Two Ball State women's basketball recruits saw a dream come true when they were named for the Indianapolis Star Indiana High School All-Star team and competed with the team for two weeks.
Porchia Green, of Indianapolis Arlington, and Kiley Jarrett, of Bloomington North, competed for the Indiana All-Stars in the annual two-game series against the Kentucky All-Stars.
"It's been one of my life-long goals to make the Indiana All-Star team because that means you're one of the best players, and you get to represent the state of Indiana," Jarrett said. "That's the greatest honor to get in Indiana."
Green will join Ball State in the fall after becoming the first female player from Arlington to be named to the Indiana All-Star team. Jarrett started at point guard for Bloomington North for three years.
Both players averaged about 12 points per game during their senior seasons in high school, and both were also named to the Indiana Junior All-Star team after their junior years.
"It was a privilege and an honor," Green said of being the first player named to the All-Star team from Arlington.
Indiana avenged an earlier loss to Kentucky Saturday with a 65-49 win at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Jarrett played 13 minutes, grabbing two rebounds and adding an assist. She struggled from the field, finishing zero-for-eight.
Green played 11 minutes and scored three points, all on free throws. She added an assist and a rebound.
"We had to get [Kentucky] back," Green said. "It was big redemption for us."
In the first game against Kentucky, played on the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., Indiana charged back from a 15-point deficit to take the lead, 65-64, with 2:55 remaining in the second half. Kentucky allowed Indiana to score only two more points the rest of the way and won the game, 72-67. Jarrett contributed four points, one assist and a rebound in nine minutes. She nailed a 3-pointer -- one of only three made by the Indiana team -- and sunk one of her two shots from the free-throw line. Green played only six minutes but grabbed a steal and added an assist.
"I wasn't going to push anything," Jarrett said. "My part was to play defense. If I had a shot, I was going to take the shot, but I was happy with the part that I played on the team."
The Indiana All-Stars also played in three exhibition games against the Indiana Junior All-Stars throughout the two weeks, and they won all three games.
In the final exhibition game at Richmond High School on Thursday, the seniors fell behind early, 16-4, but went on a 17-4 run. Jarrett hit a 3-pointer from the corner at the six-minute mark to close the gap to 20-19.
The seniors led most of the second half, but fell behind late in the game before Jarrett nailed two free throws to reclaim the lead, and the seniors held on for the win, 71-67. Jarrett finished with five points, and Green added two points with three rebounds.
Ball State women's coach Tracy Roller was excited that two of Ball State's recruits were named to the All-Star team.
"We're really excited about their future at Ball State," she said. "I feel like a proud parent having two players play in the All-Star game."
She said she feels the recruits -- who both committed to Ball State in early 2004 -- are already members of the team, despite having not played even a minute in a Cardinals jersey, and the two recruits agreed.
"I'm excited," Green said. "I'm not nervous at all. [The Ball State players] make me feel like I'm at home. Roller is like a mother to me, and the girls are great."
"They made us feel that way," Jarrett said. "Just them getting to know us is a big step."
Since Roller's arrival on campus, Ball State has recruited eight Indiana All-Stars. This year is the first time in the history of the program that Ball State has had two recruits named to the All-Star team.
With Tina Bolte as the only returning point guard for next year's team, Roller said both Green and Jarrett will have the opportunity to play, and both said they expect to play, but Jarrett said she'll have to earn it.
"Nothing is given to you," she said. "I have to work for everything."
At only 5 feet 3 inches tall, Jarrett has probably had to work for everything she's earned, Indiana All-Star coach Jack Campbell said.
"Her heart is enormous," he said. "She's probably been told her whole life she's too short. That's got to be a whole lot of motivation."
Roller said both recruits are good defenders and have a good understanding of the game. Both she and Campbell said Green had tremendous athletic ability, and Roller said Jarrett was hard-nosed and was always looking for the open player.
Playing the same position, however, might force the two to compete for playing time. Still, Green said that won't be an issue.
"If it ever came to it, in high school I played [three positions], so I could play the two or three," she said."It doesn't matter to me."
With their All-Star experience behind them, the two recruits look forward to their futures at Ball State.
"I'm extremely excited," Jarrett said. "I can't wait to get out there and play college basketball. It's going to be a great experience."
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