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Indianapolis Star
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Mark Zackery IV lived for big moments at Ben Davis. But he appreciates the quiet ones too.
Mark Zackery IV's senior season of basketball did not go according to plan. Surgery on his left thumb, stemming from an injury suffered during football season, mostly relegated the two-sport star to a bench role for Ben Davis. Not ideal. It was unlike any previous athletic experience in Zackery's life. 'I learned that certain things are out of my control,' Zackery said. 'And what do you do to better yourself when you are not doing the things you love? From a leader's standpoint, it was having a voice instead of being able to show by action.' Zackery, fresh off winning 2025 IndyStar Indiana Mr. Football, was able to return to the basketball court and play in the sectional for the Giants. Though it was not the finish he envisioned, Zackery believes the experience made him tougher and more appreciative of his hundreds of athletic experiences. He loves the idea of starting at the bottom again as he prepares to get started on his college life – and football career – at Notre Dame. 'I'm feeling pretty good and pretty confident,' Zackery said of the transition from high school to college. 'I have the mindset going there that I'm the worst player in the team. That's my mindset. I've always been a humble guy and it's important that in my head, I want to hit the refresh button and build back that confidence at the next level. I'm appreciative of all the recognition I've gotten in high school, but I know you have to hit the reset button and start over when you are competing with players who are your same ability.' Zackery has at least one more accomplishment to add to his achievements before he departs for South Bend: 2024-25 Marion County Male Athlete of the Year. Zackery was the ultimate winner in high school, helping his basketball team to a Class 4A state championship as a sophomore and his football team several months later, as a junior, to a Class 6A state title. Zackery was the choice for County Male Athlete of the Year from a vote of the county's athletic directors, who had narrowed the finalists to Zackery, Lawrence North football/track standout Davion Chandler and Lutheran three-sport star L.J. Ward. 'I'll remember the people at Ben Davis the most,' Zackery said of his high school experience. 'Just seeing different people every day. With a big school like Ben Davis, you see your friends and people you know but also learn about new people and new walks of life. Everybody is human and personally, I just hopefully was able to treat everybody with respect because you don't always know what somebody is going through in their lives.' His individual accomplishments were numerous, culminating in football with the Mr. Football award after his senior season. As a senior, he caught 58 passes for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns to finish his four-year career with 119 receptions for 1,924 yards and 21 TDs on offense and 140 tackles, 14 interceptions (eight as a senior), four recovered fumbles and four defensive TDs. On the basketball court, he earned Indiana All-Star honors after helping Ben Davis to two state finals appearances (winning as a sophomore). In his best season, as a junior, Zackery averaged 11.0 points, 4.3 assists and 1.4 steals, shooting 39.4% from the 3-point line. But for all of special moments in sports, one of Zackery's favorite people at Ben Davis was completely outside the athletic realm. She wanted it that way, in fact. 'Miss Jessica Breedlove,' Zackery said of his sophomore year geometry honors teacher. 'She never attached me to my sport. I feel like that's the thing I really liked was that she didn't really look at me as an athlete. She looked at me as a regular person and helped me succeed in school.' Breedlove said she always leaned more into basketball due to her roots in hoops-centric Kokomo. She assumed Zackery was a basketball player. But even though Alijah Price, the Giants' star running back, and Zackery were in her class that fall, she did not even realize they played football until deep into the fall semester. Over the next 2 ½ years, Breedlove served as sounding board for Zackery at school. The topics of discussion rarely involved his athletic achievements. 'My approach with Mark is that we don't talk about sports,' Breedlove said. 'I think he's looking forward to being the little fish in the big pond again. It's weird being 18 and people knowing who you are. I think they get a lot of ideas about how they are supposed to act from social media and seeing how other people behave. One of the blessings of being a classroom teacher is you get to see them be their authentic selves. I don't have to also be his coach.' Breedlove would give Zackery knuckles on his way out the door with only three rules as it related to football and basketball: have fun; don't get hurt; and win. In that order. 'I always appreciated that in the offseason I could find him in my room because he would always have to wait around to go pick up his sister from middle school,' Breedlove said. 'So, he'd come and clean the calculators off my desk and kill time and chat for a few minutes. Just a kid.' Breedlove figured those moments outside of playing sports, talking about sports or practicing sports allowed Zackery a needed opportunity to take a deep breath now and then. When Zackery's family asked her to write a letter of recommendation for the Watkins Award, which is presented by the National Alliance of African American Athletes (Zackery was one of six high school athletes to win), she called it 'the easiest recommendation letter I've ever been asked to write.' 'I joked with his mom (Keisha) and him that I would never to get share my two cents,' Breedlove said. Breedlove brought her 9-year-old son to some of Zackery's basketball games. She joked that she gained some cool points in her son's eyes when she introduced them after a game. But the teacher in her just wants to see Zackery be able to enjoy being a kid as long as he can. 'Most of the time, I want to him to feel not like a celebrity,' she said. 'We just kind of do our little nods to let him know I'm there.' It is fun to think about where Zackery could be 5, 10 or 15 years from now. Though he will be 'starting from the bottom' at Notre Dame as a freshman, the coaching staff obviously has high hopes for a four-star prospect who is projected as a cornerback in college. His roommate will be Tampa, Fla., native Dallas Golden, another four-star cornerback prospect. But beyond his hopefully lengthy playing career, Breedlove said she could see Zackery as a coach. 'I've watched him coach his teammates I've had in class through my math course that he will still swear up and down is the hardest class he's had to take,' Breedlove said. 'I'd love for him to be able to experience playing, but I just want him to be safe and healthy and have any bit of normalcy that he wants. But he's so good at speaking and motivating his teammates, older and younger than him, that I could see him coaching. I think he'll figure it out. Either way, I think he'll be mentoring other people. He'd be fantastic at that.'
