Whitney Ballinger is currently in her third season with the Lady Tigers. Through her 100 games played in a CU uniform, Ballinger has rewritten the Lady Tiger record books and become the program's most decorated player.
Ballinger, who was named the National Player of the Year by the NAIA and WBCA in 2009-10, is third on the Campbellsville University Lady Tigers All-Time scoring list with 2,017 points, fourth in rebounds with 1,064 and first in career blocks with 359. As of March 6, 2011 Ballinger is the only player in NAIA Division I Women's Basketball this season averaging more than 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2.5 assists and three blocks per game in an average of 28.5 minutes per game. She enters the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament as the top scorer with 23.39 points per game. She has done so while leading No. 2 Campbellsville to a 28-3 record with the third-toughest schedule in the NAIA. Since transferring to Campbellsville from Western Kentucky University, Ballinger has helped lead CU to three straight Mid-South Conference regular season championships and the MSC Tournament title in March 2011. She has set conference and national records for winning awards, earning the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Player of the Week honor a record four times, including three times in one season in 2009-10. She has received the Mid-South Conference Player of the Week award a record 16 times and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Student-Athlete of the Week award a record seven times in one season in 2009-10.
2009-10: Ballinger set the single season school records for points (813), rebounds (422) and blocks (147) while helping to lead CU to a program best 33-3 record. Her peak offensive performance was a 48-point showcase in the NAIA quarterfinals against Oklahoma City University, which tied the school record for points in a game. She also posted a record-tying 28 rebounds during a road game at University of the Cumbrlands. She twice broke her single-game blocks record last season, setting the new mark at 11 blocks against St. Catharine College.
2008-09: In her first season with the Lady Tigers, Ballinger shot 52 percent from the floor and averaged 14.5 points per game. She set the single-season blocks record with 113 berfore eclipsing the mark her junior season.
AWARDS2011 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team (College Division)
2011 Mid-South Conference Player of the Year
2011 NCCAA Mid-East Region Player of the Year
2010 State Farm/WBCA NAIA National Player of the Year
2010 NAIA Co-Player of the Year
2010 NAIA All-America First Team
2010 NAIA Scholar-Athlete
2010 Mid-South Conference Player of the Year
2010 Mid-South Conference All-Conference First Team
2010 Mid-South Conference Academic All-Conference
2009 NAIA All-America Second Team
NAIA DI Women's Basketball National Player of the Week - 4 times
Mid-South Conference Player of the Week - 16 times
BEST BASKETBALL MEMORY: Passing the ball to Melly Heaton to win the game with no time left on the clock at Bethel University in November 2009.
COACH COLVIN'S COMMENTS: "A coach's dream on and off the floor ... Truly unselfish and humble ... An unbelievable talent with a tremendous work ethic to match ... A super kid to be around off the court ... Has left an undeniable mark on Campbellsville University and has helped spear-head our team back into the national spotlight."
PERSONAL: Ballinger holds a 3.87 GPA with a major in mathematics and minor in secondary education. She is the daughter of Gerald and Elaine Ballinger.
Stat comparison of Ballinger to past NAIA National Players of the Year
