By Greg Halbleib
ST. LOUIS – The all-time leading scorer in Illinois State women’s basketball history is going into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame.
Kristi Cirone is one of the six members of the Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2019 announced Wednesday morning.
Cirone was a three-time Valley Jackie Stiles Player of the Year from 2007 through 2009, the only player other than Stiles to win league MVP three times. She was also selected to the Valley’s All-Centennial and 25th Anniversary teams.
Illinois State retired her Number 10 jersey in 2010. She played professionally in Greece and Poland as well as in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky.
She was the head women’s basketball coach at Judson University in Elgin for the past five seasons and is now the head girls basketball coach at Ridgewood High School in Norridge.
“Kristi Cirone is one of the best women’s basketball players in Valley history, and we are proud that she is taking her rightful place in the MVC Hall of Fame,” Illinois State Director of Athletics Larry Lyons said in a release. “Kristi re-wrote the record books at Illinois State and deservedly is one of only three women’s basketball student-athletes to have her number hanging from the rafters of Redbird Arena. She made everyone around her better, as evidenced by the team’s success during her career with two MVC regular-season championships and three postseason appearances. Kristi was the epitome of what a student-athlete should be and represented the University and MVC with the highest degree of class and dignity throughout her career.”
“I’m so honored and humbled to be inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame,” Cirone said in the release. “This is an achievement that could not have happened without my coaches, teammates, family and the support from so many others. I am incredibly grateful to be able to represent Illinois State with this prestigious award.”
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held March 8 during the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament in St. Louis.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
