The IHSAA baseball and softball state tournaments do not begin until late May.

On Sunday, area teams will learn their postseason draw as pairings shows for both tournaments will air live on IHSAAtv.org.

The 38th Annual IHSAA Girls Softball State Tournament Pairings Show will broadcast at 7 p.m. The show will be hosted online by Greg Rakestraw. Complete pairings will be available at IHSAA.org following the broadcast.

Sectional tournaments across the state will run from May 22-27.

Baseball

At 8 p.m. on IHSAAtv.org, Greg Rakestraw will host the 56th Annual Boys Baseball State Tournament Pairings Show. Complete pairings will be online at IHSAA.org following the broadcast.

Sectional tournaments run from May 24-29.

Eighteen high school student-athletes from across the Hoosier State will serve next school year as members of the 2023-24 IHSAA Student Advisory Committee (SAC).

A South Putnam student is one of the nine juniors who will join nine seniors beginning their second year with the group and will receive hands-on leadership experience through several IHSAA-sponsored events as well as serve as a voice to the IHSAA staff.

Each year, the IHSAA receives nominations from school principals on behalf of student athletes from IHSAA member schools. From that group of nominations, 20 are selected for interviews by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee and returning members of the SAC. From those interviews, nine incoming juniors are invited to join the group of nine returning seniors.

Student-athletes from the area who will serve as part of next school year’s committee include:

Danae Cline, junior - South Putnam

Mary Cox, senior - Monrovia

Whitman Horton, senior - Crawfordsville

The SAC meets four times annually – twice each semester – and is responsible for hosting meetings with student peers at the Fall Area Principals Meetings; assisting with the awards ceremonies at IHSAA state championship events throughout the school year, planning and administering the annual IHSAA Student Leadership Conference and to engage in and support the activities of Special Olympics Indiana including the Unified Track & Field and Unified Flag Football State Tournaments.

Other SAC functions include the development of an IHSAA Captain’s Handbook which is posted to IHSAA.org as well as assisting in the creation of multiple public service announcements addressing good sporting behavior which will be utilized during 2023-24 state championships events.

Markus Burton has earned the top individual award in Indiana high school boys basketball.

Burton, a 6-1 guard from Penn High School, has been named IndyStar Indiana Mr. Basketball for 2023 in online voting of media and boys’ varsity coaches conducted by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and All-Star game director Mike Broughton, it was announced Wednesday (April 19) as part of the IndyStar Indiana Sports Awards program.

The Mr. Basketball result means Burton will wear the No. 1 jersey for the Indiana All-Stars in their annual series with Kentucky. The Mr. Basketball award goes to the top boys’ basketball senior in the state. The Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball awards are part of the IndyStar Indiana All-Star program that dates to 1939. The Miss Basketball award, along with the girls' All-Stars, was added to the All-Star program in 1976.

The complete 2023 boys' All-Star team was announced on April 4. The complete 2023 girls' All-Star team was announced on March 14. Laila Hull of Zionsville previously was announced as Miss Basketball for 2023.

Burton earned the boys' top honor after being named on 171 ballots submitted to Broughton in balloting that ran from March 14 through March 29. Xavier Booker of Cathedral was runner-up with 20 votes. Zane Doughty of Ben Davis and Joey Hart of Linton-Stockton each received six votes. Myles Colvin was fifth with five votes followed by Mason Jones of Valparaiso with three votes. In total, 16 players received at least one Mr. Basketball vote.

A Notre Dame recruit, Burton averaged a state-best 30.3 points as well as 5.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.6 steals while leading Penn to a 28-2 season that included Northern Indiana Conference, Elkhart Sectional and Michigan City Regional championships. He converted 58.2 percent on field goals (348 of 598), including 42.5 percent on 3-point attempts (65 of 153) for the Kingsmen. He also sank 87.1 percent on free throws (148 of 170).

