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Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'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.
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'We gave the crowd a game.' Indiana All-Stars, Kentucky set girls single-game scoring record in 2OT nail-biter
INDIANAPOLIS – After the marathon double-overtime battle between the girls Indiana All-Stars and Kentucky ended Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hamilton Southeastern's Maya Makalusky sat near the scorer's table to decompress. Exhausted after Indiana's 106-103 loss to rival Kentucky in the finale of the two-game series' 49th running, Makalusky didn't absorb her team's sweeping defeat as much as the overall experience. On Friday night at Lexington Catholic High School, the Indiana All-Stars girls lost 84-73 to Kentucky by the series' largest single-game margin since 2022. The next evening back in the Hoosier State, Indiana attempted to stave off Kentucky's first series sweep since 2012 and 10th all-time since 1977. Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Laila Abdurraqib (Lawrence Central/New Mexico) at the end of regulation to tie the score 76-76, it seemed Indiana had the momentum on its side. Indiana's 11-4 run to deadlock the game countered Kentucky's 17-5 run that erased an earlier five-point deficit. However, two five-minute bonus quarters proved enough time for Kentucky Miss Basketball's ZaKiyah Johnson (Louisville Sacred Heart/Louisiana State) to secure the sweep. Johnson tied the score in overtime by sinking 3-of-3 free throws in the final seven seconds after drawing contact on a desperation 3-point heave at the top of the key, and she dropped in eight of her game-high 34 points in the double overtime to lock down the win. Johnson set a new single-game series record for points scored by besting both Kentucky's Amiya Jenkins (31 in 2022) and Indiana's Tiffany Gooden (1994) while establishing a two-game record with 62 points to again beat Gooden's mark of 55. Makalusky, the 2025 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball honoree, had a team-high 29 points. The Indiana University commit finished with 47 points for both games before fouling out with 27.4 seconds remaining in the final bonus period. She was named the Hoosier Shooting Academy MVP. 'Obviously, we have nothing to hang our heads about,' said Makalusky, who posted a team-high 14 rebounds with two assists and three steals. 'I mean, we got double overtime. We played hard, and we should be proud of what we gave.' What the Indiana and Kentucky All-Stars gave the downtown Indianapolis crowd was a historic show. Marking the series' first double-overtime game and third overtime contest in history. Saturday's game set a new single-game record for combined points scored at 209, while adding new standards for most combined field goals (72) that broke the record of 68 in 1994. Kentucky's 106 points were the most scored by the neighboring All-Stars in a single game. The previous high was 101 in 2008 and 2022. 'We gave the crowd a game, and it's all you could ask for,' Makalusky said. 'It's super exciting, and it's great to see girls sports having their moment and the amount of support. Obviously, we want to go out winning, but at the end of the day, we have nothing to hand our heads about. The energy was up, and we were ready.' Indiana led 16-15 after the first quarter and carried a 35-32 lead into halftime. Indiana took a 45-42 advantage in the third quarter on an and-1 layup by Makalusky and were up 53-48 entering the fourth. In the game's final five minutes of regulation Kentucky's run created a whirlwind 15 minutes of tug-of-war with 13 ties and 13 lead changes. Peyton Bradley (Meade County/Louisville) had 26 points, eight assists, five steals and seven rebounds for Kentucky as one of four players in double figures. Abdurraqib finished with 11 points, four assists and eight rebounds. Indiana had five players with 10 or more points, including Jaylah Lampley (Lawrence Central/Mississippi State) and Addison Baxter (Columbia City/Butler) with 17 each. Monique Mitchell (South Bend Washington/Akron) had 10, while Brooke Winchester (Warsaw/Ball State) had 11 rebounds and eight points. Kya Hurt (Lawrence North/Illinois State) dished out a team-high seven assists with eight points and three steals. 'I'm just glad I finally got to play on this team with everybody and enjoy this moment,' Hurt said. 'We wanted this one really bad, especially because it went to double overtime. I was excited because we got a chance to play again and try to win the game.'
Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Braylon Mullins helps Indiana All-Stars get best of Kentucky, AAU teammate Malachi Moreno
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It was a struggle. A good play here. A turnover there. It went like for the Indiana All-Stars for most of Friday's game against the Kentucky All-Stars at Lexington Catholic High School. The Kentucky All-Stars led by six points as the clock ticked under eight minutes. Enter Michael Cooper. The Jeffersonville senior guard drilled three consecutive 3-pointers, two on assists from Ben Davis guard Mark Zackery IV and other from Lawrence North's Azavier Robinson, to help the Indiana All-Stars breathe a little easier on their way to a 98-89 victory. 'It's just really being confident in the work I put in to just knock it down,' Cooper said. Indiana All-Stars & softball semistate? 'Just trying to be in both places and give my all' IndyStar Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins also had a big second half, scoring 13 of his game-high 24 points to lead the Indiana All-Stars its 44th victory in the past 51 games in the series. Indiana leads the all-time series, which dates to 1940, by a count of 106-46. Cooper sparked a much-needed run for Indiana. 'He's won a state championship, so he knows how to win,' Indiana All-Stars coach Marc Urban (Chesterton) said of Cooper. 'I thought we made the extra pass on those shots where he was stepping in and shooting wide-open 3s. And he made big-time plays. That's why he's an Indiana All-Star and why he's going to have a really successful career at Wright State.' Indiana had its hands full with Kentucky's highly touted Malachi Moreno, a 7-1 incoming Kentucky freshman who played AAU basketball with Mullins on Indiana Elite. Moreno, who will not play in the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots and played all but 54 seconds. 'I'm usually seeing him in the same uniform as me,' said Mullins, who will leave for UConn on Monday. 'But there's nothing personal. We were going up the court and chatting and laughing like we were doing in AAU. I'm excited to see what he does at Kentucky, but tonight was fun going against him.' Mullins helped spark the second-half run with a transition 3-pointer, though it seemed like every time Indiana would make a move, Kentucky would have a counter. Vince Dawson, a Morehead State recruit who finished with 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line, drilled a 3 put Kentucky up eight with 11 minutes left. When Jeffersonville's 6-9 Tre Singleton picked up his fourth foul with 10:26 left, it brought back memories of Mr. Basketball Flory Bidunga fouling out on a technical foul in last year's loss at Kentucky. But Indiana got hot at the right time. 'We had a brutal loss on Wednesday night (against the Junior All-Stars),' Mullins said of the 117-114 loss on his home floor at Greenfield-Central. 'But that run we had at the end of the game just sparked the bench, the players and coaches. We needed that. We made that run and we weren't looking back.' Cooper finished with 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line. Singleton, his teammate on the Jeffersonville Class 4A state champions, went for 14 points and four rebounds, but was limited to 24 minutes because of foul trouble. His bucket with 3 minutes left pushed Indiana's lead to 86-80 and Kentucky never got any closer. Ben Davis' Zackery added 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Fishers' Justin Kirby had nine points and four rebounds and the Butler-bound Robinson had eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Mullins finished 10-for-18 from the floor and had six rebounds and two assists. 'He's incredibly talented, as a high IQ and he's a great kid,' Urban said of Mullins. 'It's been fun to get to know him. I know he was frustrated missing those first couple but he just kept sticking with it and that one he hit in transition was big. He made Mr. Basketball plays. He demands so much attention and he opens things up for other people, but he's still able to be efficient.' Indiana played without Cathedral's Brady Koehler. The Notre Dame recruit was on the bench but not in uniform. It was the first win in Kentucky since 2022 for Indiana, which lost 94-90 in Owensboro two years ago and 103-82 in Lexington last year. 'There's nowhere else you'd rather do it than Gainbridge Fieldhouse,' Mullins said. 'They are going to have a little bit different team without Malachi playing but we're not going to take anything for granted. We're going to come out and play like we did tonight and I think we'll be good tomorrow.'
Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana All-Stars and softball semistate? 'Just trying to be in both places and give my all'
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jacklynn Hosier is pulling the Deion Sanders-like double this week. Hosier played in the Indiana All-Stars basketball team's 84-73 loss to the Kentucky at Lexington Catholic High School on Friday night, then drove home with her parents (her father, Mickey, was an Indiana All-Star in 1996), to prepare for Alexandria's Class 2A softball semistate game on Saturday morning at Kokomo. If Alexandria wins that softball game against Andrean, she is going to try to make it back in time for the Tigers semistate championship Saturday night in Kokomo. That would be after the Indiana All-Stars play the rematch game against Kentucky at 5 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana All-Stars girls history: Which schools have most? Players list by school 'I'm going to need like a police escort to get back to the game at 7 when we win,' Hosier said. 