Rivet Grad Inducted Into Indiana Basketball Hall Of Fame

Kelly Lane Clauss, a 1983 graduate of Rivet High School in Vincennes, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame during an April 26 ceremony in Indianapolis.

“Being inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame has been an indescribable experience, especially as I consider all the many, many talented female basketball players in the state of Indiana,” she said of the experience.

“The inductees of 2015 are only the fourteenth class of inductees. It was a beautiful realization of how women's sports have continued to progress and be recognized throughout the country, including in the state of Indiana.”

She was a four-year letter winner and team MVP at Rivet, setting 16 school records including career points (1,663), career rebounds (765) and single-game scoring (42).

She averaged over 20 points per game her sophomore, junior and senior seasons, with the three highest single-season scoring totals in the school’s history.

She still holds 10 school records, including career points. She was first team all-conference for four years, and named to the 1983 first team UPI all-state and two years to the first team Hoosier Basketball Magazine all-state.

She was the first person to win back-to-back Elks National Free-Throw championships.

She played college basketball at Indiana State University – Evansville and at Vincennes University, and was among the nation’s college free-throw leaders in 1985.

She currently is the vice-president of Medical Practice Management and Support Services at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper.

During the April 26 ceremony, Clauss thanked “God for the gifts He has given me as well as the many, many opportunities He has placed before me. He has blessed me in abundance, and I shall be forever grateful.”

She also thanked her family, “especially my parents, but also my brothers, all of whom made many sacrifices in order to support my basketball career. While my parents could not be with me this evening, I pray that they know how grateful my heart is for all the ways in which they have molded me into becoming the woman I am today. In addition, I want to thank all of my family and friends who are able to be with me this evening  … your support, your presence and your love mean more to me than I can describe in words.”

She offered a special thanks to the Vincennes Elks Club, which sponsors the Elks Hoop Shoot contest, noting “it was through this experience, early in my young life, that I was first exposed to basketball and began to experience success and love for this sport.”

Basketball became a metaphor of life for her, she said, teaching her to “aim high, prepare well, and persevere when all odds were against me,” and “to never ever give up.”

The sport taught her that “winners are never measured by the scoreboard; rather, winners are measured by their contribution to the greater good and by the humility with which they receive the grace of winning or losing.”