Whenever you saw Kris Booker Rastrelli on a basketball court, you remember it. From Blackhawk Middle School to Snider High School, to DePaul University, to the Decatur Thunderbirds/Mohr’s Magic on the AAU scene, you knew basketball was taking her somewhere.
The latest chapter in Kris’ basketball career was written Saturday, April 26, when she was enshrined into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
“There are really no words to describe it,” she says of the recognition. “It’s amazing to be inducted for doing something that I loved.”
Kris says her love for basketball started at age 9, playing primarily against boys at a local YMCA branch.
At Blackhawk Middle School, Kris became one of the top scorers in Fort Wayne in the late-1980s. Playing with longtime teammate Tiffany Gooden, Blackhawk averaged 51 points per game en route to a Fort Wayne Community Schools Middle School City Championship in 1989. The Lady Eagles won 26 of 28 games with Kris and Tiffany playing together, as well.
Kris then starred at Snider, where she scored 1,504 career points and averaged 24.7 points per game as a senior. She was named 1st Team All-Summit Athletic Conference three times, and 3rd Team All-State, the 2018 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team, and was Snider’s 1993 co-MVP with Gooden.
“Playing with Tiffany was amazing,” Kris reflects. “I could throw the ball up and she could almost dunk it. Having other great teammates, iy was just a lot fun!”
In the early-1990s, the Snider versus Northrop girls basketball rivalry was box office. Both the Panthers and Bruins were Top 10 teams with hall-of-fame players (Kris and Gooden for Snider and Leslie Johnson for Northrop) and hall-of-fame coaches (Snider’s LaMar Kilmer and Northrop’s Dave Riley) battling it out in the SAC and sectional. The Bruins advanced to four-straight semi-state championship games from 1991 to 1990, beating the Panthers in sectionals each of those years. Snider beat Northrop to win the SAC regular season title in 1991 and again at the 1991 SAC Holiday Tournament championship. [Snider did not play in the 1992 SAC Holiday Tournament, due to their invitation to the Hall of Fame Classic, where Kris was named to the All-Tournament team].
An accomplished multi-sport athlete, Kris was All-SAC three times and All-State twice in soccer and All-SAC once in tennis. She won Snider’s Nelson Award senior superlative for Most Athletic girl.
On the AAU circuit, Kris played for national powerhouse the Decatur Thunderbirds—later known as Mohr Magic—who won three AAU national championships between 1989 and 1992. Kris earned AAU All-American honors in 1992. Mohr Magic won six straight Indiana AAU state titles during that time, and was loaded with prep stars from across Indiana. Along with Kris, local talent on that team included: Gooden from Snider, Johnson from Northrop, Krista Reinking from Bellmont, Angie Harris from Bishop Luers and an up-and-coming coach, Gary Andrews.
From that Mohr’s Magic team, Kris signed with DePaul; Gooden went to Iowa and the American Basketball League; Johnson played at Purdue, Western Kentucky and the WNBA, Reinking went to Illinois, and Harris played volleyball at Notre Dame.
At DePaul, Kris helped the Blue Demons to the Conference USA championship in 1996 and was part of three NCAA Tournament teams. She earned Great Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and Conference USA Sixth Player of the Year as a senior, and Academic All-Conference three times. She averaged 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and finished at DePaul with 1,213 career points. She ranks 8th all-time in 3-pointers made. Kris played one year of women’s soccer at DePaul, too. She was inducted into the DePaul Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
With her playing days now over, Kris has spent recent years coaching grade school, middle school and club basketball in the Warsaw area. She led Sacred Heart Catholic School to the elementary school girls city championship in 2016 and 2022.
“I have this inner desire in myself to be the best at whatever I do,” Kris says. “Sports have taught me that being the best is a good thing. And I know from that experience, I can accomplish anything.”