By RICHIE HALL
Hamilton Southeastern welcomed back one of its all-time great basketball players Friday night and presented him with a big honor as well.
Zak Irvin, a 2013 Southeastern graduate, was inducted into the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame. Irvin had a tremendous career for the Royals, which culminated in 2013 with him being named Indiana Mr. Basketball, Indiana Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year and a Parade Magazine All-American.
Irvin was joined by his family and friends, as well as former HSE teammate Gary Harris, the 2012 Mr. Basketball. While Irvin comes back to Southeastern in the summer and work out, he said it was his first time coming back to a Royals game since his senior year 11 years ago.
“Walking these halls definitely brings back memories whenever I come back,” said Irvin. “I had a lot of great experiences here, so it was nice to be able to come back.”
Irvin finished his career with 1,239 points, an average of 18.8 points per game. His other career totals are 402 rebounds, 164 assists and 105 steals. He was named to the All-County team in 2011-12-13 and was All-Hoosier Crossroads Conference in 2012-13.
Harris and Irvin winning Mr. Basketball is the only time in the 85-year history of Indiana’s highest high school honor that two players from the same school won the award in back-to-back years.
“We were just two kids that worked hard and were able to make the most of our opportunities but shout out for HSE for putting us in position,” said Irvin. He also credited his teammates for helping him as well – “one of the reasons why I’m here,” he said.
Irvin went on to play four years at the University of Michigan, where he won numerous honors as well. He won the school’s Bill Buntin MVP Award during his sophomore year, crossed the 1,000-point threshold as a junior and was a co-captain his senior year when the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship and made the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
After graduating from Michigan, Irvin has played professionally around the world, making stops in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan. He has played on NBA Summer Teams for the Miami Heat and New York Knicks, and NBA G League teams the Westchester Knicks and the Grand Rapids Gold, a Denver Nuggets affiliate, the team on which he is currently playing.
“I’m still hooping, still loving the game of basketball, and just seeing it taking me all over the world, which I’m grateful for,” said Irvin.