Former Columbus East girls basketball star and 1980 Indiana Miss Basketball Maria Stack talks with a group of young basketball players during the Columbus East Girls Basketball Kids Camp at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Former Columbus East basketball standout Maria Stack made her return back home to where she began her basketball journey.
Stack had the opportunity to speak to the kids at the end of the June 7 session of the Columbus East Girls Basketball Kids Camp conducted by coach Danny Brown and the Olympians coaching staff.
The session started with Brown showing the kids many basketball drills and skills demonstrations. At the end of the session, the floor was turned over to Stack.
Stack spoke to the campers about her background, playing basketball, learning from mistakes and making the most of their opportunity.
“Make sure you have a passion for whatever you do, whether it be basketball or playing the piano, singing or whatever,” Stack said. “Find something you like and put yourself all-in and work hard at whatever you do. That would be my thing, whether it be basketball or what have you.”
Stack was one of the early pioneers to put girls basketball in Columbus on the map. Growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, girls basketball hardly existed in the schools. Stack and her mother both helped grow girls basketball locally.
When girls basketball was up and running, thanks to the passage of Title IX in 1972, Stack said there was some pressure on living to expectations to prove the naysayers wrong.
“A lot of people got jealous. When I was in sixth grade, I was scoring 20, 25, 30 points in six-minute quarters. There was some jealousy and meanness, but it never bothered me where it deterred me or derailed me. I kept focus because I love playing. I never really thought about it,” Stack said. “One good thing is when we had it, the sixth-grade team went undefeated, so we won the division and tournament. We made a statement.”
Stack said during her time in high school, the high school gym was like a second home. She added that many people didn’t know that she had a key to get into the school, which was within walking distance from her house. She spent that time in the gym honing in on her skills and trying to improve on things that she needed to work on for the next game.
“This is my home. I’ve spent many, many hours here,” Stack said. “This is my playground. I was in here all hours, and the janitor even told me how to turn the lights on and make sure to turn them off when I leave.”
Stack was a three-sport athlete. She earned Miss Basketball honors in 1980 while leading the Olympians to the state title game at the former Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, where they fell to Southport in overtime. She was the all-time leading scorer at East with 1,518 total points. That record stood for 42 years until it was broken by recent graduate Koryn Greiwe in a game earlier this year.
“I think we left a legacy,” Stack said. “Even though we didn’t win the state tournament, everybody still talks about that game. It’s been 42 years, and it’s something you never forget. It’s been easier, it don’t hurt as much. At the end of the day, you’ve got to process and put things in perspective. I’m just glad to be there and be part of it.”
Following high school, Stack went on to play at three colleges, earning NAIA All-American honors while at Gonzaga.
Stack was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. She currently resides in Franklin and works as a human resources manager at NTN Driveshaft in Columbus.
Stack is thankful every day that she had the opportunity to play girls basketball.
“When I was in junior high, I had these other women coming up and telling me how lucky I was. I thank my mom every day,” Stack said. “Those women I know for sure didn’t have the opportunity to play. We’ve got to be thankful to the people before us because they laid down the foundation.”
Stack has also seen how far girls basketball has come along since her days being on the court as Title IX celebrates its 50-year anniversary.
“Compared to where we were, hopefully when they have kids, their kids will continue and get better and make girls basketball stronger,” Stack said. “It has grown and grown every year and you see it getting better and better every year.”
