Melanie Boeglin, an All-American who played on the women’s basketball team at Indiana State from 2002 to 2006, will be inducted into the 21st class of the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday.
She will be joined by men’s basketball greats Nate Green, Michael Menser, and Matt Renn when the class is inducted during ceremonies at the Sycamore Banquet Center in the Hulman Memorial Student Union. A social hour will begin at 6 p.m. with the dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program beginning at 7:15 p.m.
“Being inducted into the ISU Hall of Fame is a truly humbling honor,” Boeglin said. “I have been lucky enough to achieve a lot of things and win some very special awards during my career at Indiana State, but this honor trumps them all. There are so many phenomenal athletes and people that have made Indiana State athletics what it is today, and to even be mentioned amongst those individuals is a great feeling.”
Boeglin was a dominate player for Indiana State from 2002 to 2006 and received numerous national and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) honors during her playing career. She was the first athlete in the history of the MVC to win the Jackie Stiles Player of the Year award and the Prairie Farms Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year award in the same season, both coming in 2006.
She was also named to several All-American teams in 2006 including honorable mention on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/Kodak All-American Team, honorable mention on the Associated Press All-American Team, and third team on The Sporting News All-American Team. She was also named a First Team Academic All-American by ESPN the Magazine and the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA).
Boeglin was the 2005 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Defensive Team and All-Conference Team all four years at Indiana State. She was also named to the 2003 MVC All-Freshman Team and was selected as the MVC Player of the Week nine times.
“It is very hard to pinpoint what my favorite memories are from my career,” Boeglin said. “No doubt the best part of my entire experience would be the time I spent with my teammates, both on and off the court.”
Boeglin said that when her teammates get together for alumni events they rarely talk about the wins or loses but reflect on the silly things that happened in the locker room, on the bus, at the hotel, or back in the dorms.
“Those are the memories that I will never forget and those are the people that will forever be a huge part of who I am today,” Boeglin said.
During her Sycamore career, Indiana State posted an 88-36 record, won or finished second in the MVC regular season three times, and participated in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament three times.
Her favorite memory on the court came on Senior Night when the Sycamores played in front of 6,900 fans.
“I remember that it was not a close game by any means but it was the last time we got to play on the Hulman Center court during the regular season. To be able to share that with the other four members of my class was so much fun. The emotions of that night were overwhelming. I was so appreciative to have had the collegiate experience that I had but so sad to see it come to an end.”
She also remembers the game Indiana State played at Connecticut in the Preseason WNIT.
“I wish we could have a do-over for how we actually played because we had an awful game,” Boeglin said. “But the chance to play in a gym with that much history and to play against some of the most elite players in the country was awesome. I think we were a little bit in awe of the situation but it was something that I will remember forever.”
She still holds numerous Indiana State records including career steals (436), career assists (685), career games player (124), and career free throws made (576), points scored in a season (600 in 2005-2006), free throws made in a season (166 in 2005-2006), assists in a season (237 in 2005-2006), steals in a season (123 in 2004-2005), points scored in game (46 against Drake on Jan. 26,2006), and field goals made in a game (19 against Drake on Jan. 26, 2006).
“I was so blessed and lucky to have some of the greatest teammates and greatest coaches throughout the course of my career at all levels,” Boeglin said. “I learned something unique from ever teammate and ever coach that I played with from the time I picked up a basketball.”
In 2006, Boeglin was the first Indiana State women’s basketball player to receive an invitation to attend the WNBA Pre-Draft Camp. In 2007-08, Boeglin completed the first half of her second professional season with a team in Zamarat, Spain. She started all but two games, but left mid-year to work with Indiana State as a graduate assistant. She was an assistant coach for Indiana State through the 2011-2012 campaign before leaving to work for the online career building company Monster.com in Indianapolis.
- First athlete in history of Missouri Valley Conference to win Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and the Prairie Farms MVC Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year in same season (2006).
- 2006 The Sporting News All-America Third Team, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/Kodak and Associated Press All-American Team Honorable Mention.
- 2006 ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American
- 2005 MVC Defensive Player of the Year
- Four-Time All-MVC First Team (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
- Four-Time All-MVC Defensive Team (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
- Three-Time MVC All-Academic First Team (2004, 2005, 2006)
- Top 10 eight career records: First steals (436), assists (685), games played (124), and free throws made (576); Third points scored (1,800), Fifth field goals made (571), Eighth field goal percentage (.801)
- Led 2005-2006 team points scored with 600 (18.2 points per game)
- Led 2004-2005 team points scored with 512 (16.0 points per game)
- Inducted into Hall of Fame October 4, 2012
