There's having a good game, even a good year. Then there is having the game of your life, breaking a school record along the way. Averaging 22 points, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game is the making of a great junior year, and a 21 point, 5 assist and 2 steal game, to go along with 3 rebounds in a win over Lakewood Park Christian is a very good game.
Treyton Schoch upped the ante a bit, breaking South Adams' school record, scoring 47 points in a win over Wabash. The 6'1" junior guard went 15-22 from the field, including 3-4 3PT and 6-7 FT. He also dished out 6 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds. Zero turnovers. All of that making Treyton Schoch Courtside Indiana's Player of the Week for the week of January 5-January 9
Players of Week is presented by Metro Indy Basketball Fall League
Others Considered
Speaking of the MIB Fall League. Rasheed Elemikan was a favorite among our staff and featured a bit on our podcasts covering the league in October. Elemikan is following that up with a great year, helping Greenwood to a 6-0 start. This past week the 6'5" senior forward had a three game stretch of 24 points and 15 rebounds, 22 points and 13 rebounds, and 13 points and 6 rebounds in wins over Martinsville, Whiteland, and Brebeuf.
Chris Mantis is continuing his boxscore stuffing ways! Vs. Highland he finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. The 6'7" senior guard totaled 24 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals against LaPorte.
Logansport is having a nice bounce back season in Coach Drew Schauss' second season at the helm. Much of it is due to the play of Malachi Pearson. This past week, the 6'4" senior guard finished in a win over rival Kokomo, 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. In their win over Western, he poured in 31 points with 5 rebounds.
Other Nominations
Sophomores and Freshmen Nominations
Sullivan started out well early, and after Greencastle narrowed the initial gap, the rest of the game was Greencastle would surge, Sullivan would catch up. In the fourth quarter, Greencastle led by as many as 12, and Sullivan could not close that gap any lower than eight.
Żak Tyler and Jim Reamer discuss the NCAA Tournament announcement that the entire field will be played in Indiana. They also touch on what college players getting an extra year of eligibility could mean for recruiting.
There could be a whole podcast about that and likely will.
Weekly Features: Recruiting updates Best Games, Best Teams, Best Player Performance New Feature: Games we're looking forward to this week. #HotTakeTheater!
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Carmel took control of the game in the second quarter, hitting on four early 3pters, and while Westfield showed a little spark to start the second half, Carmel’s length, which was a problem the whole game, shut down Westfield down and turned defense into offense.
Big performances in big games matter, and Lawrence North plays a lot of big games. In wins over Gary West and Crispus Attucks, Shamar Avance put up 28 points and 27 points, some of his most productive outputs of his career. He also grabbed 4.5 RPG and 3 APG, with "a handful of steals".
Further for Avance, is that he is the emotional leader on the floor for Lawrence North, on a team with plenty of star power. Earning Avance Courtside Indiana's Player of the Week for the week of December 28-January 2 (sponsored by Metro Indy Basketball).
This was tough to pass over, but Gus Etchison had himself a week last week. 31 points (10-17 FG, 6-9 3PT, 7-7 FT) in a win over Pendleton Heights, but he outdid that in a win over Monroe Central, finishing with 44 points (14-25 FG, 5-9 3PT, 11-12 FT) and 10 rebounds.
For those wondering, he totaled his career high last year with, I believe, 52 points to start his junior season.
Trey Kaufman appears healthy. He started the week with a mere 18 points and 11 rebounds in their 62-41 win over Providence. He followed that up the next night with a 37 point and 12 rebound performance in a win over Clarksville. He capped off the week with 26 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Bedford North Lawrence.
With 22 pts, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, & 1 steal, Trey Flatt led Covenant Christian to their first win at the Morristown Holiday Tournament. The 6'1" senior guard answered that with a school record 52 pts (including school record 11 threes), & tied a school record with 8 steals vs. Lawrenceburg, becoming only the 3rd Covenant player to get to 1,000 career points.
In the Championship vs. South Dearborn, Flatt totaled 30 pts, 4 Rbs, & 3 Assists, all while leading Covenant to the tournament championship, and he was named the Tournament MVP.
Edinburgh's, Caleb Dewey had a big week of games, during the Edinburgh Holiday Tournament. The 6'3" sophomore guard averaged 22.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists with 2 steals per game, while shooting 54% from the field, including a career high of 33 points in their win over Hagerstown.
After sitting out last year due to IHSAA transfer rules, Barr-Reeve's Curt Hopf is closing out his senior year with a bang. The 6'9" forward, who is headed to Bellarmine, put up 25 points and 10 rebounds in a win over rival Washington. That was after the dual performance at the Hall of Fame Classic, where he added 16 points and 8 rebounds vs. FW Blackhawk and 24 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Blackford.
