If Sycamore basketball fans
thought they had reached the pinnacle in 2005, when ISU
set a school record with 23 wins and
reached the WNIT for only the third time in the
school’s history, Wiedie had more in store for
them as he surpassed several of those marks just
over one
year ago.
2006 was unquestionably the
greatest season in ISU women's basketball
history. Under Wiedie's direction, the Sycamores
recorded a school-record 27 victories and
dominated the Missouri Valley Conference with a
16-2 record and the program's first-ever
outright MVC championship. For his efforts,
Wiedie was named the Rawlings' MVC Coach of the
Year for the second time during his career.
The on-the-floor general of
the team, point guard Melanie Boeglin, became
the first-ever winner of the Jackie Stiles MVC
Most Valuable Player Award as was a first team
all-conference selection. Junior Stephanie Lisch
was named to the second team. Boeglin earned
three separate All-American mentions, including
a Third Team selection by the Full Court
Press and a pair of honorable mention
selections by the Associated Press and
The Women's Basketball Coaches' Association.
With the root of the program
grounded in the belief that his players are
students first and athletes second, not only did
the team enjoy unprecedented success on the
court, but in the classroom as well. Highlighted
by Boeglin becoming the first-ever Sycamore to
earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America
honors as presented by the College Sports
Information Directors of America, fellow senior
Kristen Weddle was a second team all-district
selection. Boeglin, Weddle, Lisch and Lisa
Verhoff also earned academic all-conference
plaudits.
Other highlights of the
memorable 2006 season included the team's
invitation to host a first round contest on the
Preseason WNIT, and following a convincing
victory over 2006 NCAA Tournament participant
UT-Chattanooga, a road game at perennial power
UCONN. Also high on the list of highlights were
Boeglin's 19 assist performance at Eastern
Kentucky, which were a school and league record
as well as the best single-game performance by
any player in the nation during the season.
Boeglin topped that with a 46-point scoring
performance in a double-overtime victory at
Drake. Those 46 points were tied for the most in
a game this season, and that victory was the
first in a road trip sweep of Drake and
Creighton.
Despite losing six players
following that stellar season, 2007 showed
bright promise for the future as the Sycamores
greatly exceeded preseason expectations to
finish 19-11. In the MVC Preseason Poll, ISU was
predicted to finish sixth, but instead won each
of their last seven regular season games to
finish as the league's third seed. ISU swept the
Drake/Creighton and Missouri State/Wichita State
road swings during the year.
Showing his versatility,
Wiedie took over the post position in 2007, and
it was by no accident that ISU dominated inside
during the course of the year. Junior Laura
Rudolphi and senior Rachel Maenpaa each earned
All-MVC Second Team honors and paced the team in
scoring. Rudolphi and Maenpaa became the first
two players in ISU women's basketball history to
both finish in the league's Top 10 for points
scored and rebounds.
Kelsey Luna, drilled 79
3-pointers on the year, almost taking down the
school single-season record in just her first
season. She became the second athlete under
coach Wiedie to earn the Valley's Freshman of
the Year honor. Her 46.2% 3-point field goal
percentage led the Valley, and was third in the
nation.
Rudolphi became the third
Sycamores to earn the Prairie Farms
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award as led the
team with 14 points per game and reached double
figures scoring in 17-of-18 Valley games while
maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA in Business
Insurance. Maenpaa likewise earned All-MVC
Scholar-Athlete First Team mention while Leah
Phillips placed on the second team.
Rudolphi also earned national
acclaim for her academic and athletic prowess as
she became just the second player in the history
of the program to earn ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-America status as she placed on the
third team. She also earned ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-District First Team honors while
Maenpaa was a second team selection.
As a team Indiana State has
won the WBCA Academic Excellence Award twice in
the past three seasons, including a first place
finish in both 2005 & 2003. In 2005-06, ISU’s
team GPA of 3.602 led the nation.
In the last four seasons, the
ISU women’s basketball team has finished in the
Top Three national rankings for grade point average.
The Sycamores were third in 2002-03, first in
2003-04, second in 2004-05 and first again in
2005-06.
On the court, the Sycamores
reached the finals of the State Farm MVC
Tournament for the third time in the last five
seasons. Although, ISU dropped that final
contest, the Sycamores received its fourth berth
into the Women's NIT, defeating Eastern Michigan
before falling to Indiana in the Sweet 16.
