Noblesville’s Almodovars continue family tradition of athletic excellence
By RICHIE HALL
On March 4, as the Noblesville boys basketball team was preparing to play in the Sectional 8 championship game, Jill Almodovar said something to her son Luke.
Jill was reflecting on her success as a Millers athlete over 30 years ago, and that of her daughter Lexie, a volleyball sectional champion in 2017. She told Luke: “I just want you to know what that feels like.”
Luke would get to know that feeling, as Noblesville beat Zionsville for its first boys basketball sectional title in 13 years. It was the latest chapter in a long line of success for the Almodovar family – parents Jill and Norman, and children Lexie and Luke.
The origin of the family started back in the early 1990s at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (now Purdue Fort Wayne). Jill Lyon attended IPFW on a volleyball scholarship after a stellar career for Noblesville. She played basketball and volleyball all four years.
Jill’s four years at Noblesville came at the same time the Millers made it to the state finals in girls basketball four consecutive years – this in the era of one-class basketball. Noblesville won an undefeated state championship in 1987 and played in the championship game in 1988, and were four-time sectional, regional and semi-state champions from 1987 to 1990. Jill still holds the record for assists in girls basketball.
Jill’s stepfather is Billy Keller, the 1965 Mr. Basketball who went on to play at Purdue, then for the Indiana Pacers during their glory days in the American Basketball Association. The Pacers won ABA championships in 1970, 1972 and 1973.
In volleyball, Jill was part of sectional champion teams in 1986, 1988 and 1989. She set the single match record (11) and single season record (91) for service aces, and is still ranked second in career aces with 141. Jill is also second all-time for career assists (1,031), third all-time for service points (484) and fourth all-time for digs (448). She was a four-year letter winner in both basketball and volleyball.
While playing volleyball at IPFW, Jill met Norman Almodovar. He also had a distinguished athletic career, earning a scholarship for the Mastodons and helping them to three appearances in the NCAA national semifinals.
Norman was named as an All-American in 1994 and was inducted into the IPFW Hall of Fame in 2008. He would go on to an 18-year professional career in Puerto Rico’s Superior League, where he was a two-time MVP, in 1997 and 2000. Norman also played for the Puerto Rican National Team for 10 years.
After the two graduated from IPFW in 1994 and were married, they settled in Noblesville.
“When I graduated from college, I did my student-teaching in Noblesville,” said Jill. “That just led to getting a job and staying here. Norman was playing professionally and I was teaching before we had kids. It just made sense to stay here. I think we wanted my kids to have my parents around as well. I’m very passionate about education in Noblesville.”
Jill has been a teacher at White River Elementary School for 25 years, and has had multiple stints as the Noblesville High School head volleyball coach, and was a junior varsity assistant basketball coach.
“All in all, it made sense to keep our kids here,” said Jill. “Noblesville is a great place.”
“We really grew up with the community,” said Norman. “Jill and I got married at 23. After college, we moved to Noblesville right away. Noblesville was corn fields and nothing. We definitely were there when they built the big high school.”
Lexie was born in 2002, followed by Luke in 2005.
“We had two kids on purpose because we knew they would be athletes,” said Norman. “We were really hoping for Luke to be a boy. We knew that because we had athletic backgrounds that our kids would be in athletics.”
While the parents wanted their children to go into athletics, they left it up to Lexie and Luke which sports they would choose.
“We let the kids lead the way on that,” said Jill. For example, Lexie was into playing soccer, basketball and softball, which she said “were more fun sports for me.” But by then she was playing top-level volleyball at the famous Munciana club, and she soon decided to switch her sole focus to volleyball.
“Playing at such a high-intensity club, I had to decide pretty early because it was just too much to do other sports on top of that,” said Lexie.
Meanwhile, Luke tried everything. He played volleyball at one point, and was a “very good” baseball player, his mom said.
“In eighth grade I played baseball and basketball and I was really good at both,” said Luke. But he soon turned his focus to basketball, focusing on AAU play “and try to get a scholarship.”
Since she was older, Lexie would be the first of the two to get a scholarship, to play volleyball at the University of Dayton. This came after she had a sensational four-year career for Noblesville, playing varsity from her freshman season to her senior campaign.
