After leading Evansville Mater Dei to the Class 2-A state championship in March, Maura Muensterman is now a household name in Midwestern basketball circles.

And with her play thus far in the July month of evaluation by NCAA Division I coaches, her name is often the one highlighted on college coaches’ tournament packets and notes.

Muensterman, a 6-foot forward who’ll be a junior in August, currently holds scholarship offers from locals Butler and Evansville, with many more pledges likely just around the corner.

“Playing ‘up’ (a grade level) is definitely a lot more exposure because this is many of my teammates’ last recruiting year,” said Muensterman, who plays with with the 17-and-under Indiana Elite SWISH team. “They’re seeing me more than normal (because of this opportunity.)”

Other schools with serious interest in Muensterman’s game at this point include Wisconsin-Green Bay, Duke, Indiana and Indiana State, among others, she said.

The Indiana Elite Bailey 14-and-under team, based in Southern Indiana, got the chatter started Monday with a win over an Orange County, Calif.-based team in match-up play. But the team of youngsters has really outdone itself now after winning the National White bracket Wednesday afternoon in Louisville.

“We’ve got a group of kids that started (travel ball) together and for the most part the core group has grown up together,” said Damon Bailey, a Hoosier State legend who was recruited to Indiana University by then-coach Bobby Knight as an eighth-grader in the Bedford North Lawrence system. “We can run 10 great kids that we can run in and out.”

Bailey’s team, which has yet to lose a game this spring and summer, defeated Stu Stars (Ind.), Vegas Elite Black and the Kentucky Retros before throttling MBA Select Elite (Ind.) 57-25 in the bracket final.

Columbus North’s Ali Patberg, the team’s point guard, has already been noted by most as a high-major recruit in the Class of 2015. Now, another Elite Bailey player making noise is Bedford North Lawrence sophomore-to-be Dominique McBryde (pictured).

In recent weeks, McBryde picked up a scholarship offer from Purdue and continues to hear from Indiana and Butler.

Some players hope to utilize the July evaluation period for NCAA Division I coaches as an opportunity to increase their stock and perhaps gain a scholarship offer or two.

But the recruitment of Jasper senior-to-be Shelby Merder, a 6-foot-3 center, is a little different than most.

Merder already holds 12 full-ride scholarship offers from Division I institutions, she said Monday evening after her Indiana Elite SWISH (Kessler) team pummeled Michigan Top Ten (Scott) in match-up play.

“They (college coaches) wouldn’t be here if they didn’t know you had talent,” said Merder, who listed New Mexico, Maryland Baltimore County, Ball State, Toledo, St. Louis, Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri as just some of the schools interested. “If you just keep playing your style and the way you were taught to play — not changing because of the (college) coaches (in attendance), then I feel like they’ll see your potential and how they can help you grow as a player after high school.”

Merder noted she also has visited Indiana “a couple times” and is “hoping to get something from IU here soon.”

She also expressed excitement for the upcoming 2012-13 high school season, speaking on her desire to lead Jasper to post-season success: “We’ll be able to press a lot more this year, so we’re looking forward to more quickness. In Southern Indiana, the ball is so slow. Bringing in a quick-paced team and playing against slower teams will definitely help us. We seem to get to the regional every year, but I want to go farther in my senior year. I’m determined to win it.”

The list of area boys basketball players in the Class of 2012 who will play small-college basketball continues to grow. Four players — Jasper’s Caleb Begle, Washington’s Dylan Ervin, Vincennes Lincoln’s Jantzen Goodwin and Tell City’s Chris Kohnert — recently announced their college decisions.

Begle, a 6-foot-3 wing forward, will continue his career at Lincoln Trail, a junior college in Robinson, Ill.

“They really showed me a lot of interest and really recruited me hard,” Begle said of Lincoln Trail’s coaching staff. “It showed me that I was wanted in the program.”

Begle, who was also a standout high school baseball player, said he is “going (to college) strictly for basketball at this point but anything could happen.”

Hanover and Wabash Valley were also serious candidates for the Jasper product. NCAA Division II power Bellarmine “showed a little bit of interest,” said Begle, who plans to attend Lincoln Trail for one year before transferring to a higher level.

Ervin selected Carl Sandberg College in Galesboro, Ill., Goodwin will stay close to home and play for Vincennes University and Kohnert is headed to Lewis and Clark in Godfrey, Ill.

Two Southern Indiana girls basketball standouts — Floyd Central’s Niki Bruno and Jasper’s Maddison Ubelhor — received honors at the recent High Potential Mini-Camp at Georgetown (Ky.) College.

Bruno, a 6-foot center who will be a senior, was one of 30 players named to the camp all-stars roster.

Ubelhor, a 5-9 guard, was named the camp’s most underrated player, taking home the “top sleeper” award. She will be a sophomore.

Other Indiana players to note

Mooresville’s Lauren McBryar and Southwestern (Shelby)’s Annie Thomas were other participants from the Hoosier State named camp all-stars.

For a complete list of camp all-stars and awards, click here.

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The summer’s first session of Rick Bolus’ 33rd-annual High Potential/Blue-Chip Basketball Camp tipped Monday on the campus of Georgetown College.

Nineteen players, listed below with their 2012-13 grade, from Southern Indiana are camp participants:

• Brodie Crowe, 12, Shakamak
• Ben Hays, 12, Bloomfield
• Alton Lyons, 11, Perry Central
• Devon Merder, 11, Heritage Hills
• Brandon Morin, 11, Shakamak
• Chaz Schneider, 11, Brownstown
• Allen Hooton, 10, Jac-Cen-Del
• Aaron Pierrard, 10, Perry Central
• Gavin Schaefer, 10, Heritage Hills
• Lane Lynch, 9, Perry Central
• Alec Meunier, 9, Heritage Hills
• Nicholas Pierrard, 9, Perry Central
• Robert Waggoner, 9, Vincennes Rivet
• Jacob Kelly, 8, Perry Central
• Zachary Rowe, 8, New Albany Holy Family (Providence)
• Jackson Thieneman, 8, Highland Hills (Floyd Central)
• Whitaker Lyons, 7, Tell City
• Trent Arnold, 6, Tell City
• Tretter Lyons, 6, Tell City