GIRLS BASKETBALL

Highland will name Jeanette Gray as its new girls basketball coach, pending school board approval tonight, a source told The Times on Monday.

The current Clark coach will replace Mike Urban, who took over as Highland's athletic director in March. The Trojans have much of their sectional championship team returning after a 20-6 season.

At the same meeting Urban stepped down, Gray was hired on as an assistant softball coach at Highland.

Gray graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1999, and was an Indiana All-Star. She went on to star at Valparaiso University. She then coached at Ball State before leaving the staff last summer. She was hired at Clark and took over the Pioneers' program. The young team struggled, finishing 3-17.

Highland has a math opening and Gray taught math at Clark. Gray's basketball resume is loaded, playing for and coaching with top-level coaches in high school and in college.

"I'm a huge melting pot of Greg Kirby, Keith Freeman and Tracy Roller," Gray told The Times when she took over the Clark job. "I learned a lot of the defensive aspects of the game in Valpo and then one of the reasons I went to Ball State was because I knew Tracy was all offense."

A phone call to Gray was not returned Monday evening.