Lori Juntila Rupert - Class of 2026

(National Mine)

Lori Juntila Rupert began her basketball career at National Mine as a freshman before Title IX was fully implemented. During her high school years, girls played with a larger (men’s) basketball, played fewer games, and no 3-point line. Voted MVP as a freshman, she continued playing at Westwood HS. In her sophomore through senior years, she was the lead scorer and MVP. She was named to the Mid-Peninsula Conference First Teams and All Upper Peninsula Teams in 1975 and 1976. Lori earned four letters at Northern Michigan University after walking on as a freshman. She was the first 1,000-point scorer at NMU with 1,342 points, a record held for 10 years. She was captain and MVP her junior year, leading the team in scoring. She was named to the GLIAC and D-I All-State Honorable Mention (1978, 1979), SMAIAW-II All-State and AIAW-II All-Regional (1980, 1981). She was inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.