Jan. 4, 2010

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In her first year of eligibility, Purdue head women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp has been selected as a member of the 2010 class of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place this April in Indianapolis.

Former Purdue head coach Lin Dunn also will be honored by the Hall of Fame as the recipient of the St. Vincent Silver Medal Award for her contributions to Indiana high school basketball. Dunn coached nine seasons at Purdue, from 1987 to 1996, and led the Boilermakers' to their first Final Four (1994). Dunn coached the Seattle Storm and is currently the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. This summer, Dunn directed former Purdue All-American Katie Douglas and her Fever teammates to the WNBA Finals, coming up a few points shy of the championship.

Other women's inductees of the class 2010, include Lenore (Doering) Pletcher, a star for the Wakarusa Sweethearts in the 1930s, Catherine (Beesley) Acton (Western Boone '80) Dale Ciciora (Liberty Township '52), Tonya Burns-Cohrs (Leo '81), Cheryl Cook (Indianapolis Washington '81), Jody (Beerman) Kelley (Heritage '83), Linda Mallender (Southport '81) and Melinda J. Sparkman (Scottsburg '79).

Coach Versyp is in her fourth season as the head coach of her alma mater and is in her 10th year as a collegiate head coach. The Boilermakers play host to third-ranked Notre Dame at 7 p.m. tonight and a Purdue win would be No. 200 for Versyp. She currently holds a school mark of 82-38, that includes two Big Ten Tournament titles (2007, 2008) and two NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances (2007, 2009), and owns a career record of 199-103.

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.

The 5-foot-9 point guard continued her stellar play at the collegiate level and is one of only eight 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 10 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 was Purdue's winningest first-year coach and the 31 wins equaled the second-most in school history.

In 2007-08, Versyp took a team that was without four starters from the previous year and won a second Big Ten Tournament championship. The Boilermakers defeated No. 17 Utah in the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Tennessee.

Last season, Purdue finished with a 25-11 record, advancing to the Elite Eight with wins over Charlotte, No. 11 North Carolina and Rutgers before dropping a six-point decision to No. 4 Oklahoma, 74-68.

In April 2009, Versyp was recognized as a member of the Indiana Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team as one of the top 15 outstanding former Indiana high school basketball players who graduated 25 years prior.

The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's Annual Women's Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010. The ceremony will take place at the Primo Banquet Hall, on the south side of Indianapolis. For more information, call the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame at 765-529-1891 or visit hoopshall.com.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article

Purdue Boilermakers

PurdueWHoops YouTube Channel
PurdueWBB on Twitter
2011 European Tour