FORTVILLE — The process was long, four years to be exact, but Mt. Vernon’s Ellery Minch has found the spot where she wants to continue her academic and athletic career.
The versatile 6-foot, 3-inch senior forward/guard announced Friday on social media she has verbally committed to play college basketball at DePaul University in Chicago, a member of the Big East Conference.
“One of the biggest things for me was (DePaul) coach (Doug) Bruno’s vision on where he saw me fitting in. It really fits what my style of play is, being a versatile player, being able to shoot it and (take advantage) of mismatches with posting up, and driving. It’s really my style of play,” Minch said. “And, I’ve been going to Chicago since I was really little. My aunt lives in Chicago. My grandma lives in Crown Point (Ind.). My mom’s side of the family is all from up there.”
Minch said during her four-year recruiting journey she had once thought getting away from home might be the right thing to do, but that changed.
“I never realized I wanted to be close (to home),” Minch said. “That’s why I was going to visits to places like UAB (in Alabama), Stetson (in Florida) that were further away from home. I thought that might be of interest to me. Once school started, and this being my senior year, I could really feel like the end was coming. It really just hit me that I wanted to be closer to home to see my brother play his high school career and have my grandparents and parents come watch me play.”
DePaul is in the Big East with a few schools not too far from home, including Butler (Indianapolis) Xavier (Cincinnati) and Marquette (Milwaukee).
She also gets a chance to compete against some of the best programs in the country, including perennial women’s basketball powerhouse Connecticut.
“It’s a good conference for family to come to and a good conference for competition,” Minch said. “I always said I wanted to be really challenged both academically and athletically. DePaul is an amazing school and athletically, playing against UConn, Marquette, Creighton and Seton Hall and all of those big names in the Big East, I believe it’s an (NCAA tournament) multi-bid conference. The chances of getting in the tournament are really high. I feel like the school, all the way around, fit everything what I was looking for. ”
Minch got her first collegiate offer, from Cincinnati, prior to her freshman year with the Marauders, and has been taking calls, texts, and Facetimes, ever since. A long journey, intense at times, but all worth it she said.
“It’s definitely a lot, but it was a good experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. she said.
Minch said she narrowed her choices follow the end of her AAU season. She chose DePaul over Richmond, Green Bay, UAB and Stetson.
In the end, the chance to play at a long-time successful program and doing it close to home couldn’t be passed up.
“Family is really what tipped the scale DePaul’s way,” Minch added.
Minch is coming off an outstanding junior season with the Marauders. She earned a number of postseason honors while helping lead Mt. Vernon to a third straight sectional championship.
Minch averaged 16.4 points per game for the 19-7 Marauders. She grabbed 5.3 rebounds per contest, nearly doubled her assist totals from a year ago – from 1 per game to 1.8 – and averaged 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest.
She shot 57 percent from the field on 2-point field-goal attempts and 49 percent overall. At the free-throw line, she made 83 of 99 tries for an 84 percent clip, 17 percent higher than her sophomore season.