'I have confidence. It's going to be busy, but it's fun. I'm just appreciating it and making the most of it.' Hosier, a Vermont basketball recruit, plays shortstop for the Alexandria softball team, which won the regional for the first time in the program's history. She made a deal — and put it writing — with softball coach Jared Bourf, the basketball assistant, that she would play softball this season. She did not play last year because of her AAU basketball spring season. 'Even though softball is not really my sport, I just want to be there for my team,' Hosier said. 'I want to help them in any way that I can. And I want to be here for this team, too, because not many people get this opportunity with the All-Stars, so I'm really grateful for it. I'm just trying to be in both places and give my all with softball and basketball.' It might help her cause of she could use a helicopter to get to Kokomo like Deion Sanders did in 1992 to get from his NFL game with the Atlanta Falcons to a Cincinnati Reds' playoff baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Tuesday, she practiced with the Indiana All-Stars at Marian University, then played with her softball team's 18-3 win over Lapel in the regional at Lapel. She celebrated with her team, riding the firetruck through town, then returned to Marian around midnight. All she has had to miss so far is about 30 minutes of basketball practice, though she will miss walkthrough on Saturday for the softball game. 'My dad just told me to enjoy it,' said Hosier, who played for her dad in high school. 'It goes by fast, and you aren't going to experience anything like it. It's been super fun. The girls have been so fun to hang around with, even we are just eating or playing cards or whatever. It's been really fun.' The Indiana All-Stars will be looking to split the series with Kentucky in Saturday's return game after a frustrating loss on Friday night. Indiana gave up 26 offense rebounds to Kentucky, which was led by 28 points and 11 rebounds from Miss Basketball and LSU recruit ZaKiyah Johnson. The Indiana All-Stars trailed 73-57 with 5 minutes remaining before rallying with 3-pointers from Monique Mitchell, Addison Baxter and Jaylah Lampley to cut the Kentucky All-Stars' lead to 73-68 with 3:35 left. Another basket by South Bend Washington's Mitchell got Indiana within 75-72 with 1:53 to play. But that would be as close as Indiana would get. A three-point play by Louisville recruit Peyton Bradley, who burned the All-Stars for 21 points, sealed the deal. 'I definitely think homecourt advantage is a huge thing, especially with Kentucky and Indiana,' said IndyStar Miss Basketball Maya Makalusky of Hamilton Southeastern, who finished with a team-high 18 points. 'I think we should have been more prepared for that, knowing they are going to get every call, and the refs are going to be on their side. Our energy, too, whether the calls are going against us or not, is going to be important. And rebounding is a huge thing. They had way too many offensive rebounds.' Kentucky was 17-for-27 from the free-throw line, while Indiana was 7-for-9. Columbia City's Baxter added 10 points and six assists, Lawrence Central's Laila Abdurraqib had 10 points and Mitchell finished with 12 points and five rebounds. The all-time series is now 55-42 in favor of Indiana. Kentucky will be going for its first sweep since 2012. 'I think most important (Saturday) is just coming out and having fun and having that energy,' Makalusky said. 'Coming into this, we were the underdog. If we get better rebounding, tomorrow will be our game.'
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana All-Stars: Assessing juniors' effort, Luke Ertel shines again, 6 more who impressed
Thoughts, observations and analysis of Indiana All-Stars week as the attention turns to the rivalry games vs. the Kentucky All-Stars on Friday and Saturday. By the way, I'm still calling this 'Fourth and Long' even if all the topics this week are basketball: There are corners of the high school basketball Internet where the modus operandi seems to be complaining about how things used to be better than they are now … all the time. Nostalgia is a tricky thing. We tend to romanticize the past and forget the bad stuff. I do it. We all do. One thing I hear often in relation to the Indiana All-Stars is that 'people don't care anymore.' Or 'players don't care like they used to.' And I'm not here to tell you fans are going to pack Gainbridge Fieldhouse to the rafters for the Indiana All-Stars vs. Kentucky like they use to fill Market Square Arena or Freedom Hall like the good ol' days. We are not living in that world anymore. Indiana All-Stars boys history: Which schools have most? Players list by school But anyone who walked away after watching Wednesday night's Indiana All-Stars vs. the Juniors game would be lying if they said it looked like the result did not matter to the players. Sure, maybe some more than others. But the best players, and you can certainly put Junior All-Stars Luke Ertel (Mt. Vernon) and Dikembe Shaw (Crown Point) in that group, were battling to the finish in the Juniors' 117-114 victory. There were 40 fouls called. One technical. Basically, the opposite of the NBA All-Star game. 'That was a competitive, physical game,' said All-Stars coach Marc Urban (Chesterton). 