2011 Mildred Ball Award

IBCA Mildred Ball Award: Kelly Dennis

                  Kelly Dennis has been a basketball official for 16 years, quickly moving from youth games to high school games to small college games and NCAA Division I games.

          A 1979 graduate of Whiteland High School and a 1983 graduate of Franklin College, Dennis began officiating in 1995 at youth levels. Soon after, she starting calling sub-varsity high school games and had a full varsity schedule by 1998. A year later, she starting working college games for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic and Mid-Central conferences.

          Dennis moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2004, landing a position with the Mid-American Conference. She now works games in the MAC, the Summit League, the Horizon League, the Missouri Valley, the Atlantic-10 and the Big Ten. She also works for the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference and still works for the HCAC and Mid-Central Conference.

          Dennis’ career highlights include working the IHSAA Class 4A state championship game in 2004, the NAIA Division I Nationals for four years, the NCAA Division II national championship game in 2008 and the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2009.

          When not on the road officiating, Dennis is a partner in an Indianapolis landscaping firm called Progressive Lawnscaping that was founded in 1990.