March 8, 2010

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State head women's basketball coach Janel Burgess was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union's Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. The former Miss Iowa Basketball averaged 50.4 points per game in six-on-six basketball as a junior and followed up with a 28.3 point average during five-player basketball during her senior season.

Burgess, inducted under her maiden name of Janel Grimm when she played at Deep River-Millersburg and Montezuma, was one of three members in the 2010 class inducted into the Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame. Overall, there have been 210 honorees inducted since 1961, spanning back to players and/or coaches from as early as 1920.

She played two years of varsity basketball at Deep-River Millersburg, which featured the unique style of six-on-six basketball, where three players specifically played defense on one end of the court and three players were all-time offensive players on the other end. Shooting 74.1 percent from the field as a sophomore (the second-best figure ever for a sophomore in the six-player game), Burgess was obviously one of the team's offensive players.

After her sophomore season of 1991-92, Deep-River Millersburg closed and Burgess then enrolled at Montezuma, which also featured the six-on-six style. As a junior, she averaged 50.4 points per game and shot 76 percent from the field, taking a 24-0 record to the 1993 state tournament. Montezuma reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, as Burgess scored 48 points in the opener and 52 points in the second game.

It was after her junior year in which Montezuma joined a large number of other high schools that switched to the conventional and recognizable style of five-on-five basketball. Burgess never lost her scoring touch, as she led the state of Iowa with 28.3 points per game, as Montezuma again went undefeated into the state tournament. In a 78-66 opening round loss to Rockwell City-Lytton, Burgess totaled 44 points, which is a state tournament record that still stands to this day. For her efforts, Burgess was named to the all-tournament team after just one game and was also named First Team All-Iowa and Miss Iowa Basketball in Class 2A-1A.

"It was great to go back home to my roots and really get to appreciate and understand what people had done for me during my time in Iowa," said Burgess on her induction. "I got to see a lot of my teammates and coaches and those people who impacted me and helped me become who I am today. My college and high school coaches were all there too and it was just amazing to see all the people who impacted my success."

During her three years at Grand Valley State, Burgess has compiled a record of 54-32, advancing to the GLIAC Tournament all three seasons and earning an NCAA Tournament berth in 2008-09.