Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- troller@bsu.edu
- Phone:
- (765) 285-8225
Tracy Roller just concluded her sixth season as head coach at Ball State University. She is just the third basketball coach, men’s or women’s, in Ball State history to reach the 100 career victory mark with BSU’s 10-point victory over Charlotte in the SPC Holiday Classic. Under her tutelage, the Cardinals have posted all three 20-win seasons in program history including this season’s 24-7 record.
She has a 115-66 record at Ball State in her six seasons and has guided the Cardinals to three appearances in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). This season the Cardinals received the automatic bid from the Mid-American Conference into the WNIT and hosted SEC foe Kentucky in the second round at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals’ 24 victories this season are tied for the most total wins in BSU history. The Cardinals also picked up the Mid-American Conference West Division title for the third time in program history with their 13-3 MAC record. The 13 victories are tied for most conference wins in program history.
The Cardinals have also set a single season attendance record this season as they have welcomed over 20,000 fans to Worthen Arena for games this season. Ball State has seen two of the top three single game crowds in school history happen this season with a school record 4,711 fans in the regular season finale against Eastern Michigan and 3,581 fans for the second round WNIT contest against Kentucky.
Roller has made a name for herself and the Cardinals’ program in her short time at the helm of Ball State. For starters, she is the all-time winningest coach in the 33-year history of the program at Ball State. She earned that honor in just her third season as the Cardinals picked up a 73-49 victory over Buffalo January 24, 2004 in Muncie. The win, her 55th, placed her at the top of the list for women’s hoops coaches in program history.
Under Roller’s direction, Ball State has had a legion of firsts. In her rookie season at the helm in 2001-02, the Cardinals captured the program’s first-ever Mid-American Conference Overall Co-Championship and West Division title. BSU made its first postseason appearance in the WNIT, where it advanced to the second round and hosted both games at Worthen Arena. Roller also was named the 2002 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
The season ended with the best overall (24-8) and best league (13-3) records in school history. Ball State set or tied 21 records during the campaign on the way to shattering single-game and single-season average attendance figures. Several players were on the receiving end of conference and regional awards. Tamara Bowie earned All-MAC First-Team accolades and honorable mention on the Kodak Division I Women’s All-American Basketball Team for the second-straight year. Shala Crook was selected as BSU’s first-ever MAC Defensive Player of the Year, while Kate Endress was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. To make the season even more remarkable, the 2001-02 team was recognized on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Division I Honor Roll.
In her second season as head mentor in 2002-03, Roller led the Cardinals to a share of their second-straight overall regular-season and West Division league crowns plus a second-straight berth in the WNIT postseason tournament, where BSU, once again, advanced to the second round. Ball State, which began the season with its first invite to the Preseason WNIT, set or tied numerous team and/or individual records, including single-season attendance average for the second-straight year. The 21 overall victories and 12 MAC wins both rank second all time at BSU.
In addition to the aforementioned 2002-03 team accomplishments, Bowie became the only player in the program’s history to reap MAC Player of the Year accolades twice in a career and All-America Honorable Mention three times. Before leaving BSU, Bowie became the very first and thus far the only player in MAC history to be drafted in the Women’s National Basketball Association Collegiate Draft with her selection as the 36th pick by the Washington Mystics.
Additional individual honors included Johna Goff being named to the All-MAC Second Team and Dana Collins to the league’s All-Freshman Team. In addition, Endress was honored with her selection to the Verizon Academic All-District First Team and the Academic All-MAC Team.
Roller guided her 2003-04 team to the championship of the East Carolina Lady Pirate Invitational and its fifth-straight MAC Tournament quarterfinal appearance in Cleveland. Individually, Endress became the fourth-straight player, and just the sixth in school history, to earn First-Team All-MAC honors. In addition, Endress was honored as a 2004 CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American, a feat never before accomplished in the program.
The 2004-05 team made the program’s 14th overall MAC Tournament quarterfinal appearance. For the second-successive season, Ball State claimed the championship of a non-conference tournament after capturing the Seton Hall Classic. Individually, Endress continued a stream of accolades by concluding her career as MAC Player of the Year, the second player to be honored during Roller’s tenure as head coach, a first-team all-league selection and an All-America Honorable Mention.
Last season, the Cardinals posted a 17-12 overall record and made a MAC Quarterfinal Tournament appearance for the 10th straight season. The Cardinals posted a 9-7 record in the MAC while holding serve at home at Worthen Arena with an 11-3 mark. The Cardinals took home the inaugural Ball State Credit Union Classic championship during the season and Julie DeMuth earned Third Team All-MAC honors.
On the academic side, Endress became just the second student-athlete, male or femal, in school history to be named an Academic All-American of the Year after her second-straight selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team. She was further honored as Indiana’s NCAA Woman of the Year and as the recipient of the MAC’s Bob James Memorial Scholarship, both firsts for a BSU women’s basketball player. Last season, Tina Bolte earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team honors marking the fourth straight year that BSU has been represented in academically within the district.
Endress signed a free agent contract with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, making her the second BSU player to have the opportunity to play at the professional level.
Roller arrived at Ball State eight years ago in an assistant coaching capacity and she has been behind one of the most successful transformations of a program in the country. As part of head coach Brenda (then Oldfield) Frese’s staff in 1999-00, Roller played a key role in helping the program to its first overall winning record in 10 seasons with a 16-13 finish. The program went a step further in 2000-01 with a then school record 19 overall wins plus 11 league victories, which tied for first all time. The 2000-01 season, combined with the 1999-00 campaign, resulted in the first back-to-back winning seasons since the first two years of the sport at BSU in 1974-75 and 1975-76.
Prior to her assistant coaching stint at Ball State, Roller spent three years as an assistant coach at Valparaiso, where she was responsible for the Crusaders’ recruiting efforts plus monitored academic progress, handled scouting of opponents and coached both the post and guard positions. In 1998-99, Valparaiso registered an 18-11 slate after posting the best record in women’s basketball history at the school with a 22-7 mark in 1997-98.
In her 11 seasons of NCAA Division I collegiate coaching, Roller has recruited 23 high school players from the state of Indiana, including current BSU players, senior Julie DeMuth; juniors Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett; sophomore Audrey McDonald and redshirt freshman Kyleigh Jones.
Before her move to collegiate coaching, Roller spent four years teaching and coaching at the prep level. In her final season, she was head coach at Jennings County High School in North Vernon, Ind., where she garnered 1995-96 Hoosier Hills Conference Coach of the Year accolades after leading the school to its first-ever conference crown.
As a player, Roller was selected to the Indiana All-Star team in 1988 after a successful prep career at Crown Point High School, where she guided the team to a state championship in 1985. She went on to a four-year playing career at Eastern Illinois, where she graduated in 1992, earning a bachelor’s degree in zoology. The daughter of Ron and Sue Roller, she was born Dec. 12, 1969, in Oakland City, Ind.
|
Year |
Overall |
MAC |
Postseason |
|
2001-02 |
24-8 |
13-3 |
WNIT |
|
2002-03 |
21-10 |
12-4 |
WNIT |
|
2003-04 |
13-16 |
7-9 |
-- |
|
2004-05 |
16-13 |
11-5 |
-- |
|
2005-06 |
17-12 |
9-7 |
-- |
|
2006-07 |
24-7 |
13-3 |
WNIT |
|
Total |
115-66 |
65-31 |
3 WNIT |
