Indiana All-Stars trio left to play college hoops. But there's no place like home at IUPUI.

Sometimes, you have to leave to find out there’s no place like home.

Rachel McLimore, Destiny Perkins and Madison Wise were all high school stars in Central Indiana before leaving the state to play Division I basketball. Years later, they find themselves chasing NCAA tournament dreams at IUPUI.

That dream continues noon Monday in the Horizon League tournament semifinals at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum against Oakland.

“Who would have thought I'd be playing Division I college basketball with them some day?” McLimore said.

McLimore, Wise and Taylor Ramey (out for the season due to injury) played together in fourth grade for the Indiana Elite travel team. In high school, McLimore, Perkins and Wise played together for the Indy Magic AAU team.

More: A week inside IU women’s basketball’s run to the Big Ten championship game

“Knowing each other since we were young, the friendship that we've had growing up, the chemistry that we have this year, it just means more,” Wise said.

McLimore starred at Zionsville, averaging 19.4 points per game from 2013-2017. She helped lay the foundation for a team that made the IHSAA Class 4A state finals in 2018. She spent her freshman season at DePaul before transferring to IUPUI.

This season, she’s averaging 12.8 points per game. Jaguars coach Austin Parkinson said she’s “the best defensive player in the league.”

“Everybody's always known about her offensive abilities, which she continues to display,” he said. “But she has held virtually every player that she's guarded this year under their average. In high school, that wasn't really her forte. Game in and game out, she takes a challenge guarding the other team's best player while still putting up big offensive numbers for us.”

IUPUI beat Iowa, then ranked No. 15 in the country, in December. The Hawkeyes' Caitlin Clark is the country’s leading scorer (27.5 ppg). The Jaguars held her to 19 points.

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“Coach Parkinson's really helped me grow as a player and person,” McLimore said. “He always told me back in high school when he recruited me that he liked my playing style. He's like, ‘You have to have a certain coach that's gonna let you play like you play.’ He wasn't lying. From the moment I got here, he's been great with helping me work on my weaknesses and playing to my strengths.”

Destiny Perkins spent her first two high school seasons at Richmond before transferring to Lawrence North, where she was an Indiana All-Star (along with McLimore and Wise) in 2017. She played at Akron as a freshman before transferring to IUPUI. After the death of her brother, she wanted to be closer to family. IUPUI delivered in more ways than one.

“It's the people who you're around. They all care about you,” she said. “They all know what you have been through. I'm a better person because I've been here.”

Parkinson says there isn’t a player on his team that has grown more on and off the floor than Perkins. But it hasn’t always been easy. They used to “butt heads,” Perkins said.

“I didn't understand what he was doing with me,” she said. “I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, this man is a perfectionist.’ I didn't understand what he was doing. He was really just trying to help me grow. This is exactly where I needed to be.”

Perkins’ stats don’t jump off the page — 6.4 points and 3.2 assists in 18 games — but her presence makes a difference. She’s missed nine games due to injury this season, and it was noticeable.

“She sets the tone for our team on both ends of the floor,” Parkinson said. “When she went out this year with an injury, our offense took a dramatic step back. She understands our system. She plays with a little bit of flair and swag."

Madison Wise, who averaged 20.9 points in 101 games for Greenfield-Central from 2013-2017, figured she was done playing college basketball after four seasons at Iowa State. But a convergence of factors — COVID canceling her internship and giving her an extra year of eligibility, the death of her nephew and a desire to be closer to family, and her desire to get a master’s degree — made IUPUI the perfect place for her to play one more season.

More: Madison Wise plays with heavy heart following the death of her infant nephew

Wise talked with McLimore frequently while contemplating her next step, and finally decided to make the move.

“I really wanted to come back home and play, with everything going on with my family,” she said. “I just knew that I wanted to play in Indiana and I wanted to be close to home. (McLimore) was like, ‘You could come to IUPUI.’”

She’s provided a spark, scoring 6.5 points and grabbing 5 rebounds per game. She’s hoping to make her third NCAA tournament appearance.

“She's had absolutely no ego whatsoever coming back here,” Parkinson said. “It's been about trying to do the right things. She played for a really great program at a high level, but she's come here and done whatever has been asked of her.”

The Jaguars entered the Horizon League tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 21-6 conference record. They’re really 18-4 in conference play, but two of those losses came via forfeit due to COVID rules. The team won 14 straight games from Jan. 2-Feb. 17. A Horizon League tournament title would clinch the second NCAA tournament berth in program history. Though the Jaguars have never played in the NCAA tournament. The team won the conference tournament in 2020, but the NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID. Last season, the Jaguars lost in the conference championship game to Wright State.

Maybe it’s finally time for the Jaguars to go dancing.

“It's made us more hungry,” Perkins said. “We were hungry last year, we just fell a little short. I'm really big on everything happening for a reason. Maybe it's because we got more Indiana people on our team. We got Maddie now. I feel like this is our year.”

Follow IndyStar trending sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Horizon League women's basketball tournament: IUPUI led by hometown stars