The Hoosier State is indeed special

South Orange, NJ– Basketball history has always been an interesting and informative part of the game. Closely related to the past is the present-the culture of the game. Of particular interest here is the history and culture, the two going hand in hand, of the Hoosier State-Indiana.
There are states taking to sport in a fanatical way. See Texas and the Friday Night Lights devotion to football. Dr. Naismith invented the game in Springield, Mass. Indiana has had a multi decade obsession with it.
Outside of a trip to Notre Dame in the Seventies, experiences first hand with Indiana basketball have been via ESPN or covering Butler on their trips to the New York Metropolitan area. Devouring books on Indiana basketball, especially the past, brought up questions. What is it like to play in the ‘cathedral of the game’, Hinkle Fieldhouse. How special is it growing up and playing your high school ball in the basketball mad state?
Butler women were visiting Seton Hall Sunday. Looking over the Bulldog roster a decision was made to have a post game talk with leading scorer Kristen Spolyar, the team’s leading scorer, hailing from Lebanon, Indiana. Obviously she could provide good insight.
Following Seton Hall’s 66-53 victory, sought out Butler SID Kit Stetzel to arrange an interview with Kristen. Waiting a few minutes Butler assistant coach Whitney Jennings introduced herself and said Kristen would arrive soon. Inquired of Jennings if she played for Butler, “Yes I did,” she said. “Also played at Logansport (Ind.) High School before Butler.”
Jennings stands about 5’6”. No surprise her position was at the guard spot and she played it very well. She spoke with an accent hinting of a small town, a bit more relaxed in pace compared to life in the Garden State, with residents passionately devoted to the local high school team.
Logansport is a town of 18,000 in Northern Indiana. The team nickname is the ‘Berries’. The home court, the Berry Bowl, was built in 1973 with a capacity of 5,830- over 25 per cent of the population. In the center of the court is a Felix the Cat imprint. Back in 1925 the boys team was losing an important game. At the half a Logansport player took out a Felix the Cat stuffed animal for good luck. The Berries went on to win and Felix was cemented in school lore and tradition.
Jennings frequently uses the word ‘passion’ in describing the fan devotion she has seen high school through college. “It was not at all unusual to play in front of five thousand people in high school,” she said. In 2014 Logansport won their first regional title in school history behind Jennings’ 41 points. In 1998 Indiana altered the format of the state tournament going from one open field to classifications. “We won that regional,” Jennings said. “I would rather the old format was in. To see what the smaller schools could do. That format made it fun.” Still, she noted how fans still embrace the states even with the current alignment. “It was not uncommon at all to have crowds five thousand or more in those big state games.”
Spolyar emerged from the locker room looking a bit tired. The 5’10” guard logged 32 minutes and was forced into a 2 of 8 shooting day, scoring 8 points (10 below) her average, by a relentless Seton Hall defense. On the post game line Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella stopped a few seconds to speak to Spolyar. “He (Bozzella) said I was an MVP in his estimation,’ se said,” and that I play with passion.”
The passion was evident post game as she literally hurt from this loss. The topic at hand seemed to energize and brought frequent smiles.
Spolyar spoke of her playing days at Lebanon. As memory served that was the alma mater of Rick Mount, a deadly outside shooter, who went on to star at Purdue and play professionally. “I would shoot around with him (Mount) when I was a little girl,” Spolyar recalled. “When I stated to play competitively he worked with me. It was a true honor to break his scoring record at Lebanon.” The first thought-how did the three point arc weigh in? “When I broke the record Rick graciously congratulated me and quickly mentioned he had no three point line. I told him I never shot beyond the arc in high school,” she said with a laugh.
Spolyar told of New Castle High School. “They were in our league and had a 10,000 seat high school gym.” A facility that would be the envy of many a collegiate mid major. Reiterating what Jennings spoke of, Spolyar told of packed houses, of thousands not hundreds, and fan bases treating the game like religion as all part of the norm during the cold Indiana Winter.
She finished high school with 2,882 points-third in Indiana prep annals. Her career high was 57 and Spolyar showed her versatility setting a school record with 518 steals. A National Honor Society student with a 4.1 GPA Spolyar looked for a school reputable on the court and in the classroom. She cast her lot with Coach Kurt Godlevske and Butler.
“I have to say Hinkle Fieldhouse helped me make my decision,” Spolyar said. “It as an awesome place to play. We practice there and the game experiences with our fans are incredible. Everytime I walk into Hinkle there is a feeling of history and tradition.”
Mention was made of covering (and actually playing a pick up game or two) at the ‘Mecca’ Madison Square Garden and Palestra-a storied shrine in its own right, there still remains a desire. Get to Hinkle. Even for one game. You have to,” she said in an enthusiastic tone. “The building, tradition…it’s just magical.”