Indianapolis Star
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis high school sports: Three finalists for Marion County Male Athlete of the Year
The Marion County Athletic Association will soon name its City and County Athletes of the Year, an award that dates to 1950 and grew to include girls' achievements in 1979. The awards are geared toward athletic achievement, but almost every winner over the years has exhibited impressive credentials in and out of their athletic, academic and personal areas. Generally, multi-sport athletes are given consideration over single-sport athletes, though in some cases a single-sport athlete has been so outstanding that he or she has been selected as the winner. More: 3 finalists for Marion County Female Athlete of the Year Here are the three finalists for County Male Athlete of the Year (last year's winner was Bryson Luter of Lawrence Central): Chandler, an Indiana football recruit, was a two-time Marion County Offensive Player of the Year. He caught 40 passes for 779 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior on a 7-4 team, then caught 49 passes for 971 yards and 10 TDs as a senior on a team that was 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state before falling by one point in the regional to state champion Brownsburg. Chandler finished his high school football career with 111 receptions for 2,039 yards and 24 TDs. He compiled 2,696 career all-purpose yards and scored 27 touchdowns. Chandler, a team captain, was named to the Indiana Football Coaches Association All-State Top 50 as a senior and was a two-time All-MIC selection. In track and field, Chandler was sectional and regional champion in the 110-meter hurdles as a junior. He was also a member of the 4x100 meter sectional champion relay team. The 4x100 relay team is currently ranked No. 1 in the state and posted the No. 2 time in state history. Chandler is currently ranked No. 5 in the state in the 110 hurdles. At IU, Chandler plans to study sports management and marketing. His volunteer work includes working as a mentor for elementary and middle school football and as a youth football coach. Ward, a Butler football recruit, is a nine-time letterwinner in football, basketball and track and field as a three-sport athlete at Lutheran. As a football player, Ward played on state championship teams as a sophomore and junior, starting at receiver and defensive back. As a senior, Ward caught 39 passes for 752 yards and 13 TDs and had 33 tackles and three interceptions on defense and was named to the IFCA All-State team. He also returned one kickoff and one punt for a touchdown. For his high school career, Ward caught 74 passes for 1,439 yards and 27 TDs, rushed for two TDs, averaged 33.9 yards per kickoff return and 16.1 yards per punt return and totaled 32 touchdowns. On defense, Ward accumulated 111 tackles and 10 interceptions. Ward was a two-time member of the All-Marion County third team in basketball, winning a Class A state championship as a sophomore. He scored 1,148 career points. As a junior, Ward averaged 18.9 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. He was limited to 10 games as a senior due to injury. Ward took sixth place at the state meet in the high jump (school record) as a sophomore and was fifth in the long jump (school record) as a junior. He was academic all-state in both basketball and football and a member of the National Honor Society. Ward plans to pursue a career in sports medicine. Zackery, an eight-time letterwinner in football and basketball, was voted Indiana Mr. Football as a senior after catching 58 passes for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns as a receiver and making 62 tackles and eight interceptions as a defensive back. The Notre Dame football recruit finished his high school career with 119 receptions for 1,924 yards and 21 TDs on offense and 140 tackles, 14 interceptions, four fumble recoveries, three caused fumbles and two blocked punts on defense. Zackery averaged 22.2 yards per kickoff return and finished with 25 total touchdowns. Zackery won a Class 6A state championship in football as a junior and a Class 4A state title in basketball as a sophomore. He was named academic all-MIC four years and academic all-state two years. Zackery was also one of six recipients for the Watkins Award, presented by the National Alliance of African American Athletes to promote academic excellence among young African-American males. On the basketball court, Zackery was named an Indiana All-Star as a senior and was a Junior All-Star last season. He averaged 11.0 points, 4.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds as a junior. Zackery missed most of his senior season on the basketball court after undergoing a procedure on his thumb suffered during the football season. Zackery served many roles as a volunteer, including at the Coburn Place Domestic Violence Shelter. He plans to study marketing at Notre Dame with a goal of working on the business side in the sports industry after his playing career.
