Eighteen players have been selected for the IndyStar Indiana boys Junior All-Stars for 2023, All-Stars games director Mike Broughton announced Friday (March 31).
Those selected to the six-player Core Group are Jack Benter of Brownstown Central, Flory Bidunga of Kokomo, Kanon Catchings of Brownsburg, Micah Davis of Franklin Community, Tyler Parrish of Chesterton and K.J. Windham of Ben Davis.
In addition to the core group, six players each were voted to squads labeled Red Group and Blue Group.
The Red Group players are Sabien Cain of University, Camron Casky of Pike, Josiah Dunham of Evansville Christian, Taray Howell of Evansville Bosse, Ron Rutland III of Indianapolis Attucks and Justin Sims of Chesterton.
The Blue Group players are Isaac Andrews of Wapahani, Trey Buchanan of Westfield, Aaron Fine of Noblesville, Brauntae Johnson of Fort Wayne North, Jaelyn Johnson of Portage and Jevon Lewis Jr. of Fort Wayne Wayne.
Aaron Wolfe of Class 3A state champion NorthWood will be head coach for the 2023 boys' Junior All-Stars. He will be assisted by J.B. Neill of Bloomfield. Both coaches were voted IBCA district Coaches of the Year.
Wolfe is 281-110 in 16 seasons at NorthWood, including a 28-2 record this past season. He previously was an assistant coach for the 2016 Indiana All-Stars. Neill has a 208-115 ledger in 13 seasons as a boys’ varsity head coach. That total includes a 24-4 finish this past season and a 74-30 aggregate in four seasons at Bloomfield. He also went 75-54 in six seasons as the girls' head coach at Eastern Greene.
The Junior All-Stars will play one game against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday, June 4 at Jeffersonville High School. The Junior All-Stars also will play one game against the Indiana All-Star senior girls on Wednesday, June 7 at a site to be announced. Both games will be doubleheaders with the 2023 Indiana girls' Junior All-Stars, whose rosters were announced on March 8.
The boys Junior All-Star head coach will be Zach Newby of Class 2A state runner-up Lapel. He will be assisted by Brodie Garber of Class 3A state champion Fairfield. Newby has led Lapel to an 82-42 record in five seasons, including a 22-8 finish in 2022-23. Garber is 180-89 in 11 seasons at Fairfield, including a 28-2 record this past season. Both coaches also were 2023 IBCA district Coaches of the Year.
The boys' players listed as Core Group players each will play in two games. The players listed in the Red and Blue groups each will play in one game, the Red Group on June 4 against the Kentucky Juniors and the Blue Group on June 7 against the Indiana Seniors.
The Indiana senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 9 at the Owensboro Sportscenter in Owensboro, Ky. The Indiana senior All-Stars will play Kentucky's seniors again on June 10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The June 10 date also will include the inaugural IndyStar Indiana All-Star "Futures Games." The Futures Games will be a girls-boys doubleheader at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Indiana-only squads of juniors, sophomores and freshmen in a North vs. South format. The girls' Futures Games rosters were announced on Feb. 16. The boys' Futures Games rosters were announced on March 21.
The 2023 Indiana boys' 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 all-state committee reviewed and voted on players for the 2023 IBCA/Franciscan Health boys' All-State teams that were released March 22.
The 20 all-state committee members also provided input to a six-person IBCA subcommittee appointed by IBCA executive director Marty Johnson and chaired by Brandon Bradley of Kankakee Valley. Bradley, Broughton plus coaches Don Carlisle of Ben Davis, Mark Rohrer of Gibson Southern, Marc Urban of Chesterton and all-state committee chairman David Wood, former coach at West Lafayette, finalized the selections for the 2023 boys' Junior 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 have been 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 2021, just 12 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars.
In games from 1996 through 2022 (with no games in 2020 because of COVID-19), the Indiana Senior girls lead the Indiana Junior girls 41-10 and the Indiana Senior boys lead the Indiana Junior boys 41-10. In five years of games against the Kentucky Juniors, the Indiana Junior girls lead 10-1 and the Indiana Junior boys lead 7-4. Games against the Kentucky Juniors previously have been played in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2022.
A list of those chosen as 2023 boys' Junior All-Stars follows.
2023 IndyStar Indiana Boys Junior All-Stars
BOYS CORE GROUP (playing on June 4 and June 7)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Jack Benter, 6-5, G, 28.7, Brownstown Central, Purdue
Flory Bidunga, 6-10, F, 20.2, Kokomo, undecided
Kanon Catchings, 6-8, F, 17.5, Brownsburg, Purdue
Micah Davis, 6-2, G, 17.3, Franklin Community, undecided
Tyler Parrish, 6-3, G, 20.7, Chesterton, undecided
K.J. Windham, 6-3, G, 8.6, Ben Davis, undecided
BOYS RED GROUP (playing on June 4 vs. Kentucky Juniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Sabien Cain, 6-3, G, 20.4, University, undecided
Camron Casky, 6-4, G, 13.8, Pike, undecided
Josiah Dunham, 6-1, G, 24.6, Evansville Christian, undecided
Taray Howell, 5-8, G, 23.2, Evansville Bosse, undecided
Ron Rutland III, 6-2, G, 18.0, Indianapolis Attucks, undecided
Justin Sims, 6-6, F, 16.5, Chesterton, undecided
BOYS BLUE GROUP (playing on June 7 vs. Indiana Seniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Isaac Andrews, 6-1, G, 18.1, Wapahani, undecided
Trey Buchanan, 6-0, G, 14.3, Westfield, undecided
Aaron Fine, 6-3, G, 13.8, Noblesville, undecided
Brauntae Johnson, 6-4, G, 20.8, Fort Wayne North, undecided
Jaelyn Johnson, 6-7, F, 10.7, Portage, undecided
Jevon Lewis Jr., 5-10, G, 16.6, Fort Wayne Wayne, undecided
2023 IndyStar Indiana All-Star key dates
Sunday, June 4 — Indiana Juniors vs. Kentucky Juniors at Jeffersonville (2315 Allison Ln. Jeffersonville, IN 47130) — girls, 2:00 p.m.; boys, to follow; admission, $10 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Wednesday, June 7 — Junior-Senior All-Star game at TBA (address TBA) — girls, 6:00 p.m.; boys, to follow; admission, $10 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Friday, June 9 — Indiana at Owensboro Sportscenter (1215 Hickman Ave., Owensboro, KY 42301) — girls, 5:30 p.m. CDT (6:30 p.m. EDT); boys, to follow, about 7:30 p.m. CDT (8:30 p.m. EDT). Ticket information, TBA.
Saturday, June 10 — Futures Games and Indiana vs. Kentucky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (125 S. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) — Futures Games, girls, noon; boys, 2:00 p.m.; Senior girls, 5:00 p.m.; Senior boys, to follow (about 7:30 p.m.).
Tickets go on sale on April 15.
