Submitted photo/UNI Sports Information Fort Dodge native Kris Huffman is presented her University of Northern Iowa Hall of Fame plaque by athletic director David Harris.

CEDAR FALLS — Kris Huffman turned her love for basketball into a professional career, and that journey turned her into a successful player and coach both on and off the court.

Huffman, a 1985 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate who was an all-state player on the school’s ’85 state championship team, was recently inducted into the University of Northern Iowa Hall of Fame.

The Fort Dodge native, who was named Miss Iowa Basketball in 1985, played at Northern Iowa from 1985 to ’89.

“I was truly shocked,” Huffman said. “It’s not something you anticipate happening. I was part of a rebuilding team where we didn’t excel to the standards we wanted.”

Huffman a 1990 Northern Iowa graduate, still holds the career mark for the best three-point percentage (.483) in school history. She also ranks in the program’s career Top-10 for points, scoring average, field goals made, free throw percentage, steals and assists.

Huffman is still the only Panther to record a triple-double, with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Eastern Illinois during her freshman season (1985-1986).

The Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the McLeod Center, where Huffman was joined by her family and high school coach Ray Svendson.

“I had a nice group of family and friends (in attendance, and Coach Svendson was also there,” Huffman said. “(On being inducted) I think about all the student athletes from Northern Iowa who are doing well coaching or playing, and it’s incredible to be honored to represent women’s basketball and my teammates.”

After her playing days at Northern Iowa, Huffman was an assistant at Wartburg College. She then became head coach at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., in 1993.

In her first two seasons at DePauw, she went 22-26. Since that time, Huffman has not had double-digit losses in a single season.

Huffman led the Tigers to Div. III national championships in 2007 and 2013, and has made 20 NCAA D-III Championship appearances, including 16 consecutive trips to the national tournament. Huffman has seven National Coach of the Year honors, and has been named Conference Coach of the Year 12 times.

She served as the court coach for the 2008 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team Trials, and is also the assistant athletics director at DePauw. She currently serves on the NCAA D-III Women’s Basketball Committee.

Huffman is also in the Iowa Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and Fort Dodge Senior High Hall of Fame.

While at FDSH, Huffman was the school’s all-time six-on-six leading scorer. She had 2,460 career points.

In her three-year varsity career, Huffman was a part of Dodger teams that finished third, second, and first at state in consecutive years, while compiling a 78-6 overall record.

Huffman still has family in Fort Dodge, and wishes she could make it back to her hometown more often.

“It’s funny to think about, getting paid to do something that is as fulfilling as a coach and impacting the lives of players on and off the court for all these years,” Huffman said. “In our family and neighborhood growing up, we were sports ‘bums.’ We just played and competed all the time.

“My mom and dad and sister still live in Fort Dodge. I don’t get back nearly as often as I would like to, but do usually make it back about once a year.”