Lexie was an all-Hoosier Crossroads Conference player for all for years and earned All-State honors two years. She was also an Indiana Junior and Senior All-Star, and was the Reporter’s 2017 Hamilton County Player of the Year.
Most important, Lexie was a key component of the Millers’ 2017 sectional championship team. Noblesville beat Hamilton Southeastern in the semifinals and Westfield in the championship match; Lexie hit 27 kills in the final and 22 in the semis. She was the first Millers player to reach the 1,000-kill milestone, totaling 1,829 in her career. Lexie also holds the single-season record for kills with 554, and had over 1,000 digs.
Lexie said winning the sectional was one of her favorite memories, including the team jumping in the pool after it won.
“The whole season was pretty off and on,” said Lexie. “Going into sectionals, I don’t think it was clear to us at all that we were going to win.” Lexie said that the team was “really relaxed” and since they were playing as the underdogs, the Millers didn’t feel any pressure to perform at that moment.
“We were playing our best volleyball at that point,” she said.
While all this was going on, Luke was a middle schooler, watching his sister play at a high level and get a college scholarship.
“That laid out the path for me,” said Luke. “If I see my big sister going to get a full-ride scholarship, then I’m going to get the same thing. She was inspiring with the way she went about her high school career. I felt like I took some of that in and used that to my advantage.”
“I was just trying to set a good example for him and just show him the ropes,” said Lexie.
As a freshman, Luke played junior varsity basketball and dressed for varsity. He made a big impression in his first game as a varsity starter in his sophomore year, scoring 20 points in the Millers’ opener. From there, he became a star player for Noblesville.
Of all the games Luke played, probably none will mean more than the Millers’ sectional championship win last March. Noblesville beat Zionsville 58-50 to claim its first sectional trophy since 2010. Luke scored 23 points in the victory, including a crucial three-point play with 2:28 left in the game.
When the game was done, the emotions came out. Luke, his teammates and his coaches were all openly crying after the victory.
“I would never get embarrassed by that,” said Luke, who finally got to have that feeling his mother told him about: “Having that feeling of winning and having all those emotions out,” he said.
“People come to the games,” said Jill. “The crowd, the kids. He’s going to have that memory of going over and high-fiving his friends and his sister was there.”
Almodovar was named an Indiana All-Star, matching the achievement of his grandfather Billy Keller. He finished as a four-year varsity letter winner, was named All-HCC two years, and was an All-State player his senior year and All-State honorable mention his junior year. He was also a 2023 Hamilton County Player of the Year, and was part of the Indianapolis Star’s 2022-23 Super Team.
Luke averaged 17.5 points per game in his senior year, hitting 65 3-pointers. He was an efficient shooter, going 55 percent from the field and making 50 percent of his 3-point tries. Luke finished his senior year with 456 points and totaled 936 for his career. He also got his scholarship, committing to play at Saint Francis University.
“I was so proud of him,” said Norman. “This year he was able to put that to bed. He could have been his laid-back self and just go through the season. This was probably the first year I saw Luke push for what he wanted and being assertive. Kind of like a last chance. ‘This is my last chance to do something at Noblesville.’ By Luke achieving everything he achieved his senior year, Luke was able to claim his own spotlight in a family that is a highly-decorated family.”
It’s something Norman said he’s “super proud” to be a part of.
“I find it remarkable that you can have it bred through our family and its school and success,” he said. “I don’t know how many families have had something like this. We had Jill be successful. Comes back to coach. Lexie’s in the picture.”
Lexie just finished her junior year at Dayton, where she is majoring in education. Luke plans to major in business at Saint Francis.
“I’m kind of in the background of this story,” said Norman. “I walk with these kids all the time. Lexie and I spent hours in the car. Luke and I spent a ton of time in basketball and baseball. Professional athletes have a different view of the sport. I always try to instill in them the high expectations. If you want to achieve this, you have to go through the fire. It has to be different. How many kids actually reach the talent through work, through commitment? Also give them some things other kids didn’t get. It was in the mentality of the household.”
“I think all those times growing up when I was getting talked to, looking back is what made me so tough and independent,” said Lexie. “When you’re getting recruited, you’re putting your best self out there. You’re the only one who can measure those expectations. I think Luke and I strive to be the best in everything we do. Luke and I are always competing. Everything is about doing the best you can do.”