By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – During her sensational four-year career at Bedford North Lawrence, Chloe Spreen wore the No.2 jersey, with flashy glam style and dynamic distinction. Now she will don the coveted No.1, with Indiana splashed in red across the front, to represent the state as the best in the game.
When she arrived on the scene, her reputation preceded her. Spreen was destined to be the “next great” for an elite program that has produced legends and champions. Those expectations were heavy and overwhelming, yet she carried them with grace, exceeded them with sheer determination. As she departs, her legacy will last for generations as she joins the aristocracy of royal icons in BNL history.
Spreen was named the 2024 Miss Basketball award winner on Friday. She will lead the Indiana All-Stars against southern rival Kentucky during the annual two-game series in June before heading to Alabama to play for the Crimson Tide. Spreen joins an exclusive club at BNL as the third Star to win the state’s highest honor, following in the footsteps of Marla Inman (1992) and Jorie Allen (2019). BNL now holds the state record (matching Warsaw) for the most Miss Basketball winners since the award was instituted in 1976.
She will join the pantheon of all-time greats as she becomes the program’s 12th Indiana All-Star (BNL’s fourth in the last six years). The Hoosiers, under the guidance of Zionsville coach Andy Maguire and with Spreen in the lead role as the state ambassador, will face Kentucky on foreign soil on June 7, then host the second half of the home-and-home set on June 8 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Spreen’s numbers and career achievements validate her addition to the honor roll, although that just scratches the surface of her game. As a senior, she averaged 20.9 points and 6.9 rebounds, leading the Stars to a 20-5 record and their 13th consecutive Class 4A sectional title. The previous season, she totaled 19.0 points, 5.3 boards and 3.2 assists as BNL won its fifth state championship, and she was named an Indiana Junior All-Star. She finished second on the school’s career scoring list with 1,869 points, and the Stars went 93-14 during her four-year tenure.
Individual glory was never her intent. Team success was her driving force. So it was appropriate for her family (mother Tangy and father Eric), for her second family (BNL teammates and coaches) to be present when she descended the school staircase with a shriek of surprise as former head coach Jeff Allen awaited to present her with the jersey.
“It’s never really been a goal of mine, to win Miss Basketball,” Spreen said. “I just know I wanted to be the best one out on the court, and be the best I could be for my team to win. I wanted to do whatever helped us win. It is a recognition for all my hard work, and I could not have done it without my teammates and coaches.
“It feels great. I’m so wowed right now, so thankful to have this opportunity to wear this No.1 jersey. I could not have done it without my family, my teammates and all the coaches who have supported me throughout everything. It’s a great feeling, but I could not have done it without all those people.”
The shadow of her predecessors was a constant motivation. She walked past the huge display case that honors Inman and Allen on a daily basis, on her way to BNL Fieldhouse. Once on that holy-ground court, the championship banners that hang above the floor in the northeast corner were an ever-present reminder of the history and comparisons that followed her and served as the yardstick for success. Yet she was a shining star.
“It’s a huge honor,” Spreen said. “I grew up watching Jorie a lot, wanting to be in her position. So accomplishing this, like she did, is awesome. It’s a huge honor, I can’t even express how it feels.
“When I was younger, it was not the goal to win and wear this jersey. But growing up and watching players like Jorie, and Jackie Young (2016), and Ali Patberg (2015), I just wanted to be great. Then as I got older, I realized I did want to wear that jersey some day.”
Spreen is an explosive scorer who added perimeter range to her slashing game as she matured. She scored 34 twice as a senior (against Mitchell and Floyd Central), a career-high 35 against Bloomington South as a junior. But her best moments were the three-game finish to the 2023 postseason run, when she totaled 66 points combined in the two semistate wins and the championship conquest of Fishers. The bigger the stage, the better she played.
“I’ve seen a lot of Miss Basketballs, none better than her,” Allen said. “Her talent, her ability, her attitude, how she led her team, she ranks there with the best of them. She came in with huge expectations, especially at a program like ours, and I think she succeeded. That’s a credit to her and her work ethic.
“When I look at that award, you have to look at an overall body of work, in my opinion. She started as a freshman, she’s been on some outstanding teams that had a lot of success, and she’s been the key contributor on those teams. The team was her focus. Her numbers could be a lot higher if that wasn’t the case.”
Basketball has always been Spreen’s love, and the grind was more enjoyable for her than the glory. She came from a hoops family, and chose BNL’s No.2 to honor her mother (who wore No.22 for the Stars, but Irye Gomez had that when Spreen joined the roster, so she took the second-best option). Her AAU success had already thrust her in the spotlight.
“The expectations were very high,” Spreen said. “There was a lot of talk. When kids do get that kind of recognition, they take it for granted and don’t keep working. I wanted to keep getting better and see where I could take myself.
“I didn’t let it get to me. My freshman year, I didn’t have anything to lose. There wasn’t that much pressure. As I got older, I just learned a lot, matured a lot, learned how to be a leader. Whatever came out of my hard work would pay off. I kept calm through it all and just played my game.
“It’s just how competitive I am. I grew up around a competitive family. Basketball is just something that clicked with me when I was younger, and I loved working hard, loved to see the progress and growth. Basketball is just me. I would never want to play anything else.”
With the drama surrounding the award now past, the pressure will shift to beating Kentucky. She will be joined by former rivals and teammates when the All-Stars convene to focus on sweeping that series. Indiana leads the series 53-41.
Spreen’s superstar status has been cemented. One day soon, her display will find a permanent home next to Inman and Allen. The team photograph from the ‘23 champions already graces the hallway wall, and the banner honoring her as Miss Basketball will be added to the rafters with her sorority sisters.
“I want to be remembered for how hard I played, how hard I worked,” she said. “People would walk in this gym, and I was always in here. They will remember how hard I played on the court.”
Spreen was one of five finalists for the award. The others included Noblesville’s Reagan Wilson (an Iowa State recruit who averaged 16.1 points last season and scored 1,363 career points), Fort Wayne Snider’s Jordyn Poole (a Purdue recruit who averaged 16.9 points and totaled 1,368 career points), Jennings County’s Juliann Woodard (Michigan State recruit who averaged 17.3 points as a senior and set school career records with 1,755 points and 1,111 rebounds) and Indian Creek’s Faith Wiseman (en route to Indiana after averaging 18.2 points and 11.9 rebounds).
Spreen received 117 votes, while Poole was the runner-up with 71.
“I can’t even express what it means,” Spreen said. “It’s such a blessing, I can’t even put it into words.”
BNL’S INDIANA ALL-STARS
1978 – Rhonda Hillenburg
1983 – Kelly Fitzgerald
1991 – Amy Walker, Carrie Mount
1992 – Marla Inman (Miss Basketball)
2015 – Dominique McBryde, Jenna Allen, Alexa Bailey
2019 – Jorie Allen (Miss Basketball)
2021 – Chloe McKnight
2023 – Karsyn Norman
2024 – Chloe Spreen (Miss Basketball)
INDIANA MISS BASKETBALL
