Jayla Wehner Helping Marian University Indianapolis Compete on National Stage

Jayla Wehner is a sophomore guard for Marian University – Indianapolis women’s basketball, an NAIA program that competes in the Crossroads League and a product of Norwin High School.

(Photos courtesy of Marian University – Indianapolis Athletic Communications)

The Lady Knight standout found out about Marian while playing at a summer team camp at West Virginia University. She explained exactly how she landed at Marian more specifically during the interview.

“I found out about Marian when my high school team was playing at a summer team camp at WVU and we played against a high school from Indiana. Their coach was Coach Jess Johnson and she happened to be the cousin of Marian’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the time, Katie Gearlds, who recruited me. Interestingly enough, Coach Gearlds is now the Purdue Women’s Coach and Coach Jess Johnson is now an assistant coach here at Marian.”

Marian was also a solid fit because it provided winning basketball in a basketball obsessed state like Indiana while also allowing her to study exercise science. In her second college season, Wehner was a part of a Marian Knights program that went 30-5 overall and made it to the Round of Eight in the NAIA National Tournament this past season.

The ride through this past postseason and the friendships she’s made from basketball over the years are what she cherishes most about being an athlete.

In her high school days in the WPIAL, she was named an All-WPIAL First Team performer as a senior, earned First Team All-Conference honors three times, was named a 2020 Roundball Classic Selection, became a four-year varsity letter winner, was a 2019-20 captain for Norwin girls basketball, was a two-time North Allegheny All-Tournament Team honoree, and became a Penn Trafford All-Tournament Team honoree in 2020.

She followed this up in the 2020-21 college basketball season by playing in 31 games, making three starts, and averaging 3.8 points and 2.6 assists per game for a team that won 26 games and won a First-Round game in the NAIA Tournament.

As a sophomore, she played in 34 games and made four more starts on the way to averaging 3.8 points per game. So far, she’s scored 239 career points and played in 65 career games.

On the AAU circuit, Wehner represented the Western PA Bruins during part of her middle school and all of her high school career. A program that plays a national schedule, Wehner was able to showcase her talent all over the country while playing alongside an incredible collection of college talent.

With two years at Marian still remaining, she is hopeful to help being a national title home to Indianapolis, finish her degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology, and work towards being accepted into physical therapy school to work in sports performance or for a professional sports team.

With a style of play at Marian similar to what she’s been used to, Jayla Wehner has found a home away from home on the hardwood in Indiana for one of NAIA’s top women’s programs.