The lineup for the Indiana High School Boys All-Star Basketball team is set to go for it’s 2017 matchups. The lineup features the four Indiana Mr. Basketball finalists including North Central’s UCLA commit Kris Wilkes. The other finalists are Butler commit Cooper Neese from Cloverdale, Iowa commit Jack Nunge from Castle, and Louisville commit Malik Williams from Fort Wayne Snider.
This group will first have exhibition games against the Junior All-Star team on June 6 and 8, followed by two games against the Kentucky All-Star team. One will be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on June 10 followed by another at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky the next day.
The team’s lineup will have strong scoring power as the average points per game per player for the team is 22 points. This lineup also has a lot of height compared to past teams in general, with an average height of 6’5” per player.
In recent history, Indiana has been able to dominate the rivalry; winning the past 15 games and 23 out of the last 24. Overall, Indiana leads Kentucky 94-42 since the games started around 1950.
2017 ROSTER
- Kris Wilkes- 22.1 ppg, North Central, UCLA
- Cooper Neese- 27.2 ppg, Cloverdale, Butler
- Jack Nunge- 22.8 ppg, Castle, Iowa
- Malik Williams- 21.5 ppg, Fort Wayne Snider, Louisville
- Jaylen Butz- 17.2 ppg, Fort Wayne North Side, DePaul
- Jermaine Couisnard- 28.0 ppg, East Chicago Central, undecided
- Michael Ertel- 19.8 ppg, Mt. Vernon, Louisiana Monroe
- Zach Gunn- 21.2 ppg, Hamilton Southeastern, Ball State
- Kyle Mangas- 22.6 ppg, Warsaw, Indiana Wesleyan
- Jaylen Minnett- 26 ppg, Terre Haute South, IUPUI
- Grant Smith- 18.9 ppg, Connersville, Indiana Wesleyan
- Mack Smith- 19.5 ppg, Warren, Eastern Illinois
- Sasha Stefanovic- 19.9 ppg, Crown Point, Purdue
Fort Wayne Carroll head coach Marty Beasley is the head coach of the team, and is a great fit for the job. The former District 1 Coach of the year has coached for eighteen years in Indiana, posting an overall record of 246-172.
Although this roster is loaded with talent, there are a lot of players who we feel were left out. Some of these players include Emmanuel Little, Mateo Rivera, both from North Central, who helped lead the Panthers to a 23-5 record. Nike Sibande, who led Crispus Attucks to a state championship averaging 22 points and seven rebounds per game shooting over 41 percent from the three-point line.
Another possible All-Star could have been Courvoisier McCauley from Manual High School who averaged almost 27 points and six rebounds per game. Overall, while there are many players who could have made the team this year, but nonetheless, the roster is still stacked and should compete well in the upcoming games.
