Two of the 13 new members inducted into the Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame for 2024 were Muncie Central graduates.
The Muncie Central graduates are Ben Botts, 2006 and Kimberly Kuzma, 2007.
Botts achieved success in basketball as a high school and college athlete, and as a coach in the sport.
He was an integral part of the Muncie Central team in the early 2000s, helping the Bearcats win four sectional championships, two regional titles and two semi-state crowns.
Botts was a starting guard on the Central team that appeared in back-to-back IHSAA Class 4A state championship games in 2005 and 2006. The Bearcats posted a 47-8 record in those two seasons. He scored 22 points in the 2006 state championship contest.
After his senior season with the Bearcats, Botts was an Indiana All-Star team member. He also helped Central win two sectional titles in football, earning All-State mention.
Botts went on to play collegiate basketball at IPFW, where he was the school’s freshman athlete of the year and later the Mastodons' athlete of the year. He ended his career as the school leader in 3-point field goal percentage and finished fourth in career scoring.
Botts has been an assistant basketball coach at Ball State since 2018. Before that he was an assistant at IPFW, when the team earned post-season berths four straight seasons. Botts started his career as director of operations at Princeton and then was a graduate assistant for two years at Xavier.
Kuzma gained vast experience with a U.S. national team and continued on a successful volleyball path during high school at Muncie Central.
She played twice with the U.S. Youth National Team, helping her squad win a championship in Puerto Rico and finish fourth in China. She was honored as the top serve-receiver and led in digs/sets in both competitions.
Kuzma helped lead Central to the final four of the state volleyball tournament all four years in high school. During her career, the Bearcats won one state championship and finished runner-up twice. She still holds the first or second spots on the school list for games played, kills, aces and digs.
Kuzma earned a scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Wisconsin. She finished in the top five for digs/sets, double-digit digs and total digs in Badgers history. She also ranks in the top 10 for consecutive sets played.
She was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s 30 under 30 list, which recognizes the top up-and-coming coaches under age 30 and served as a volleyball analyst for the Big Ten Network from 2016-2021.
Kuzma was an assistant volleyball coach at Kent State University from June 2012 to January 2016. She now is the executive director for development and real estate recruitment at Green Key Resources in Chicago.
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