Six Hamilton County basketball players received First Team Academic All-State honors from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association on Wednesday.
Guerin Catholic’s Jack Hansen and Zach Munson, and Fishers’ Jeremy Szilagyi were honored among the boys, while Hamilton Heights’ Kayla Kirtley, Noblesville’s Emily Kiser and Carmel’s Tomi Taiwo received that award for the girls. In addition, many other boys and girls players were named to the Honorable Mention list.
The IBCA Academic All-State team is a program where academic prowess and athletic prowess both are considered in the selections. Items such as grade-point average, college board scores and academic class rank are considered along with athletic performance in areas such as points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game.
“The quality of these student-athletes shows that success in academics and success in athletics are not separate entities,” Witty said. “Rather, in many cases, a player’s success in the classroom directly contributes to his or her success on the floor.”
IBCA-member head coaches from schools across the state may nominate their seniors who meet criteria that include a 3.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale, a class rank in the upper 25 percent of one’s class, an SAT score of 1,100 (on the reading and math sections) or an ACT score of 24.
Once nominations are received, an IBCA committee reviews the information and determines awards for First Team and Honorable Mention.
Those selected will receive certificates from the IBCA for their honor. Those certificates will be distributed to coaches at the IBCA Spring Clinic on April 20-21 in Indianapolis. The coaches then present the certificates to the honored players after they return from the clinic.
The IBCA has selected an Academic All-State team for boys since 1973. The program was expanded to include a girls’ Academic All-State team in 1980.
Here’s a list of Hamilton County honorees:
BOYS FIRST TEAM
Jack Hansen, Guerin Catholic
Zach Munson, Guerin Catholic
Jeremy Szilagyi, Fishers
BOYS HONORABLE MENTION
Max Beale, Hamilton Heights
Nick Bowman, Hamilton Southeastern
Foster Flamion, University
Clay Hepp, Guerin Catholic
Zack Hodgin, University
David Howard, University
Dawson Phifer, Hamilton Heights
Drew Thieme, Guerin Catholic
Josh Van Dyke, Westfield
Josh Watson, University
Jalen Whack, Carmel
GIRLS FIRST TEAM
Kayla Kirtley, Hamilton Heights
Emily Kiser, Noblesville
Tomi Taiwo, Carmel
GIRLS HONORABLE MENTION
Lauren Emmerson, Fishers
Sophia Fernandez, Guerin Catholic
Alexandra Foerder, Guerin Catholic
Ali Gerka, Fishers
Grace Hackett, Guerin Catholic
Carly Hammons, Guerin Catholic
Sophia Kreag, Westfield
Danielle Mason, Guerin Catholic
Audrey Reed, Sheridan
Megan Rops, Westfield
Casey Walker, Fishers
Nixon Williams, Sheridan