For his career, Burton totaled a school- and St. Joseph County-record 2,273 points as well as 533 rebounds, 512 assists and 329 steals while Penn amassed an aggregate record of 74-31 over his four seasons (10-14, 12-12, 24-3 and 28-2). He also holds the school record for points in a season (909 as a senior) and produced a triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in this year's sectional opener against Elkhart on Feb. 28.

Burton is the first boys' player and the eighth overall player from Penn to be named an Indiana All-Star. Those chosen as All-Stars previously from Penn, all girls, are Jessica Reiter (2000), Lily Svete (2009), Alex Morton (2012), Taylor Lutz (2013), Caroline Buhr (2014), Camryn Buhr (2016) and Kaitlyn Costner (2021). Also, Penn's Kristi Ulrich is the head coach of the 2023 girls' All-Stars.

In going to Notre Dame, Burton joins Chris Thomas of Pike (2003) and Luke Zeller of Washington (2005) as Mr. Basketball honorees to join the Irish program. Burton, Thomas and Zeller are among 24 Indiana All-Stars to play for the ND men's basketball program.

Burton also is the third Mr. Basketball winner from St. Joseph County. He follows John Coalmon of South Bend Central in 1957 and David Magley of South Bend LaSalle in 1978. Burton also becomes the third Mr. Basketball recipient coached by Al Rhodes. The Penn mentor also guided 1985 winner Jeff Grose and 1996 winner Kevin Ault while he was the coach at Warsaw.

While in high school, Burton has been recognized as 2021 IBCA Large School All-State, 2022 IBCA Underclass Supreme 15, 2022 AP third-team All-State, 2023 IBCA Senior Supreme 15 and 2023 AP first-team All-State. He also was named the NIC's most valuable player in 2022 and 2023 after earning honorable mention all-NIC accolades in 2021.

Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball traditionally wear No. 1 jerseys for the respective Indiana Boys All-Stars and Indiana Girls All-Stars in the annual series with Kentucky. The All-Stars will face the Indiana Junior All-Stars in an exhibition doubleheader on June 7 at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. The All-Stars follow with their home-and-home doubleheaders with Kentucky -- June 9 at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky., and June 10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 

Indiana Mr. Basketball honorees

1939: George Crowe, Franklin

1940: Ed Schienbein, Southport

1941: John Bass, Greenwood

1942: Bud Brown, Muncie Burris

1943: not awarded (World War II)

1944: not awarded (World War II)

1945: Tom Schwartz, Kokomo

1946: Johnny Wilson, Anderson

1947: Bill Garrett, Shelbyville

1948: Bob Masters, Lafayette Jeff

1949: Dee Monroe, Madison

1950: Pat Klein, Marion

1951: Tom Harrold, Muncie Central

1952: Joe Sexson, Indianapolis Tech

1953: Hallie Bryant, Indianapolis Attucks

1954: Bobby Plump, Milan

1955: Wilson Eison, Gary Roosevelt

1956: Oscar Robertson, Indianapolis Attucks

1957: John Coalmon, South Bend Central

1958: Mike McCoy, Fort Wayne South

1959: Jimmy Rayl, Kokomo

1960: Ron Bonham, Muncie Central

1961: Tom VanArsdale, Indianapolis Manual, and Dick VanArsdale, Indianpolis Manual

1962: Larry Humes, Madison

1963: Rick Jones, Muncie Central

1964: Dennis Brady, Lafayette Jeff

1965: Bill Keller, Indianapolis Washington

1966: Rick Mount, Lebanon

1967: Willie Long, Fort Wayne South

1968: Billy Shepherd, Carmel

1969: George McGinnis, Indianapolis Washington

1970: Dave Shepherd, Carmel

1971: Mike Flynn, Jeffersonville

1972: Phil Cox, Connersville

1973: Kent Benson, New Castle

1974: Steve Collier, Southwestern (Hanover), and Roy Taylor, Anderson

1975: Kyle Macy, Peru

1976: Dave Colescott, Marion

1977: Ray Tolbert, Anderson Madison Heights

1978: David Magley, South Bend LaSalle

1979: Steve Bouchie, Washington

1980: Jim Master, Harding (Fort Wayne)

