Lively earned collegiate upgrade with strong play
Hillary Lively signed to play Division II basketball at Maryville (Mo.) during her senior year at North Vermillion, but those plans changed and she would up at nearby Danville Area Community College — where she recently concluded an outstanding two-year career.
Lively was impressive enough to earn a Division I scholarship to Southeast Missouri State of the Ohio Valley Conference, and both her future and past college coaches think she will continue to succeed there.
“She fits what we need,” SEMO coach Ty Margenthaler said. “She has college experience, she is strong and physical and plays well around the basket and moves well.
“Her strength, rebounding and touch around the basket will be a big help. On the defensive end, she’ll be able to guard a true center.” -
COLLEGE REPORT: Valley prep athletes getting ready for next level
The NCAA “regular” signing period begins Wednesday for all sports except football, field hockey, soccer, track and field, cross country and men’s water polo.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Conferences honor Valley softball players
Several Wabash Valley area college softball players have been honored by their respective conferences for outstanding play this spring.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Jake Newton makes big impact for Lincoln Trail College
Jake Newton had a long time between playing in competitive basketball games, a span of about 18 months, and used the frustration from that long dry spell to produce a stellar freshman season for Lincoln Trail College this winter.
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COLLEGE REPORT: A.J. Reed earns SEC Player of the Week honors
After belting three home runs during a five games last week, Kentucky sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman A.J. Reed was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Spring newcomers making marks
Several freshman baseball and softball NCAA Division I players from the Wabash Valley have already made immediate impacts at their new schools, while others are waiting for their turns to shine.
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COLLEGE REPORT: A.J. Reed named third-team preseason baseball All-American
Two-way sophomore standout A.J. Reed was one of three University of Kentucky players named third-team preseason All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Sponsler honored after big week for Wabash men's hoops
Wabash College freshman Ross Sponsler of Terre Haute North was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 6.
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COLLEGE REPORT: North grad Hughes finds success after facing preseason adversity
A.J. Hughes knew he was in for a battle as he competed with three other walk-on punters in the preseason for the lone starting job on the Virginia Tech football team.
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Etling, Meggs enjoying great year
It’s been a great year so far with more to come for a pair of longtime friends and St. Patrick’s School classmates.
Former Terre Haute resident Jack Meggs quarterbacked the Bellevue Wolverines football team to the Washington Class 3A state championship this fall, culminating with a 35-3 win over Sammamish Eastside Catholic — Bellevue’s fifth straight crown.
Danny Etling, meanwhile, has completed graduation requirements at Terre Haute South and is preparing for an upcoming high school all-star game and his first college classes in a couple of weeks. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Valley’s women’s college hoops players start strong
Several women’s college basketball players from the Wabash Valley have gotten off to good starts this season on the hardwood. Highlights:
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COLLEGE REPORT: Mayhew, Mascari provide fall highlights
Several dozen Wabash Valley athletes enjoyed successful fall seasons collegiately in cross country and tennis this year. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Former North teammates start strong in college
Former Terre Haute North teammates Ross Sponsler and Matt O’Leary made their college basketball debuts last week and had outstanding initial performances. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Shoemaker OBP leads Chisox farmhands
Former Indiana State, Olney Central and Northview baseball standout Brady Shoemaker opened a lot of eyes last summer in the Chicago White Sox farm system, earning him a spot on a mlb.com blog team that highlighted the team’s outstanding minor leaguers at each position.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Boeglin has plenty of ISU memories, but not all are related to basketball
Melanie Boeglin, an All-American who played on the women’s basketball team at Indiana State from 2002-2006, will be inducted into the 21st class of the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday.
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COLLEGE REPORT: North grad leading DePauw volleyball in winning streak
DePauw’s volleyball team has won seven straight matches entering this weekend’s DePauw Invitational, including four straight wins last weekend to capture the Rose-Hulman invitational title.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Engle moving up football coaching ranks
Michael Engle graduated from DePauw University in the spring of 2011 with a degree in political science and future plans to advance his studies in law school.
Being a coach’s son and a competitive athlete by nature, Engle has put those plans on hold for now. -
COLLEGE REPORT: From Terre Haute South to Division I competition to coaching careers
Adriane Wunderlich and Katelyn Bishop both turned stellar high school careers at Terre Haute South into Division I collegiate careers at Indiana State and Southern California, respectively.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Former prep athletes getting ready for fall college season
An impressive total of at least 122 Wabash Valley athletes and coaches will be competing collegiately for the first time during the upcoming school year or have changed schools to continue their careers.
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COLLEGE REPORT: SP’s Boetjer is Indiana’s Miss Softball
South Putnam’s Brooke Boetjer, who will be a freshman on the Indiana University softball team next spring, was named the 2012 Indiana Miss Softball last month between games at the North/South All-Star games in Carmel.
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College report: North grad Mayhew is second team all-American at IU
Indiana University running standout Zach Mayhew of Terre Haute North was honored earlier this month as a second-team All-American by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
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College report: Bloomfield runner to join IUPUI track, cross country teams
Bloomfield track/cross country standout Julie Riggins will be joining the developing IUPUI program next fall as one of six incoming recruits.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Roberts takes coaching position at UNC-Greensboro
Terre Haute native Mike Roberts is continuing his climb up the college basketball coaching ladder, recently departing Rice for a spot as the associate head coach at North Carolina-Greensboro.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Valley grads playing role for No. 13 Vincennes
A few springtime odds and ends:
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COLLEGE REPORT: Shouse making his mark for Danville Community College
Derek Shouse definitely flew under the radar in his one season of playing for the Terre Haute South boys basketball team last winter.
Not highly recruited, he made his way to Danville Area Community College as a walk-on with the hopes he could find his way onto the court at some point. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Bullock finds sunny home to continue tennis career
Most college athletes progress along similar paths to get to their final destinations athletically, but Terre Haute South grad Taylor Bullock’s route to the Eckerd College women’s tennis team was a little different than most.
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COLLEGE REPORT: TH South QB entertains Division I offers
Danny Etling’s trek to being a big-time college quarterback took a huge step this week when the Terre Haute South junior picked up a scholarship offer from Purdue, according to 247sports.com.
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