The Sycamores proved to be
the hottest ticket in Terre Haute as the
community clamored to watch this exciting group
of athletes. In 2006, the previous season attendance
average was blasted as 3,815 fans per game filed
into Hulman Center to support the league
champions. 6,836 fans filled the stands to watch
the most successful senior class in the history
of the program receive their Senior Day Awards.
In 2007, ISU continued to
draw fans in as they averaged 3,610 fans per
game - which ranked 31st in the nation. On
February 19, 2007, Indiana State welcomed a
season-high 5,568 fans to watch the Illinois
State game as a result of the "Big Blue Blowout
Sale" ticket promotion, which was a creative
genius of coach Wiedie and his staff. All
tickets were sold for just $1 for that game
only, and the community responded with a rousing
crowd.
Indiana State welcomed no
less than 3,000 fans to a home game in 2006-07,
and topped the 4,000 fan mark on two separate
occasions. Under Wiedie, the Hulman Center has
become a true home court advantage for the
Sycamores, and a place where opposing teams just
do not want to play. In the last seven seasons, ISU is
69-22 when playing on their home court.
The Sycamores were 9-3 last season inside the
friendly confines of Hulman Center.
Hulman Center also was the
site of Wiedie's 100th career victory. On
February 10, 2006, the Sycamores soundly
defeated Bradley by a count of 78-52 to send the
Sycamore faithful into a fury as they celebrated
with their coach on his special day. In what
Wiedie described to the crowd as "his perfect
moment," players, coaches, administrators and
fans watched as Director of Athletics Ron
Prettyman presented Wiedie with a plaque
commemorating the moment of his 100th victory.
Wiedie is just the second-ever head coach in the
history of the program to win at least 100
games, and is one of just two active MVC coaches
with at least 100 career coaching victories.
The Sycamores have compiled a
107-47 overall record the past four seasons,
including a pair of MVC Regular Season Championships
and three WNIT
berths. During the MVC Championship season of
2003, the Sycamores led the nation in scoring
with 80.0 points per game and led all Division I
programs in team grade point average with a mark
of 3.63.
The 2005 season culminated
with a berth into the WNIT where ISU defeated
Big Ten foe Illinois in the first round to
secure its 23rd win of the season.
The highlight of the year came in the final game
of the season, as 4,720 rabid Sycamore fans
crammed into Hulman Center to set a then school
record for ISU’s second round contest versus
Xavier.
As the calendar turned to
2005, those lofty accomplishments seemed miles
away as ISU started the Missouri Valley
Conference season with a 1-4 record, including
three of those games on the road. But ISU made
the most of the stretch run, winning 12 of its
last 13 contests to earn the league’s number two
seed at the conference tournament. Only a narrow
loss at Missouri State, kept ISU from
getting a share of the league crown for the
second time in three seasons.
ISU reached the MVC
Tournament Championship contest for the second
time by defeating Bradley and
Drake in the first two games. After dropping the
finale, ISU accepted its second bid to WNIT
under Wiedie, defeating Illinois before falling
to Xavier.
ISU point guard Melanie
Boeglin was the floor general for his team
throughout the year. She became the first player
in the history of the program to receive All-MVC
as well as MVC All- Defensive team honors in
each of her freshman, sophomore and junior
seasons. Boeglin became just the second-ever
Sycamore to take home the league’s Defensive
Player of the Year honors as well.
Wiedie had three athletes
place on the MVC Academic All-Conference team,
including Boeglin and Lisa Verhoff, who each
earned repeat honors as well as Stephanie Lisch,
who was an honorable mention selection in her
first year of eligibility for the award.
Along the way, ISU defeated
Eastern Kentucky, who advanced to the NCAA
Tournament, as well as Big Ten foe Indiana.
Overall, the Sycamores were 2-0 against the Big
Ten in 2004-05.
Despite losing two starting guards before the
opening of conference play, the Sycamores still
managed to finish the 2003-04 season with a
respectable 16-12 record. Three team members
received all-conference recognition. Stephanie
Lisch became the first player in the history of
the program to be named Missouri Valley
Conference Freshman of the Year. Melanie Boeglin
was a two-time First Team All-Missouri Valley
Conference selection and was named to the MVC’s
All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive
year. Senior Erin Rhodes finished her career by
being named to the Honorable Mention All-MVC
squad.
2002-03 was a breakthrough
season for the coach as the Sycamores won the
school’s first-ever Missouri Valley Conference
championship in women’s basketball while also
breaking eight team records, including tying the
school’s previous mark for wins in a season with
22.
