By SARAH J. BAKER

Mark Melloan, an Elizabethtown native attending graduate school at Western Kentucky University, began recording the school's new basketball anthem Wednesday.

The 22-year-old singer and songwriter wrote "High on a Hilltop" when school administrators encouraged him to write about WKU.

"I didn't want to write some cheesy thing about school pride," Melloan said. Instead, he found his song in Edgar Allen Diddle, who successfully coached WKU's basketball team from 1922 to 1964. The song commemorates Diddle's ability to build and motivate a basketball team and the red towel he clutched, waved, bit and cried on during games. Waving a red towel is now a WKU sports crowd tradition.

"The song is sort of a celebration of the Diddle legacy," Melloan said.

Melloan gave his first public performance of the song at an alumni association meeting this summer. After hearing the song, WKU President Gary Ransdell asked Melloan to record and produce a music video to be played on the Jumbotron at basketball games. The video will premiere Nov. 29.

Alumni director Donald Smith attended that meeting and performance. "Everyone was overwhelmingly positive about Mark's voice and music," he said.

As the song turned into a full-scale recording project, Melloan pooled several other talents, each somehow connected to WKU, to back up the recording.

Christian singer and WKU graduate Larnelle Harris, who has won five Grammys and 11 Dove Awards, will mix his vocals with Melloan's on the recording.

Greg Martin, who hails from Western Kentucky and is a member of Kentucky Headhunters, will play guitar.

Beegie Adair, a Horse Cave native and WKU graduate, will play the piano. Adair generally sticks to jazz music and has released several recordings in that genre, but she's also performed with country music icons such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Chet Atkins.

Byron House, who has played bass on recordings for bluegrass band Nickel Creek and the Dixie Chicks, will also join in on "High on a Hilltop."

Not meaning to discredit artists who haven't won Grammys or rubbed elbows with Nashville favorites, Melloan said, "These are the people you want to surround yourself with to raise the bar."

WKU's gospel choir, Amazing Tones of Joy, will also be featured.

The song incorporates many sounds, from Harris's soulful voice to House's bluegrass bass. The mix is intentional. Melloan called "High on a Hilltop" a Southern song, and that means it's a soul, country, rock and gospel song.

"Western's is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational tradition and we're trying to represent that in one song, one video," Melloan said.

Sarah J. Baker can be reached at 769-1200, Ext. 234, or e-mail her at sjbaker@mail.the-ne.com.