Four county players named IBCA Academic All-State

The REPORTER

Four Hamilton County basketball players are among the 81 Indiana high school seniors — 41 boys and 40 girls — have been chosen as first-team Academic All-State for 2025 by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Monday.

Two county boys and two county girls were named as Academic All-State. They are Guerin Catholic’s Ava Bills and Bryson Cardinal, Noblesville’s Meredith Tippner and Sheridan’s Caleb Wright.

In addition, 197 more boys and 218 more girls were recognized as honorable mention Academic All-State for 2025, IBCA executive director Marty Johnson said. In total, 496 players received some level of recognition in this year’s IBCA Academic All-State program.

Local Honorable Mention players are as follows:

Boys – Nathan Baker, Fishers; Luke Davis, Noblesville; JonAnthony Hall, Fishers; Will Harvey, Westfield; Max McComb, University; Max Miller, Noblesville; Durante Morton, Westfield; Ryne Paris, Guerin Catholic; Rylan Rauch, Westfield; Jack Toles, Guerin Catholic; Ryan Vetor, Noblesville; Dayne Voege, Sheridan.

Girls – Kayla Brinley, Hamilton Southeastern; Olivia Brookshire, Fishers; Abigail Brown, Hamilton Southeastern; Madi Cain, Guerin Catholic; Abigail Clayton, Hamilton Southeastern; Mia Crask, Westfield; Nevaeh Dickman, Fishers; Shelby Eaton, Sheridan; Brookelyn Grayson, Noblesville; Reagan Haines, Guerin Catholic; Megan Hamilton, Westfield; Maine Hooks, Hamilton Southeastern; Madi Linville, Westfield; Annie Murphy, Guerin Catholic; Lauren Perry, Carmel; Allison Scheu, Fishers; Mac Smith, Sheridan; Cecilia Timme, Sheridan; Lindsey Van Dyke, Westfield; Addison Van Hoesen, Hamilton Southeastern;  Mackenzie Woods, Carmel.

The IBCA Academic All-State program is one where academic prowess and athletic prowess both are considered in the selections. Items such as grade-point average, academic class rank and SAT or ACT scores 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,” Johnson 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 senior student-athletes who meet criteria that include a 3.50 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale, a class rank in the upper 25 percent of one’s class and either an SAT score of 1100 (on the reading and math sections) or an ACT composite score of 24. Once nominations were received, an IBCA committee reviewed the information and determined awards for first team and honorable mention.

Those selected will receive certificates from the IBCA for their honor. Plans are for certificates to be distributed in PDF form to coaches via e-mail during April for the coach to print. The coach then may present the certificate to each honored player sometime before the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year.