VERSYP HONORED BY INDIANA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue head women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp has been selected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team. Coach Versyp is in her third season as the head coach of her alma mater and is in her ninth year as a collegiate head coach. The Boilermakers are 11-5 on the season, while Versyp has a 61-26 record at Purdue and is 178-91 overall.   Versyp played basketball at Mishawaka High School in Mishawaka, Ind., from 1979 to 1984. As a senior, she averaged 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists while leading the team to a 24-1 record. She scored 1,189 career points and led Mishawaka to a 58-9 record in her three years as a varsity player. She was named Indiana Miss Basketball in 1984 and became the first of seven Indiana Miss Basketball honorees to play for Purdue University.   An outstanding volleyball player, Versyp also led her high school volleyball team to the state finals twice, including a championship in 1983.   The 5-foot-9 point guard continued her stellar play at the collegiate level and is one of only seven four-year starters in the history of Purdue women's basketball. She led the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons and finished with 1,565 career points. Versyp still has top 10 standings in 11 statistical categories for the Boilermakers, was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Team member and second team Academic All-American as a senior.   Versyp began her coaching career at the high school level, starting as a head coach at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, from 1989 to 1993, followed by Benton Central from 1993 to 1996. She spent five years as the head coach at Maine and one year at Indiana before returning to her alma mater in 2006.   In her first season as head coach at Purdue, Versyp led the Boilermakers to a 31-6 record that included a second-place finish in the Big Ten regular season, a Big Ten Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. She was named the 2007 WBCA Region 6 Coach of the Year for her achievements with the team. Versyp is Purdue's winningest first-year coach and the 31 wins equaled the second-most in school history. Last season, Versyp took a team that was without four starters from the year before and won a second Big Ten Tournament championship and defeated No. 17 Utah in the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Tennessee.   The Silver Anniversary Team recognizes the top 15 outstanding former Indiana high school basketball players who graduated 25 years prior. This year's class honors 1984 graduates and the other members of the Silver Anniversary Team are Dawn (Davenport) Begor of Eastbrook, Marilyn (Reckelhoff) Dippel of Southridge, Nancy (Cowan) Eksten  of Crown Point, Lorea Feldman of Triton, Shari (Moore) Frank of Merrillville, Kris (Veatch) Nolan of Zionsville, Judy Phillips of Brebeuf, Diana J. Small of Decatur Central, Noelle (Young) Hall of Rushville, Stephanie (Blake) Kaufman of Warren Central, Becky (Meteja) Lombardini of Whiting, Julie (Rotramel) Meeks of Sullivan, Lori (Castetter) Walton of Warren Central and Janna (Bragg) Warren of Eastbrook.   Versyp will be eligible for induction into the Indiana Hall of Fame next year. Players are eligible for induction 26 years after they have completed their high school basketball careers.   – P –