Hall of Fame
It is rare for a basketball player to score more than 1,000 points in her high school career. It is even rarer for that individual to surpass this plateau in her college career. Mari Gillespie (Whalen), a 1993 Jim Thorpe High School and a 1997 Cedar Crest College graduate accomplished both of those feats.
During her high school career she scored 1,060 points, including 136 three point goals. She started all four years and was selected captain and the Most Valuable Player in her junior and senior years. During her last year of competition she was selected as a first team All-Star and was an Eyewatch News 13 Female Athlete of the Week. She was also an outstanding softball player, winning a Varsity letter and starting for four years. During her last two years of competition she was team captain, the Most Valuable Player and selected to the first team All-Star Team.
As outstanding as her high school career was, she accomplished even more on the college hardwood. During her years at Cedar crest College, she scored 1,197 points and started all four years. In the 1994-95 season, she averaged 21 Points Per Game and was ranked 18th in the nation in scoring. She was the team’s MVP and was selected to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) All-Conference Team during all four years of competition. She was a multiple Player of the Week winner and won the Varsity Award from the college for the 1996-97 season. Gillespie-Whalen was also team captain her junior and senior season and won the MVP award for the Basketball team all four years.
Ms. Gillespie (Whalen) is a Mental Health Counselor and is currently employed at Kids Peace National Center for Kids in Crises.