'The juniors and the seniors, I felt like both teams really competed. The juniors gave us as good of a look as they possibly could. It will give us something to watch and hopefully we'll play a little bit harder and have a little bit more fight and find a way to get a win down there at Kentucky.' What else can you say about Luke Ertel? The Mt. Vernon guard scored 35 points (I received a message Thursday that the box score from last night, which had him with 36, was incorrect). But the Purdue recruit still broke the record for a Junior All-Star in the game vs. the seniors, which was previous held by Greg Oden and Eric Gordon. Pretty good company, huh? Ertel went for 35 points on just 13 field-goal attempts. He was 5-for-7 from the 3-point line and connected on all 14 of his free-throw attempts. Ertel also had nine rebounds, four assists and two steals and had just three of the team's 19 turnovers despite handling the ball the bulk of the game. This was after his 36-point, 13-assist, nine-rebound game in the Junior All-Stars win over the Kentucky Juniors on Sunday at Charlestown. I got a chuckle out of Crown Point's Shaw, who plays with Ertel with Indiana Elite, talking about how the point guard would go all-out even if he was 'going against first graders.' That pretty much sums it up. I don't think the effort is so much who he is playing against or bragging rights, necessarily. Ertel just loves to play. He is competitive and wants to win, regardless of the opponent. I know a lot of people want to compare him to Braden Smith, which I completely understand with both being Purdue point guards from local high schools. Smith, the 2022 Mr. Basketball out of Westfield, was an incredible passer even early in high school and obviously could shoot the lights out. He was maybe a little more bouncy than the lefty Ertel, who is great using angles and seeing plays develop before the rest of us. The common trait: They are both killer competitors. I'm not sure anyone can top Smith's ability to find every shred of motivation possible to get himself going. But Ertel is at least on the same branch of the family tree in that regard. I would guard against putting too much pressure on Ertel to be 'the next Smith.' Keep in mind Braden Smith is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, after all. But Purdue fans should be excited. This is the non-Luke Ertel category, FYI. ∎ Dikembe Shaw, Crown Point: The 6-7 Shaw was outstanding in the Juniors' victory over the Indiana All-Stars, going for 24 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the 3-point line. He took just nine shots. Shaw fouled out with about seven minutes left in the game and the Juniors down by seven. His recruitment will be interesting. He has offers from Indiana State, IU Indy, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo, but there are high-major programs like DePaul, Indiana, Northwestern and Purdue interested. ∎ Kai McGrew, Fishers: The 6-9 McGrew, who transferred from Lawrence North to Fishers for his senior year, is always making plays around the basket — on offense and defense. He had a big blocked shot of Tre Singleton in the final seconds on what could have been the go-ahead basket. He also scored the go-ahead basket on the previous possession on an alley-oop from Terrence Hayes Jr. of Gary 21st Century with an athletic play that he made look easier than it was. McGrew is more than a post player. He can step out and shoot (1-for-2 from 3) and makes free throws. McGrew finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. ∎ Brennan Miller, Lawrence North: The 6-9 Miller did most of his damage in the second half, finishing with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists. Miller was on the court during the finishing flurry, making a basket to bring the Junior All-Stars within one point in the final minute and making two clutch free throws to put his team up three. ∎ Justin Curry, Noblesville: The 6-3 Curry made a pair of 3s early in the game and finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists. He was 3-for-5 from the 3-point line for the night. ∎ Noah Smith, Plainfield: I thought the 6-8 Smith played really well and was a little surprised he was not out there a little more, though in these all-star games it can be tough to manage all the minutes. Smith finished 4-for-5 from the field, missing his only 3-point attempt, to put up eight points and three rebounds. ∎ Terrence Hayes Jr., Gary 21st Century: The 6-1 Hayes did not have numbers that blow you away (five points, four rebounds, three assists), but he was on the court down the stretch and making plays His alley-oop lob to McGrew for go-ahead bucket was a little risky, but it was on the mark and worked. Hayes makes things happen. Fort Wayne native and former Purdue guard Rapheal Davis posted a line on social media Tuesday that seemed to pick up a bit of traction and made its way to my texts. Davis wrote this on Twitter: 'Indiana High School Basketball has taken a step back.' Davis, who works as an analyst for the Big Ten Network, played at Fort Wayne South Side and La Lumiere before going to Purdue out of the 2012 graduating class. I'm old enough to have watched him play in high school and, of course, at Purdue, where he was a team leader and outstanding defense player. So, Davis has played at a high level and is certainly entitled to his opinion. That nine-word tweet is vague, though I take it to mean the talent level has fallen off. If that is his opinion, that is his opinion. But I will say this: I don't think we can judge a class on the front end anymore. The scholarship offers from college programs for the 2012 class is an altogether different world from the 2025 class. The transfer portal has changed things dramatically. I look at a player like Junior All-Star Dikembe Shaw of Crown Point (6-7, can shoot from the perimeter) and wonder how many offers he would have if this was 6, 7, 10 years ago. There is no way to know, of course, but my guess is he would have more than Indiana State, IU Indy, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. I think Jeffersonville's Michael Cooper, a Wright State commit, is a high-major guard. These are anecdotal opinions but a better assessment of the 2025 class as a whole will come in four or five years, when we see how these players progress in college and, potentially, use the transfer portal to work their way up. Saying 'the 2012 class had X number of high-major recruits compared to the 2025 class' is apples and oranges coming out of high school now. Check back in four or five years.