Winning the Lebanon Holiday Tournament, which is a lot like winning a sectional, Ryan Conwell came with the MVP. The 6'2" junior guard shot 71% FG%, 50% 3PT%, averaging 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. He was 7-11 from 3PT in their win over Western Boone.
Others Nominated
Zak Tyler gets us up to date on recruiting news.
Zak, Barney O'Neill and Jim Reamer discuss the Ashton Williamson transfer news
Best Games, Best Teams, Best Players (see list after sponsors)
HOT TAKE THEATER!!
Best Game: Zak - Elkhart vs. FW Snider Jim - Park Tudor vs. North Central Barney - North Daviess vs. Loogootee
Best Team: Zak - Homestead Jim - Westfield Barney - Fort Wayne Blackhawk
Best Player: Zak - Karson Jenkins Jim - Braden Smith Barney - Caleb Furst
A new year, time to think ahead. Let's start with what most seniors look forward to beyond their team goals, making the Indiana All-star team.
The process of late has been a ballot has been sent to coaches and media, and that ballot asks to each voter to choose one Mr. Basketball and 13 Indiana All-star Candidate. The winner of Mr. Basketball is a straight vote. The one with the most votes gets it. The Indiana All-star team is a little murkier.
These votes don't guarantee anything but do form a consensus, and it does become clear that some players belong simply on the strength of the vote, not that those totals ever get published or echoed out into the world.
The third thing to consider is geography. If it's close between a few kids, if a portion of the state isn't represented, that will be a consideration.
The final thing to keep in mind, this is an actual team that plays games and is coached. Outside of COVIDgeddon, that means the head coach will have a voice on the final few spots, sometimes that's someone they'd want to coach or someone who can actually fill a role on a team. It could also have a rounding out of positions as well.
Let's start quickly with the coach
I'd assume it will be Ryan Osborn from Carmel. He was tabbed to coach it last year, but that was wiped away. Carmel is having a better year this year than last. There would be no reason not to have him coach it this year.
We're breaking the team down into multiple sections
The Locks
Bold = Core Junior All-star | * = wasn't selected for Junior All-star
Normally the locks are between eight or nine players, but the 2021 class is loaded. There are three glaring omissions up to this point, but it gets dicey because in a normal class, they would be locks. However, we still have a couple of issues to sort out.
The Glaring Omissions
Normally we would get through this list and still have a spot or two left to fill. That's not going to be a problem. First of all, the three glaring omissions
Avance over Thomas and Taylor?
YES! The recruiting aspect of this certainly does play a role. With Thomas and Taylor headed to Butler, it speaks to their talents for sure. We're not going to litigate why Taylor and Thoms future teammate and Avance's current teammate, Hughes, didn't make the Junior All-star team last year, but Avance did, which means he has the respect of those same people who will play a role in rounding out this roster.
He also helms the #1 team in the state and is being recruited to the mid-major D1 level, so it's not like his individual résumé doesn't warrant this. Likely if you're reading this, you know who Avance is, but he would be the one person on this list so far who is uncommitted.
Room For Two More Players
Hopf over Sisley, but Sisley still makes it
Of the three glaring omissions, Sisley is the most likely to make it. Heritage Hills is having the better season between the three schools. However, in choosing Hopf over Sisley, he's just having a stronger year, and he's done it vs. a stronger schedule up to this point.
Both Barr-Reeve and Heritage Hills beat North Harrison by a sizable margin, but Barr-Reeve's Hopf's performances vs. Carmel and Furst separate him. Also, Barr-Reeve's dismantling of Blackford...this is not a typical 1A public school team.
Brownsburg and Perry Meridian are struggling
The Brownsburg piece is a surprise, but they have had to deal with COVID issues. It's not an excuse, but they aren't clicking. They are younger than I thought they would be coming into this season. It's almost like someone is missing that I'm overlooking.
Perry's situation is a little more challenging. They don't have a true second piece, someone who can really take pressure off Taylor.
Between Thomas and Taylor, the nod goes to Thomas. He was a junior all-star last year, which plays a role among the same group of people making these decisions, and ultimately Brownsburg should get more traction as the season progresses.
13 Players: End of Discussion?
Of course not. We still have a couple of issues.
There is always that surprise player. This isn't really the place to name names of those from years past, but they're there. This year, there shouldn't be any hard line surprises. This class is loaded and if players like Taylor, Chris Mantis, Langdon Hatton or Jake Heidbreder make this list, it'll be deserving.
