VHS Basketball Legend Dale Ciciora Named to Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

A class of 10 will be welcomed when the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame celebrates the 2010 Women’s Induction Class on April 24.

Dale Ciciora served as head coach for both the varsity boys’ and varsity girls’ programs at Valparaiso High School. As boys’ varsity coach from 1974-1976 his teams went 30-19, winning two sectionals and a regional championship. He led the girls’ program at Valparaiso from 1976-1985, winning 162 games including the program’s first four sectional titles. In 1982 the Vikings finished 21-6 and state runner-up.

Click here to view photos of the Valparaiso Basketball Legends Roundtable Event

Highlighted by three former Indiana Miss Basketball award winners, an additional three Indiana All-Stars, members of two IHSAA state championship teams and a Mental Attitude Award winner, the class also includes those who have had great collegiate and professional success, as well as successful coaches at the high school, college, and professional level.

Name High School Graduation
Catherine (Beesley) Acton Western Boone 1980
Dale Ciciora Liberty Township 1952
Tonya Burns-Cohrs Leo 1981
Cheryl Cook Indianapolis Washingon 1981
*Lin Dunn Dresden (TN) 1965
Jody (Beerman) Kelley Heritage 1983
Linda Mallendar Southport 1981
**Lenore (Doering) Pletcher Wakarusa 1933
Melinda J. Sparkman Scottsburg 1979
Sharon Versyp Mishawaka 1984

* St. Vincent Silver Medal Award recipient
** Deceased

The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s Annual Women’s Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010. The ceremony will take place at the Primo South Banquet and Conference Center which is located on the south side of Indianapolis. Tickets are still available for the event. Call the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame at 765-529-1891 for more information.

More information on the inductees:

Cathy (Beesley) Acton was a four-time all-sectional player who totaled 1,395 points, 689 rebounds, and 326 assists and led her Western Boone teams to a combined 50-15 record in four seasons. A 1980 Indiana All-Star, she went on to play at Illinois State University where she was twice named team MVP and all-conference. Illinois State won 66 games over her final three seasons and twice won the Missouri Valley Conference.

Tonya Burns-Cohrs set numerous basketball records at Leo High School and Iowa State University. A four-time all-conference selection at Leo, she set the school’s career scoring record (1,059 points) and rebounding mark (785) and was named a 1981 Indiana All-Star. By the conclusion of her career at Iowa State, she owned or shared 33 program records, including career points and career rebounds, still holds the record for most points in a game (42) and is tied for the record of most rebounds in a game (23). She became the first female to have her jersey retired at the school and was inducted into the ISU Athletic Hall of Fame. She spent 1986 playing for the Virginia Express of the NWBA professional league. She has been a high school coach for nearly 20 years and is currently the varsity coach at Woodlan High School.

Cheryl Cook was a dominant high school player at Indianapolis Washington, averaging over 29 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and was named 1981 Indiana Miss Basketball. She scored 1,428 points, an average of 22.1 points per game for her high school career. The 1981 Indianapolis Star City Female Athlete of the Year, she was also all-city in volleyball and a state finalist in track. Cook played at the University of Cincinnati where she remains the school’s leading scorer and left as the career leader in assists. She was then the seventh-highest all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history (2,367 points). She played six seasons professionally in Europe, leading the league in scoring four seasons, including a 37.6 average for one season in Spain.

Lin Dunn is the recipient of the 2010 St.Vincent Silver Medal Award. Given annually for contributions other than as an Indiana high school basketball coach or player, Dunn has impacted the state with her success as a college and professional coach. The Tennessee native spent 25 years as a college head coach, amassing 447 wins. Her final nine seasons were at Purdue where her teams established a strong tradition, winning three Big Ten championships and advancing to seven NCAA tournaments, including the 1994 Final Four. She was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1991. Her professional head coaching experience includes the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever. In 2009 she led the Fever to a franchise best 22-12 regular season and advanced to the WNBA Finals, falling one game shy of the 2009 championship.

Jody (Beerman) Kelley experienced success at Heritage High School as a state champion, Mental Attitude Award winner, and Indiana Miss Basketball. She led Heritage to the 1982 state championship and an undefeated regular season in 1982-83 before being knocked off in the state semi-finals in Indianapolis. She was high scorer in the 1982 state championship game versus Valparaiso and was named the Mental Attitude Award winner at the 1983 state finals. She graduated with 1,616 points – to that point the highest career total for an Indiana high school girls’ player – and was featured on the cover of the Wheaties® box. The 1983 Indiana Miss Basketball headed for a four-year career at Central Michigan University, where she set CMU and Mid-American Conference records, including season points (582), season scoring average (20.8), field goal percentage (59.1%) and free throw percentage (90.5%). She was inducted into the CMU Hall of Fame.

Linda Mallender helped lead Southport to their 1980 state championship and had a successful college career at Miami University (OH). She amassed 1,364 points for her high school career, which included a state championship her junior season. Southport was 82-11 during her four varsity seasons, which culminated by her being named to the 1981 Indiana All-Star team. She scored 1,208 points in college and is still the fourth alltime leader in assists at Miami with 394. Mallender was a two-time Mid-American Conference all-conference pick as well as 1983 MAC Player of the Year.

Lenore (Doering) Pletcher is being inducted posthumously as a pioneer of early girls’ basketball in Indiana. She starred for the Wakarusa Sweethearts in the early 1930s. Pletcher started four years for the squad, which according to rules of the era featured six players on the floor at one time, divided into three courts. The Wakarusa Tribune noted her accomplishments documenting that she had single-handedly outscored New Carlisle when she scored 26 points to their 23 for the undefeated Wakarusa team. She also scored 47 points in a 63-5 victory for her team over Jefferson High School (near Goshen) and utilized one-handed layups and two-handed set shots while others still shot underhanded. She later played for Wakarusa in the Elkhart Industrial League for three seasons.

Melinda Sparkman experienced success at Scottsburg High School during the first years of IHSAA girls’ basketball. During her career, Sparkman was a member of Scottsburg teams that won three sectionals, two regionals, and advanced to the Elite Eight in 1979. Individually, she graduated holding 10 school records including a 46-point single-game performance as well as 859 career rebounds and 203 career blocked shots. She scored a total of 1,131 career points and was named the Scottsburg team MVP her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She played at Indiana University where she was part of the 1983 Big Ten championship squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Sharon Versyp has experienced great success in Indiana as a player and coach on both the high school and college levels. The 1984 Indiana Miss Basketball averaged 23 points as a senior and during her career helped lead Mishawaka to their first two sectional and regional championships. She was also a member of the 1983 state championship volleyball team. Versyp amassed impressive numbers at Purdue University, scoring 1,565 points and she remains in the top 10 in 10 statistical categories. She is one of only seven four-year starters there. Her head coaching experience began at the high school level at Lawrence North and Benton Central. She has been a head coach at the University of Maine, Indiana University and now at Purdue where she has led the program to two Big Ten Tournament Championships and two NCAA Elite Eight appearances in her first three seasons.