When Kiley Jarrett accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Ball State University, she did so in large part because she wanted to play four years under head coach Tracy Roller.
Despite playing the final half of last year without Roller on the sidelines, Jarrett said she never thought through her first three seasons with the Cardinals that she would play for any other coach.
Wednesday afternoon, Jarrett's worst fear in regards to her basketball career became reality when Roller informed the team of her decision to leave the program. The meeting marked the second time the players have seen Roller in person since the coach took a leave of absence midway through last season.
"It's just shocking," Jarrett said. "It's something that you always read about and always see happening to other teams, but you never think it's going to happen to your team. [Roller] is the reason I came to Ball State; she did a great job recruiting me. Not being able to look over and see her on the sidelines during my senior season, it's kind of depressing really. There were some tears that were shed [that day]."
During her seven-year tenure at the helm of Ball State's women's basketball program, Roller has stressed the importance of creating a family atmosphere. Dana Moorman, who will be a senior on next year's team, said the players feel like they're losing much more than a coach.
"[Roller] was our Ball State mother," Moorman said. "She was a mother away from home."
Jarrett, Moorman and fellow senior-to-be Porchia Green all came to the same conclusion as to how best to ease the transition from Roller to the Cardinals' next coach. All three strongly encouraged Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins to hire associate head coach Lisa McDonald, who took control of the team during Roller's absence last season.
While Green realizes the choice of who succeeds Roller is not ultimately the players' to make, she said, the team hopes Collins will respect their desire to play for McDonald.
"I think our voice should matter a lot," Green said. "We are the players, and we've been through so much this year. We have to respect Tom Collins' decision, whatever it will be. But I think he should take into consideration our voice and our opinion because it directly affects us."
Moorman said one of the reasons the Cardinals strongly desire to continue playing for McDonald is the similarities she shares with Roller. McDonald assisted Roller during the past seven years and has been her primary adviser with the team during most of that time.
"Each player holds a special place in my heart," McDonald said. "I recruited every one of these kids. I feel like it's my obligation that they will be OK, and I want to be there for them."
Regardless of who leads Ball State's women's basketball program next season, Moorman said, the team will show its new coach the same respect it showed Roller. Moorman said she and her teammates would much prefer to play for McDonald because she shares many similarities with Roller, such as her basketball knowledge, competitive drive and nurturing personality off the court.
"[McDonald] came in and helped from day one," Moorman said. "They've been together for seven years, and they have the same ideas about basketball. They've connected those ideas and built this program together. Even with coach Roller leaving, the team has full confidence that coach Mac can keep building the program."
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