Hurting Langdon and Heidbreder is southern Indiana is well represented. Helping Mantis is the Region isn't represented at all. That could play a role if decisions get tough.
One final consideration. What if Carmel or South Bend Adams wins the 4A title? If Carmel, it will likely entail Brian Waddell having an excellent run in March.
South Bend Adams, currently 9-0 off a 22-4 season last year, has a senior laden roster led by Sidney Jefferies, Lynn King or Brayden Saxton. If they were to win state, it's very rare for the 4A winner to not have an all-star or an underclassman projected to be an all-star later. (See List Below)
If anyone from the above mentions makes the team, someone from the previous 13 has to come off. That's always the mental exercise, especially on social media when someone from an omitted player's camp claims they got screwed.
The all-star team, truly any list, is hard to cap without upsetting or disappointing someone. 2021 will be no different, and as noted this is a very loaded class.
All-stars and 4A State Champs
2019: Carmel - John Michael Mulloy (Butler) 2018: Warren Central - Dean Tate (Purdue Northwest) 2017: Ben Davs - They did produce three all-stars the next two years 2016: New Albany - Romeo Langford and Sean East made the 2018 team 2015: Homestead - Caleb Swanigan 2014: Tech - Trey Lyles, then CJ Walker in 2016 2013: Carmel - Michael Volovic, as well as Zach McRoberts in 2014, Ryan Cline in 2015 2012: Carmel - The three aforementioned 2011: Bloomington South - Dee Davis 2010: North Central - Terone Johnson, Ronnie Johnson and Patrick Ingram in 2012 2009: Bloomington South - Jordan Hulls, Davis in 2011, Erik Fromm in 2010 2008: Brownsburg - Gordon Hayward, Julian Mavunga 2007: East Chicago Central - E'twaan Moore 2006: Lawrence North - Greg Oden and Mike Conley 2005: Lawrence North - Brandon McPherson, Oden and Conley 2004: Lawrence North - The three aforementioned 2003: Pike - Justin Cage, Parnell Smith, David Barlow 2002: Gary West - Brandon Cameron, Chris Hunter, Keith Christmas 2001: Pike - Chris Thomas, David Teague, as well as the three above (Robert Vaden had he not transferred to a prep school) 2000: Marion - Zach Randolph
Typically a stats based designation, but the caliber of the opponent is often part of it, and winning plays a role too. All of those things were present in Luke Brown's game vs. New Albany.
New Albany has one of the better all junior backcourts in the state, Kaden Stanton and Tucker Biven, so Brown wasn't going to have a break on the defensive end of the floor by any stretch. The 6'2" senior guard, who is committed to Stetson, finished with 33 points (11-17 FG, 6-10 3pt, 7-7 FT), 9 rebounds and 4 assists, as Blackford went down to New Albany and came home with a 71-70 victory. All that earned Luke Brown the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week (powered by the MIB Fall League) for the week of December 21-December 26.
Northeastern entered their game vs. 4-0 Delta on a two game losing streak, staring at the toughest stretch of their regular season. Even if this stretch doesn't go smoothly, it won't impact their viability come March...buuuut...still nice to get a big win.
Led by Kolden Vanlandingham, Northeastern beat Delta 62-49, and Vanlandingham finished with with 35 points (12-15 FGA, 5-7 3pt) and 5 rebounds.
Carmel threw a ton of bodies at Barr-Reeve's Curt Hopf, and while he had to work for it, he answered the bell. 21 points, 16 rebounds, hitting on two 3pters, and the 6'9" senior center was outstanding protecting the basket.
The progression of Ryan Conwell continues. In a 75-65 win over Franklin Central, breaking Pike's three game losing streak, Conwell finished with 26 points (8-11 FG, 3-5 3pt), 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Sophomore / Freshmen Nominated
Jim Reamer gets us up to date on recruiting news, including the commitment of Chris Mantis. Barney O'Neill and Jim talk some about college choice, especially regarding distance from home.
Barney and Jim review their Top Game, Top Team, Top Player picks, and they close with Hot Take Theater.
In the 1992 Final Four, with Indiana struggling to keep up with Duke, Todd Leary, a star player from Lawrence North, averaged 3.8 points per game, playing just over 7 minutes per game, played one minute. In that minute of action in the second half, Leary amassed three 3pters and brought Indiana back from the dead before finally falling short 81-78.
His son, Will, a senior guard, played more than one minute for Carmel tonight, doubled his father's production, and for a couple of stretches was the only Carmel player looking to aggressively score.