The Sycamores advanced to the
2003 Missouri Valley Conference Championship
game before hosting the first round of the
Women’s National Invitation Tournament against
Ball State. Under Wiedie’s guidance and
direction, the Sycamores had two team members
garner all-conference selections in Melanie
Boeglin and Kourtney Mennen. Boeglin was also
named to the MVC All-Defensive team, as well as
the MVC All-Freshman team along with Lisa
Verhoff. Mennen went on to capture her second
consecutive MVC scoring championship, averaging
18.6 points per game.
Wiedie himself was honored
after the season by the conference by being
named 2002-03 Missouri Valley Conference Coach
of the Year for leading the predicted
seventh-place Sycamores to a first place finish
at season’s end.
In 2002-03, Wiedie coached a
team that broke the school record for
three-point field goals made, the third straight
season that a Wiedie led team had broken that
school record. He also was the leader of a team
that won 12 of their 14 home contests in
2002-03, including an eight-game home MVC
winning streak — the longest in school history.
In 2001-02, Coach Wiedie led
the Sycamores to the ISU school record for
three-point field goals in a season with 184, a
record which was broken in 2002-03.
That same season, ISU’s
Kourtney Mennen became just the third player in
school history to score her 1,000th career point
in her third season of play. Mennen also was
named MVC Player of the Week a school record
three times, and was the Valley’s scoring
champion with 19.8 points per game. Wiedie had
three players, Mennen, April Kirby and Kristin
Stewart who each had career-highs for
single-season points scored.
As a team, the Sycamores
finished third at the prestigious Vanderbilt
Holiday Inn Invitational and swept Southern
Illinois in conference play. The Sycamores also
recorded their first home win over Northern Iowa
in four seasons.
In the 2000-01 season, Wiedie
rallied his players and coaches around the
common goal of gaining respect. Under Wiedie’s
direction the Sycamores, were able to get an MVC
win against Wichita State while sweeping two
games each from Bradley, Illinois State and
Southern Illinois. The team lost by one point to
conference power Drake and faced 2001 NCAA Final
Four participant Missouri State on three separate
occasions.
Wiedie was able to lead the
team to a seventh place finish inside the
Missouri Valley which landed the Sycamores in
the 2001 State Farm MVC Women’s Basketball
Tournament. The Sycamores fell short against
eventual tournament champion, Missouri State, in the first
round. Under Wiedie’s leadership, the Sycamores
were able to win one more regular season game
and two more conference games than the previous
year, as well as break three team records. ISU
set new marks for three-point field goals made
in a game (11), three-point field goals made in
a season (165) and three-point field goals
attempted in a season (483).
The Sycamores also had two
players honored by the MVC with postseason
awards. Senior Kiwana Battle, who was the
leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker on
the 2000-01 team, was named to the MVC’s
all-defensive team while Celeste Hlebovy was
named to the MVC all-freshman team.
Wiedie has played a key role
in the success of the Sycamore program since his
arrival before the 1997 season. His first season
at ISU, the Sycamores finished 17-11 and
advanced to the semifinals of the MVC
Tournament. Also that season, the ISU recruiting
class was ranked nationally by Blue Star Report.
In Wiedie’s second season (1998-99), ISU
finished 18-11 and once again advanced to the
semifinals of the MVC tournament and continued
in postseason play in the WNIT where they lost
in the first round to Wisconsin. During Wiedie’s
third season as an assistant in 1999-00, the
Sycamores finished the season 9-18, but still
advanced to the MVC Tournament for the fourth
straight season.
During Wiedie’s fourth season
in 2000-01 he served as assistant coach for six
games before becoming interim head coach. As an
assistant in 2000-01, the Sycamores beat UNC-Wilmington
at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
Prior to coming to Indiana
State, Wiedie was on the staff at Northern
Kentucky University for five seasons. During his
time with NKU, Wiedie served as an assistant
coach for the women’s basketball program and
athletic facilities coordinator. Wiedie was
responsible for all areas of coaching,
recruiting and scouting for the women’s
basketball program. Before his stint at NKU,
Wiedie spent one year at Walsh College in Ohio
as an assistant women’s basketball coach. Wiedie
also was an assistant girl’s basketball coach at
Akron Springfield High School for six years.
The Akron, Ohio native is a
1988 graduate of Kent State University, where he
earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications. He also
earned his master’s degree in sports
administration from Kent State University in
1991.