Three Hamilton County players are among the 12 that have been selected for the IndyStar Indiana boys Junior All-Stars for 2021, Indiana All-Star games director Mike Broughton announced Tuesday morning.
For this year, the Juniors All-Stars will play just one game — June 9 against the Indiana senior All-Stars at a site to be determined. Thus, a single group of 12 players has been selected for this year’s Junior All-Stars.
Carmel’s Peter Suder and Charlie Williams and Westfield’s Braden Smith are the three local players selected to the team. The others, listed alphabetically, are Tayshawn Comer of Cathedral, Tae Davis of Warren Central, C.J. Gunn of Lawrence North, Jalen Jackson of Carroll (Fort Wayne), Will Lovings-Watts of Jeffersonville, Fletcher Loyer of Homestead, Branden Northern of Silver Creek, Leland Walker of North Central and Jalen Washington of Gary West.
Chad Johnston of South Bend Adams will be the head coach of the 2021 boys Junior All-Stars. He will be assisted by Josh Thompson of Barr-Reeve.
The game on June 9 against the Indiana senior All-Stars will be a doubleheader with boys and girls. The Indiana All-Star senior boys team will be chosen in April. The Indiana junior girls team and the Indiana senior girls team were announced earlier in March.
The Indiana senior All-Stars, also girl-boy doubleheaders, will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 11 at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky. The Indiana senior All-Stars will play Kentucky’s seniors again on June 12 at Southport Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The senior game in Indianapolis has been moved to Southport for 2021 because Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be undergoing renovations and not be available in June.
The Junior All-Star team was selected through a process that allows all IBCA-member head coaches to nominate players through the IBCA all-state process. The IBCA 20-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association boys’ all-state committee reviewed and voted on players for the 2021 IBCA/Franciscan Health boys’ All-State teams that were released last Wednesday.
The 20 all-state committee members also provided input to a four-person IBCA subcommittee appointed by IBCA executive director Steve Witty. The subcommittee of chairman Brandon Bradley, Broughton, All-Star junior coordinator Beth DeVinney and boys’ all-state committee chairman David Wood of West Lafayette finalized the selections for the 2021 Junior boys All-Stars.
The Indiana Junior All-Star program was founded in 1996 by former Indiana All-Star games director Patrick Aikman. In most years, 18 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In five years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019), 24 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars.
In 2020, 18 players were selected to the Juniors All-Stars but games against the Kentucky Juniors and the Indiana Seniors both were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, because of just one game involving the Juniors, is the first time that just 12 players are being selected to the Junior All-Stars.
Over 24 years of games, from 1996 through 2019, the Indiana Senior girls lead the Indiana Junior girls 39-10 and the Indiana Senior boys lead the Indiana Junior boys 39-10. In five years of games against the Kentucky Juniors, the Indiana Junior girls lead 9-1 and the Indiana Junior boys lead 6-4. Games against the Kentucky Juniors were played in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019.