By THOMAS ST. MYER
tstmyer@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Oh my, how those glass slippers fit perfectly on Ball State in 1990.

The Cardinals danced past Oregon State and Louisville to their first and only NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance.

Valparaiso danced eloquently in glass slippers of its own in 1998 when Bryce Drew hit a last-second shot to beat Mississippi State in the opening round followed by a victory over Florida State as the Crusaders reached the Sweet 16.

Ball State plays host to Valparaiso tonight at Worthen Arena in a showdown between former Cinderellas trying to return to respectability, let alone the big dance.

Today, the two basketball programs wander around aimlessly in search of those glass slippers that fit so comfortably in the 1990s.

Perhaps their feet outgrew the slippers. Or perhaps they should stop shopping at Payless and try somewhere upscale.

Valparaiso last danced in 2004. The Crusaders own a .500 record, 79-79, in the five years since and finished a woeful 9-22 last season. Any predictions of a significant turnaround this season fell by the wayside on Nov. 1 when the Crusaders lost to Division II Indianapolis 88-83 in an exhibition game.

Ball State played two secret scrimmages in the preseason so the verdict remains out on the 2009-10 Cardinals, but their record over the past five seasons certainly triggers pessimism, 54-94 (.365 winning percentage).

Oddly enough, these two rebuilding programs actually provide an intriguing match-up tonight.

Underclassmen dominate both their rosters. Freshmen and sophomores account for 11 of the 15 players on the Ball State roster.

Valparaiso nearly matches with 10 underclassmen.

“It’s gong to take us awhile to see the players play and see who plays well together,” says Valparaiso coach Homer Drew, in his 21st year at the school. “We think we’ve got good depth, so we’ll try to utilize what we do have and go from there.”

Drew says fifth-year senior point guard Brandon McPherson provides his youthful Crusaders leadership. The NCAA granted McPherson a medical redshirt after playing in only five games last season before he damaged cartilage in his left knee. His surgically repaired knee held up fine in the exhibition game.

McPherson averaged 10.1 points and 2.1 assists per game as a junior. If truly back to form, he matches up favorably against the inexperienced Ball State point guards. Sophomore Randy Davis averaged only 15.2 minutes per contest in 26 games last season.

Senior Brawley Chisholm played in only 20 games and averaged 6.1 minutes.

Davis takes the point-guard reins after a roller-coaster freshman season. He injured his ankle in the preseason and missed the opening two games. He returned and impressed Ball State coach Billy Taylor enough to be in the starting lineup for six consecutive games midway through the season, but then lost his starting spot and aggravated the ankle injury.

The 2008 Indiana Mr. Basketball runner-up finished the roller-coaster ride with a respectable 42 assists to 25 turnovers. But he shot a woeful .268 from the field (19-71).

“I didn’t get my shot off as much as I wanted to, so I made little adjustments to quicken my release,” Davis says. “I’ve been working on my footwork. That’s a key thing that I think is going to help in me getting more shots off.”

Davis puts those mechanics to the test tonight against a Valparaiso defense virtually guaranteed to play some zone to combat the formidable Ball State frontcourt of 6-9 Jarrod Jones (11.2 points, 7.3 rebounds last season), 6-4 Malik Perry (4.1, 4.9), 6-5 Terrence Watson (Mississippi transfer), 6-6 Mo Hubbard (3.2, 3.4) and 6-10 redshirt freshman Zach Fields.

The Cardinals hold a significant advantage in the paint tonight where Indianapolis feasted on the Crusaders in the exhibition game.
“It will be critical for our guys to take advantage of the opportunities given,” Taylor says. “Whether it’s man-to-man or zone or whatever the case may be, we need to be able to attack the paint and really that goes for any ball game. We feel we need to attack the paint successfully and be able to play off of that with making perimeter jump shots.

“We understand there’s going to be a lot of learning that takes place, and we have to be patient and willing to see our guys go through some of this growth.”

The search for the glass slipper lives on.