MaChelle Joseph set scoring records at DeKalb High School and had an All-America career at Purdue University.
It's a great trivia question -- Who was selected Miss Basketball over MaChelle Joseph in 1988?
Before Joseph, women's college basketball was a much-ignored sport even in Indiana.
But Joseph demanded attention. As a Parade and Street & Smith's All-American at DeKalb High School, she scored 1,633 points in her career, leading the state in scoring with 35 per game as a senior. Her best game was 57 points. DeKalb retired her No. 22 jersey in 1992.
At Purdue University, the 5-foot-8 guard's scoring only increased. She averaged 18.9 points as a freshman, 19.4 as a sophomore, 20.3 as a junior and 22.2 as a senior. She became the all-time leading scorer in Purdue and Big Ten history with 2,405 points, and Purdue's all-time assists leader with 628. She was also the highest-scoring basketball player ever at Purdue, edging Rick Mount.
After her senior season, Joseph was named the Big Ten's Player of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year as well as consensus All-American. She was also elected to the Big Ten's All-Decade team for the 1980s, the first player to rank in the top 10 on the conference's all-time lists for points and assists. When she graduated in 1992, Joseph held 33 Purdue records.
Joseph later became an assistant coach at Illinois and at Purdue before she was caught up in the scandal that cost coach Lin Dunn her job. She has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Auburn University women's program.
And who was Miss Basketball in 1988? Vicki Hall of Indianapolis Brebeuf.
