In this edition of our 6 Pack of Questions we’ll take a look at the Prep Hoops Freshman Showcase and review some names from the event on Sept. 6 in Noblesville. It was a good event and alot of incoming freshmen are ready to reload the state with talent. Also, is 2A the best and most interesting that it’s been in years with 4 really strong teams and another 4 or 5 that could pull the upset and compete on a given night? There’s also a good amount of individual talent coming out of 2A this year. Every year a team or 2 comes out of nowhere and really surprises us and competes at a high level; who are some candidates to be surprise teams this year? Also, I posted a question of the Facebook Basketball Fans site about whether or not you think a non- 4A team would have won a state title since the inception of class basketball in 1998. We’ll go through some responses and possible answers. Who will be the big stock risers of the 2028 class? Going into junior year is when alot of players make their biggest jumps and really start making noise for their teams. And finally, what programs that have recently had some ‘down’ years are possibly on the verge of turning things around this season? Let’s go ahead and take a look @ the September edition of our 6 Pack of Questions.
Who were the standouts @ the Prep Hoops Freshman Showcase?
The Prep Hoops Freshman Showcase took place on the Sunday, the 5th. I got a good chance to see alot of incoming 2030s @ the Charlie Hughes but this was a place to see all the best go against each other. There will be a Top 30 for ’30 coming out later this week. Some of the names at the event were BNL’s Colt Robbins, LN’s Levin Robinson, Attucks’s Tomarri Patterson, SB St. Joe’s Markiss Northern, the Merrillville trio of James Walton, Nasir Faniel, and Peyton Thomas and many more. All those names showed promise and had some moments on Sunday. A few players that will make a varsity impact this season are North Daviess point guard Finn Cole, who should be a starter Day 1 for the Cougars and new coach Dusty Cole. Another Day 1 starter should be Charlestown’s Caleb Odle who showed he can be a knock down shooter over the summer for rebuilding Pirates squad. Warsaw’s scoring guard Liam Kitch is in line to be the Tigers first freshman starter since Nic Moore. Kitch had to be one of the event’s leading overall scorers. 6’5 Owen Sullivan will do some really good things for Paoli sooner rather than later. He’ll step into a starting role on a 2A team with some already established upper classmen. All eyes in the gym were on Lawrence North’s Levin Robinson when he was on the floor. I’ve said in a previous 6 Pack of Questions he is one of the top prospects already in the state and I saw nothing to change my mind on Sunday. He was handling the ball, hitting the 3 point shot, and dunking the ball any chance he got. When at an event you always question the height- list, but Lev may have legit been the tallest kid at the camp. The Wildcats will most likely be led in scoring by Jr. Chandon Gilbert but they’ll be some games by January or February that Robinson puts up some really good offensive numbers. I think any national ranking that does not include Levin in at least their top 15 is way off.
Is Class 2A the most interesting and deepest it’s been in years?
Depending on who you ask 2A is as good and competitive as any class this year. At the top it’s an especially strong year with teams that will be highly regarded in our upcoming preseason Top 50. Last year’s championship game was the best one in Indy with Parke Heritage and Westview going down to the wire. Westview returns as one of 2A’s best teams with Indiana All Star candidate, Austin Schlabach and a bunch of Yoder’s. Oak Hill had a really strong summer after returning all but one of their leading scorers. The Tonagel brothers and Jayden Younce should put the Golden Eagles firmly in the top 20 if not top 15 overall. Westview is the 2A North defending champs who return a good majority of their roster from last year. There won’t be many games where Blackford’s Amarian Leggett won’t be the best player on the floor. Down south there’s a team in Indy that some may not know much about but Indy Scecina is in store for a really good year with juniors Jaylin Foster and Ian Collins. As you go even deeper south a young group of Eagles from Austin are back after making the semi state last year with the state’s #1 ranked sophomore in Micah Mohler. Other teams that will have a shot at making it to Indy and making 2A so deep are Bremen, Gary Lighthouse, Jimtown, Eastern Green, University, Brownstown, and South Ripley. So in terms of most competitive and interesting I’d say they can make a good argument this is as good as 2A has been in a while.
Who are some real deep sleeper teams this year?
I’m not sure the state really knows how good Brebeuf is going to be this year in 3A. Certainly those that saw them play @ Charlie Hughes and go 4-0 against Ben Davis, Austin, Columbus North, and Kokomo have a pretty good idea. Their leading returning scorer is Sr. Chace Ford at 12.9 ppg. but they’ve got a good overall senior class where any number of guys could lead them in scoring on a given night. You’ll see later on in my Top 50 how much I think of them. Let me go deep in the bag for this next team that may surprise some people. The Waldron Mohawks are poised to have one of their best season’s since their state title in 2004. All but one of their rotation and notable scorers return this year. Hauser has owned Sectional 59 recently but there may be a changing of the guard this year with Waldron have 3 kids listed at 6’4 and are still underclassmen. Lastly I’m going to a bigger school way up north that has had regular season success, but have been overshadowed by Crown Point and Chesterton in the Region. The Portage Indians have won 1 sectional this century two years ago and went 19-5 last year not losing until the month of February. I think they can really challenge Chesterton if not have a 50/50 shot at winning Sectional 2. The Indians didn’t lose anyone from last year and return the Kobe bros.
