Carmel’s Brian Waddell is among the 14 players that have been selected for the 2021 IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars, All-Stars game director Mike Broughton announced Monday.
Those chosen to the team will play three games in June — one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.
Waddell, a 6-foot-7 guard, was one of the key players for the Greyhounds during their run to the Class 4A state championship, which they won on April 3. Waddell averaged 15.8 points per game during his senior season.
Caleb Furst of Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian was named winner of the Indiana Mr. Basketball award on Friday. Furst and Waddell will be joined by 12 other players on the 2021 Indiana Boys All-Star team. The remaining players, listed alphabetically, are Shamar Avance of Lawrence North, Brooks Barnhizer of Lafayette Jeff, Jalen Blackmon of Marion, Luke Brown of Blackford, Luke Goode of Homestead, Kooper Jacobi of Silver Creek, Trey Kaufman-Renn of Silver Creek, J.R. Konieczny of South Bend St. Joseph, Blake Sisley of Heritage Hills, Jayden Taylor of Perry Meridian, Pierce Thomas of Brownsburg and Blake Wesley of South Bend Riley.
The coaches for the 2021 All-Stars will be the same staff that was to guide the All-Stars a year ago, as the 2020 All-Star events were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The head coach will be Ryan Osborn of Carmel. He will be assisted by Mark Detweiler of Delta and Nate Hawkins of Heritage Hills.
The 2021 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball, Jayla Smith of Lawrence North, and the rest of Girls All-Star team were announced last month. Fishers’ Katie Burton is among the players selected.
The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 9 at Brownsburg High School. The first game against Kentucky will be June 11 at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky. The final game against Kentucky will be June 12 at Southport Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The games in Indianapolis are at Southport because Bankers Life Fieldhouse is unavailable this summer because of another phase of renovations that will be occurring there.
All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana Girls All-Stars.
The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play just one game this year — June 9 against the seniors. There are no Junior All-Star games against Kentucky this year.
The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana Boys All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls’ portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996. The All-Star senior boys have played Kentucky in all but three years since 1940 — 1943 (World War II), 1944 (World War II) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). The All-Star senior girls have played Kentucky every year since 1976, except 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic).
The Indiana portion of the All-Star Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is a title sponsor.
Mr. Basketball is selected through a balloting process of coaches and media overseen by game organizers from the IBCA. The remainder of the team is finalized by Broughton after observing numerous games and events throughout the season, conferring with coaches, school officials and media across the state. Broughton also reviews votes submitted by coaches and media who each could recommend up to 10 players.