Men’s Basketball Adds Berry, Jordan And Koch To Roster

MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State men’s basketball head coach Billy Taylor announced the addition of freshman Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson), sophomore Justin Jordan (Fort Wayne, Ind./St. Louis/Northside) and sophomore Tyler Koch (Winchester, Ind./Wright State/Winchester) to the BSU program. Berry will be eligible for the 2010-11 season while both Jordan and Koch will sit out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
“We are really excited to add Jesse Berry as a freshman this season and welcome two transfers back to the state of Indiana; Justin Jordan and Tyler Koch,” Taylor said. “We feel like these three young men give us help in a lot of different areas of our basketball team, both now and in the future.”
Berry, a 6-1 guard, joins the Cardinals as a true freshman after turning in one of the top high school careers in the state of Indiana at Lafayette Jefferson High School. He finished his Broncho career as the school’s all-time leading scorer while setting a Tippecanoe County boys basketball scoring record with 1,553 career points. He also holds the Jefferson career records for free throws made (400), free throws attempted (538) and career games with 20-plus points (43).
“We are very excited to have Jesse in our program,” Taylor said. “He is a very talented guard that has accomplished much throughout his basketball career. While he has had some issues off the court he has had to deal with, we have gotten to know him well enough over the past two years and we feel he is a very good young man. His mother is very active in his life and with our support structure and mentoring here at Ball State, he will flourish.”
Berry finished his senior season 10th in the state in scoring at 23.5 points per game as he ended the year with 516 points. He connected on 52 three-pointers in 22 games and shot 78.8 percent (134-of-170) from the free throw line. He led the Bronchos to the regional semifinals and a 17-7 record as a senior.
As a junior, Berry set the Jefferson single-season scoring record with 628 points as he finished second in the state in scoring at 27.3 points per game. He connected on 60 three-pointers in 23 games, while shooting 36.5 percent from long range. He set the Jefferson single-game scoring record with 55 points against Fishers (1/16/09) and owns the top three single-game scoring records in school history (55, 51 & 46).
Jordan, a 5-9 guard, comes to Ball State after spending one season playing for former BSU head coach Rick Majerus at Saint Louis. He played in all 33 games as a true freshman and averaged 18.1 minutes per game as one of the Billikens’ top reserves. He connected on a team-high 38.3 percent (31-of-81) from three-point land and was fourth on the team with 58 assists. He averaged 4.9 points per game and reached double figures four times, including scoring a career-high 15 points against Missouri State (12/19/09).
“Justin is a welcomed addition to our program,” Taylor said. “We are really looking forward to helping him develop and grow his game. He had a very good experience at St. Louis as a freshman playing a lot of minutes and producing for that ball club. That experience will help him when he is able to step on the court for the Cardinals. We are excited to welcome him back home to Indiana and close to his home in Fort Wayne.”
Jordan was a standout at Northside High School in Fort Wayne where he was a two-time All-State selection and an Indiana All-Star selection. He finished second in Northside history in scoring with 1,398 career points and was a three-time Summit Athletic All-Conference recipient.
Jordan averaged 27.4 points per game as a senior, while also handing out 3.8 assists and 3.6 steals per game. He was named by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association as one of the top 15 seniors in the state in 2008-09. He was chosen to play in the prestigious Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game and played in the Border Wars Classic All-Star Game against standouts from Ohio. As a junior, he averaged 24.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Redskins.
Koch, a 6-5 forward, transfers into Ball State after one season at Wright State where he played in 16 games, while being limited with an injury. He was a standout at Winchester High School where he led the Golden Falcons to a 44-8 record as a junior and a senior. He finished 25th in the state in scoring at 22.2 points per game as a senior, while also recording 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 assists per game.
“Tyler is someone who we recruited out of high school and we are excited to bring him into our program,” Taylor said. “He brings long-range shooting, good size from the wing position and good toughness to our team. We are excited to have an opportunity to work with him to get him back in great physical health so he can flourish on the court.”
Koch, a two-time Tri-Eastern Conference Player of the Year, helped guide the Golden Falcons to state championship game appearances as a sophomore and junior. He averaged 22.5 points per game as a junior when he led Winchester to the 2A State Championship.
Koch was named the State Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring 37 points in the championship game against Fort Wayne Luers. He shot 49.5 percent from the field, 40.2 percent from three-point land and 82.8 percent from the free throw line as a junior. He was named third team All-State by the Associated Press as a junior and was one of the Core Six members of the Indiana Junior All Stars.
The three additions to the Ball State basketball program join the previous additions of freshmen Matt Kamieniecki (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston), Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va./King’s Fork), Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) and Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) for the 2010-11 season.
“We have a large class of new players we have added to our roster this year in five freshmen and two transfers,” Taylor said. “We are in a fortunate position where we have a strong core of returning players that have played a lot of minutes for us the past couple of years. This allowed us to go out and strategically attack areas we felt we needed more talent and experience. We were able to address our needs with this class with a variety of skill sets. We are excited about how this new group will blend with our returning players and it should make for a very good and exciting basketball team to watch this year.”