Tippecanoe Valley junior Anne Secrest has verbally committed to play basketball at the next level for Youngstown State University. (File photo by Mike Deak)

AKRON – Anne Secrest has been dreaming of becoming a Division I college basketball player since she was in the third grade.

That dream is closer to becoming a reality now for the Tippecanoe Valley hoops star.

Secrest, a 6-1 junior, has made a verbal commitment to play at Youngstown State University starting in 2017.

Secrest made her decision to attend the Division I program, which is located in Youngstown, Ohio, on a visit to the school on Oct. 17.

“It just all fell into place,” said Secrest of committing to play for coach John Barnes. “I had made a list of what I wanted in a school and everything there was what I wanted. The coaches genuinely wanted me to come there, there was a great team atmosphere, it’s a winning program and the school was nice.

“When they first contacted me at the beginning of the summer, I had no idea that it was where I wanted to go. But, everything just felt right there and fell into place. They only had one spot left for players in the 2017 class and I didn’t want the opportunity to slip through my fingers.”

“This is huge for me and I feel really good about it. I went to a Notre Dame game in the third grade and that’s when I started dreaming of playing Division I college ball. ”

Youngstown State, a school of 12,471, is a member of the Horizon League. The Penguins went 21-11 overall and 9-7 in league play during the 2014-15 season. Morgan Olson, a former standout at NorthWood High School in Nappanee, is a sophomore member of the Penguins. Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State football coach, is the president of Youngstown State.

The team-oriented Secrest was the IFN Player of the Year for the 2014-15 season. She averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds per game in leading the Vikings to a historic season. Valley went 25-3 a year ago and won sectional, regional and semi-state titles before losing to Princeton in the Class 3-A state championship game. The regional and semi-state titles were the first in program history.

Secrest, who was also looking at IPFW, is focused now on just getting ready for her junior season. Valley opens the 2015-16 season by hosting Bremen on Nov. 5.

“There’s not any more or less pressure on me now that I have chosen a college,” commented Secrest. “It’s good and nice not to have to worry about the recruiting part of it.

“Last year was a crazy run for us. Our philosophy this year is to just focus on one game at a time. I want to be more of a leader for our team this year. My goal is to just keep getting better as a player and for our team to just keep getting better.”