Whitney Ballinger grew up in a neighborhood overpopulated by boys. So, if she didn't have a basketball in her hands she may have been gripping a tennis racket or a golf club.

That Carrollton, Ky. neighborhood must have been a good training ground because the 6-foot-3 junior has started making a place for herself, and her team, in Campbellsville Lady Tiger lore.

The junior, who can be used at any position on the floor, added to her Mid-South Conference Player of the Year recognition with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's highest individual honor - Player of the Year. She was announced as the award recipient Tuesday night in Jackson, Tenn. at a banquet that precedes the NAIA Women's National Tournament. She will actually receive the honor at a banquet in April during the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.

Ballinger and her teammates will take on LSU Shreveport Wednesday morning at 10:15 EDT.

"This is a big deal," said her coach, Ginger Colvin. "I don't believe our program has ever had a Player of the Year in the WBCA.

"I think Whit would be the first to tell you that although this award is given to an individual, that she wouldn't have gotten it without the tremendous team she has supporting her. Our chemistry is unbelievable. Anytime you have a player of her caliber, you have to have team chemistry."

So far in March, Ballinger has passed the 1,201-point, 600-rebound and 233-block marks of her career in just 66 career games.

"I am honored to award Whitney Ballinger with the State Farm/WBCA NAIA Player of the Year award," WBCA CEO Beth Bass said.  "She has taken her game to a new level this season and has proved to be the best NAIA player in the country."

Ballinger's 1,000th point game Feb. 6 on a late free throw in a win over Georgetown College. On Feb. 11, she became the second CU player to reach 200 blocks and the first women's basketball player to reach the milestone in the Mid-South Conference. She picked up career rebound No. 600 early in CU's 79-67 win at the University of Rio Grande on Saturday.

As if that's not enough, Ballinger also recorded a triple-double Saturday with 29 points, 13 rebounds and a CU single-game record 10 blocks. She's the first Lady Tiger to record a triple double since current CU head coach Ginger High Colvin did so in 1990 with 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

"Three years ago I thought I signed a pretty good group of players," said Colvin. "I watched our first recruiting class and then saw Whitney in an All-Star game and said: 'Wow, if I just had that kid. What an impact she could be on our level.'"

Ballinger signed with Western Kentucky University the summer before her senior year and played 31 of 34 games in the Lady Hilltopper's 2007-08 season, averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds a game.

"I was getting 10 to 15 minutes a game," said Ballinger.

Despite a big game against Notre Dame in the Preseason NIT, she wasn't happy. When she started looking for a place to play for the last three years of her college eligibility, she looked at Campbellsville.

"My family was really close with (former player) Allison Baker," said Ballinger. "I visited and I thought I would fit in with the team here better than anyplace else."

So, with Colvin's wish answered from that March evening watching All-Stars, Ballinger has fit right in just the way she dreamed she would. Ballinger says her teammates make her better, and she makes them better.

"It's a give-give," offered Ballinger. "Opponents have to choose. Do they double me? If they do, then they have a bunch of other weapons to deal with."

Her coach agrees.

"She has a tremendous supporting cast. She just settled in this year. She can play every position on the floor and play them all well."

Colvin thinks Ballinger's success has been as much off the floor as it has been on. She posted one "B" her freshman year at WKU and since then her classroom work has been perfect - all A's. Ballinger is majoring in math and secondary education.

"She's just a neat kid to be around," said Colvin. "This is fun group. They're so different in so many ways, but they're so much fun to be around and to coach."

If Ballinger has an Achilles' heel, it could be her free throw shooting where she's canning only 63 percent of her charity tosses.

"Oh good day," said Colvin. "She's a better shooter than that. She was in foul trouble a lot early in the season and I think it got her off her game a little bit, but she's been big in big games."

On a two-game New Year's trip to New Orleans, Ballinger hit two free throws with just a couple of ticks on the clock to squeeze out a one-point win over Xavier University.

"We're not just a one-player team, but Whitney has certainly helped us get better," said Colvin, whose roster includes numerous former All-Stars and Region Players of the Year.

To prove her point, Colvin looks no farther than junior Courtney Danis, who could reach 1,500 points this season.

"When Courtney came to Campbellsville she immediately averaged 25 points a game in conference."

Danis reached the 1,000-point milestone during the later part of her sophomore year. On top of that, Danis and guards Melly Heaton, Wendi Messer, T.J. Thomas and Mackenzie Lee have combined for 185 3-pointers this year.

"Everybody in the league has to honor that kind of output, and that just opens things up for Whitney and everyone else. Melly, Wendi and Mackenzie all have to be guarded. "

With her individual stats making her one of the best to ever wear a CU uniform, Ballinger hasn't lost sight of her team's goals - win the Mid-South regular season, win the MSC Tournament and have a strong showing in the national tournament.

"We just can't get comfortable with what we have done so far," said Ballinger, sounding a bit like her coach. "What we've done so far aren't the big pieces, these are little pieces that we hope will get us to the big prize."

If Ballinger gets her wish, maybe someone will call a reunion of those Carrollton neighborhood boys. They can surely take some pride in the Lady Tigers' success and might even try to argue that Ballinger's success somehow had something to do with the hard knocks delivered in the neighborhood driveways.


With four regular season games left in Ballinger's junior season, here's her highlight reel.

- 58.5 percent shooting from the field

- 43.2 percent shooting from 3-point range

- 64.2 percent shooting free throws

- 722 points (21.9 ppg)

- 377 rebounds (11.4 per game)

- 77 assists (2.3 per game)

- 76 steals (2.3 per game)

- 120 blocks* (3.6 per game)

- 20 double-doubles

- 1 triple-double

- Seven 30-point games

Highs: 40 points, 28 rebounds (CU record), 5 assists, 7 steals, 10 blocks (CU record), 15 field goals made, 4 3-pointers made, 19 free throws made.

She set records for Player of the Week honors, earning Mid-South Conference Player of the Week honor a record nine times, including the last five straight, the NAIA Division I Player of the Week honor a record three times and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week honor a record six times.

In the NAIA, she leads the nation in total points (722), total rebounds (377), defensive rebounds (263) and double-doubles (20). She's also second in total blocks (120), rebounds per game (11.42) and points per game (21.88).