In the last 30 years of class basketball would any non- 4A team won the state championship?
There’s no right or wrong answer here because it’s all just hypothetical so we’ll just imagine the possibilities. I posted this question on Facebook’s Indiana HS Basketball Fans group page. The name that came up the most was one of the Zeller-led Washington Hatchet teams. I’m pretty confident they wouldn’t get past Oden and Conley’s LN team when they were juniors in 2005. In 2010 the 3A Hatches would have had to likely go against a nationally ranked Bloomington South team or a Jeffersonville team (who beat Bloom. South in the regional) at the semi state just to get to Indy. In 2011 they would have ran into Dee Davis and Spencer Turner’s Bloomington South squad again at semi state. New Albany was also rated very highly that year in southern Indiana. In my opinion 2008 would have been their best shot with Tyler Zeller (7’0) and Seth McCoy (6’11) but would have had to get through #1 New Albany @ semi state before possibly facing a Brownsburg or Marion team in Indy. If you want to make a case for Westview in 1999 because of giving 4A state champ, North Central all they could handle in the Tournament of Champions then I could see your reasoning. Plainfield and Madison, who met up in the 3A semi state were very good and capable squads that year as well that would have given Westview trouble. Indy Cathedral gave Pike all they could handle in the Tournament of Champions back in 1998 and would have been a regional game in the single class format. I could also see Cathedral giving Mt. Vernon a competitive game last in 2026 and depending on the day could have gotten the better of them. Current 3A Delta made it all the way to the championship game back in 1997 in the last single class tournament and beat some bigger schools (and higher ranked opponents) to get there so you never know. It’s all opinions but fun to discuss.
Who will be some of the Class of 2028 Stock Risers and Breakout players?
This class is really starting to take form going into their junior year and certain players are really starting to develop into good prospects. There’s lots players showing up on our recent Class of ’28 Top 75 that are climbing the charts and some I feel are ready for a breakout junior year for their high school team. Let’s start with a kid that’s quickly shooting up the rankings and that’s North Central’s David Smith. The 6’5 guard has great height and skills for his position whether it’s playing the point or 2-guard. Expect a big jump in production this season after averaging 6.8 ppg last year for the Panthers. Crown Point’s MJ Wilson is the popular choice for breakout player in ’28 because of his potential and the Bulldogs losing alot of pieces from last year’s state runner up. Wilson had a strong AAU season with GPP and led their group in ppg. Another kid who will be expected to step into a bigger role for a successful program is Lawrence North’s Chandon Gilbert. In the summer it looked like Gilbert had progressed into way more than just a “stand on the outside ready to shoot” guy. He looked aggressive going to the basket and finishing against defenders. If LN wants to compete statewide like they normally do, Gilbert will have to be a big reason why. Noblesville lost alot of production off of last year’s team. That means they’ll be room for 6’6 Evan Magsamen to improve on his 3.1 ppg. He played really well when I saw him at the Charlie Hughes will be a sneaky good pickup eventually for an NAIA school. And lastly I’ll go with Silver Creek’s Aiden Makun. The long 6’7 wing will finally get his opportunity to play big minutes after being on a loaded Dragons team last year. I may be a year early on him totally breaking out into a star player but he’ll get lots of playing time and experience this year either as a starter or 6th man.
What programs that had ‘down’ years last season could have the biggest turnarounds?
If you could buy stock in teams for the next 4 or 5 years I think I’m buying in on Bedford NL. They just moved down to 3A after spending 25+ years in a tough Seymour sectional only winning 1 title since the inception of class basketball in 2001. The Stars went 6-17 last year and if they want to double that win total incoming freshman Colt Robbins will have alot to do with it. Robbins may lead the team in ppg this year and looks to be a top 5 or 10 kid statewide. Their middle school programs are really strong right now also. Another 6-17 team that has hope for the future (and now) is the Merrillville Pirates. A big reason for the optimism is because of 3 strong incoming freshmen; Nasir Faniel, Peyton Thomas, and James Walton. Arguably the top class of freshmen in the state is going into a program that really needs it in order to turn things around. The schedule will be hard as usual but if they can double their win total this season look for them to get alot of attention for the next 3 years. A team that was under .500 last year @ 11-12 to probable sectional favorite is the Elkhart Lions. They’ll have to get through traditional powers Warsaw, Goshen, and Northridge but they’ve now got the best player in Sectional 4. If sophomore Kaleb Anderson was in Indy he’d probably be thought of as a top 5 kid in the ’29 class. The Lions have a challenging schedule but they should no doubt improve and be better than last season. Lastly I’ll go with a small school in southern Indiana who went 8-16 last year and have never played in a regional game in their school’s history. There’s hope for the near future for the Crothersville Tigers with incoming sophomore JP Siltz transferring in and a really good middle school group. It will be difficult to get past Trinity Lutheran in Sectional 60 this year but they could potentially have a good 2-3 year run in the near future.
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