'One of best weeks of my life.' Putting a bow on Indiana All-Stars, 2025 graduating class
The completion of the Indiana All-Stars series against Kentucky is always a little emotional, maybe more for the parents than the players. Literally a day later for many of the All-Stars, they check in at their colleges and officially close the door on their high school experience.
Lives change. Parents say goodbye, knowing it will never quite be the same as it was those first 18 years — no matter how far away their sons or daughters are going away to college.
I was reminded of that fact Saturday after the Indiana All-Stars' team defeated Kentucky 105-92 to sweep the boys from the Bluegrass state for the 19th time in the past 26 years of the series that dates to 1940 (not counting the cancelled year of 2020). There were plenty of hugs and smiles and then … poof … they were gone.
Time marches on. Maybe I'm a little more emotional and connected to this 2025 class because I have a graduate of my own in this class. It feels like I have been watching and covering players like Braylon Mullins, Mark Zackery IV, Dezmon Briscoe, Azavier Robinson, Julius Gizzi, Justin Kirby and Brady Koehler for a long time. It will be fun to see what they accomplish at the next level in college and beyond.
For Mullins, Greenfield-Central's first IndyStar Mr. Basketball, it is off to UConn, where he will get caught up quickly with the rest of the incoming recruits, who are already on campus. He will move in Monday and get to work — really get to work — Tuesday.
'I've just been going through watching the film and watching what I need to so I can get caught up to speed,' said Mullins, who finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals to earn MVP honors in Saturday's game. 'It's way different than I expected. I'm going to be in the best shape of my life by week two. But I'm excited for it. It's an experience I can't take for granted.'
Ben Davis' Zackery, this year's Mr. Football, played his best game of the week for the All-Stars on Saturday, going for 10 points (2-for-4 from the 3-point line) with six assists and five rebounds. The crazy thing about Zackery is how little basketball he's played in the past several months after getting surgery on his thumb from a football injury and missing almost the entire season.
I know his future is in football at Notre Dame, but I will always wonder what he might have been if he played just basketball. His quickness and wing-span alone would put him at an elite level. There were a few times this weekend when he just hit the accelerate button and Kentucky could not stay in front of him.
'He's one of the smartest people on the floor,' Mullins said of Zackery. 'You won't see anybody quicker, faster or smarter. He does a lot of things good for our team. He's a very unselfish player. I can believe he's really good at basketball on top of that, a really good football player. He would do really well on both sports if he wanted to do that.'
I thought it was cool Zackery and Lawrence North grad Azavier Robinson, named the Wooden-MCL Citizenship award winner, were roommates. Imagine putting those two in the same backcourt together, especially on defense. Though Zackery called it his 'last basketball game ever,' All-Stars coach Marc Urban of Chesterton said he was more than happy to have him on the team.
'He's one of the most elite people I've ever been around,' Urban said. 'Being able to observe him from our first practice, through this whole week, the way he carries himself and how hard he goes, he is elite. He's super dialed in, super focused, super mature. He led us in a lot of ways. He just stayed focused throughout and was fun to be around. I feel very lucky to be around him for this week.'
I think that is a pretty typical feeling after the All-Stars experience. There will always be a few outliers (often related to playing time) or behavior issues during the week. But Urban said the experience was even more fulfilling than he imagined.
'Honestly, it's been one of the best weeks of my life,' Urban said. '(All-Stars director Mike Broughton) and my assistants (Steve Cox, Chris Hawkins and Jason Speer) were really fun to be around. It was super fun. It was hard, it was challenging, but it was very rewarding. I feel very lucky and very blessed to have the opportunity to do it.'
∎ It was odd to leave Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night knowing I would be back in four days to help cover Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. There were reminders, though, including the 'Finals' logo and backdrop already in the press conference room. Basketball in June is better than Christmas.
∎ How good is 6-8 Tre Singleton going to be at Northwestern? The Jeffersonville star and Class 4A state champion had 14 points and four rebounds in Friday's 98-89 win at Kentucky, going up against 7-1 Kentucky Mr. Basketball Malachi Moreno. In Saturday's win, Singleton had 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting and six rebounds in just 15 minutes. I think Singleton and fellow Jeffersonville teammate and Indiana All-Star Michael Cooper (Wright State) are going to be really good players at the next level. Cooper was 8-for-13 from the 3-point line in the two games combined.
∎ Attendance for Saturday's game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse was announced at 5,411. The competition took a hit by Moreno's absence in the return game. Kentucky's team had some good players, but not enough to play 40 minutes head-to-head with Indiana without Moreno.
∎ Mt. Vernon point guard Luke Ertel continues to ascend. Nothing he did for the Junior All-Stars during the week will change that thought. The Purdue recruit backed up his 36-point game on Sunday against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars with 35 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the win over the Indiana All-Stars on Wednesday. Another Matt Painter recruiting victory.
∎ Fishers' Justin Kirby is ridiculously athletic. Alley-oops from Brady Koehler on back-to-back possessions in the second half — the second on a bounce pass — were big highlights from Saturday's win. Kirby finished with 11 points and four rebounds after going for nine points and four rebounds in the win at Kentucky on Friday.
'It was like a college experience,' Kirby said of All-Stars week. 'The way you do things, the way you carry yourself throughout the week. It's a lot. It's a lot of three- and four-hour practices you have to go through, but you have to get ready for that for next year in college. I think it was good for me to have that experience.'
Kirby's next few years will be interesting. He is going to Miami of Ohio for his freshman year as a player who has improved dramatically as an outside shooter during high school (he shot 41% from the 3-point line as a senior). Kirby will not be overmatched athletically at the next level.
'I'm just going to outwork everyone and work as hard as I can,' Kirby said. 'I'm going to be the best teammate. I'm not going to complain or say or do anything bad. I'm going to be who I am and see what I can do.'
Kirby said All-Stars week was something he 'will remember my entire life.'
∎ The Indiana girls were swept by Kentucky but managed to play in one of the wildest All-Stars games I can remember on Saturday. Rich Torres, who covered the game for us, and I were flipping through the program to try to find the lowest scoring games with the score 53-48 Indiana going into the fourth quarter. After the fourth quarter and two overtimes, Kentucky's 106-103 victory was the highest-scoring game in series history, eclipsing Indiana's 100-97 victory in 1994. Kentucky Miss Basketball ZaKiyah Johnson (LSU) set a new single-game scoring record with 34 points and the two-game total with 62.
∎ Things you find out in All-Stars program compiled by Pat McKee: Julius Gizzi's favorite song is 'Hunger Strike' by Temple of the Dog. There is hope for our future. Maybe even better: Chase Barnes' and Azavier Robinson's favorite movie is 'Above the Rim.' Great soundtrack, too.
∎ I'll miss covering this group of seniors, even beyond the All-Stars. Good luck, class of 2025.
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