Jan. 25, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former Kentucky women’s basketball standout Jodie Whitaker has been selected as the Wildcats’ Southeastern Conference Basketball Legend and will be honored at this year’s SEC Tournament at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., March 5-9.
Whitaker, a native of Fishers, Ind., who played guard at Kentucky from 1986-89, is one of UK’s all-time leading scorers. She netted 1,433 career points which currently ranks 13th on the career scoring list. She was a two-time All-SEC selection by the league coaches and she earned SEC All-Tournament honors in 1988. She currently ranks in the top 10 on six career lists, including third all-time in free-throw percentage, assists, and assists per game. She hit 80-of-92 free-throw attempts as a junior for 87.0 percent, a mark that still ranks third on UK’s single-season list.
A highly touted recruit who came to Kentucky from Austin, Ind., Whitaker was the first female player in Indiana to score over 2,000 career points. She was named 1985 Indiana Miss Basketball after finishing as Indiana girls’ basketball all-time leading scorer with 2,095 points.
After graduating from UK, she spent 13 years as the head girls’ basketball coach at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Ind., before retiring in 2009. . She was named Marion County Coach of the Year and Indiana Basketball Coaches Association District Coach of the Year in 2001. In 2004, she was selected as the head coach of the Indiana All-Stars for the annual Indiana/Kentucky All Star game and in 2011 she was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. She currently teaches physical education at Skiles Test Elementary School in Indianapolis, Ind.
Whitaker is one of 45-plus alumni who will be in honored at halftime of Sunday’s game vs. Arkansas for Alumni Day. Game time is 1 p.m. EST in Memorial Coliseum. It will be televised live on Fox Sports South.