1981: Dan Palombizio, Michigan City Rogers

1982: Roger Harden, Valparaiso

1983: Steve Alford, New Castle

1984: Delray Brooks, Michigan City Rogers, and Troy Lewis, Anderson,

1985: Jeff Grose, Warsaw

1986: Mark Jewell, Lafayette Jeff

1987: Jay Edwards, Marion, and Lyndon Jones, Marion

1988: Woody Austin, Richmond

1989: Pat Graham, Floyd Central

1990: Damon Bailey, Bedford North Lawrence

1991: Glenn Robinson, Gary Roosevelt

1992: Charles Macon, Michigan City Elston

1993: Maurice “Kojak” Fuller, Anderson

1994: Bryce Drew, Valparaiso

1995: Damon Frierson, Ben Davis

1996: Kevin Ault, Warsaw

1997: Luke Recker, DeKalb

1998: Tom Coverdale, Noblesville

1999: Jason Gardner, North Central

2000: Jared Jeffries, Bloomington North

2001: Chris Thomas, Pike

2002: Sean May, Bloomington North

2003: Justin Cage, Pike

2004: A.J. Ratliff, North Central

2005: Luke Zeller, Washington

2006: Greg Oden, Lawrence North

2007: Eric Gordon, North Central

2008: Tyler Zeller, Washington

2009: Jordan Hulls, Bloomington South

2010: DeShaun Thomas, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers

2011: Cody Zeller, Washington

2012: Gary Harris, Hamilton Southeastern

2013: Zak Irvin, Hamilton Southeastern

2014: Trey Lyles, Indianapolis Tech

2015: Caleb Swanigan, Homestead

2016: Kyle Guy, Lawrence Central

2017: Kris Wilkes, North Central

2018: Romeo Langford, New Albany

2019: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Center Grove

2020: Anthony Leal, Bloomington South

2021: Caleb Furst, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian

2022: Braden Smith, Westfield

Whoever said you can't go home never met newly minted Greencastle High School head football coach David Stephens.

The former Owen County offensive coordinator is back with Greencastle, where he previously served as an assistant coach and is a 1997 Greencastle graduate. 

When he was hired, Stephens said he had to pinch himself when he thought about coaching the program where it all started for him.

"I grew up in the poorest part of Greencastle. Educators were invested in me and believed in me, giving me an opportunity to see that I had a future if I was willing to work for it. It is exciting and surreal," Stephens told The Putnam County Post. 

The excitement has carried over through the offseason, which Stephens said has gone "amazing up to this point."

"We have been recruiting our school hard and we are sitting at 70 players who are committed to playing football this fall and looking to add more to the roster," said Stephens, who inherits a team that finished 2022 with 38 players. "We have recently started spring football and the players are learning us and we are learning them. At this point, we want to be starting the foundations of building relationships with our new players and conveying how our standard operating procedures work." 

The fact that Stephens is a Tiger Cub has helped, as well, he said. 

"I have relationships in the community from my time as a high school student. I have relationships in the community from my time there as a teacher and a coach. This has helped immensely in my return and the community has been more supportive than I could have ever imagined," Stephens said. 

He added the major points of his first offseason are building relationships and earning the trust of parents and players. 

"We have a wonderful staff who are all aligned and committed to implementing a new culture at Greencastle High School," Stephens said. 

Strength coach Andrew Tirrotta has been putting the players through weight training and singled out the efforts of rising seniors Jackson Buis and Lamar Moore, and rising juniors Kaiden Toasino and Ian Williamson as players who have had outstanding offseasons, according to Stephens. 

As he continues to move closer to his season opener with Greencastle, Stephens admits there is a lot of excitement surrounding the program when it comes to the upcoming season. 

"We have an extremely challenging first quarter of the season with perpetual top ranked teams like Danville, Northview and South Putnam. We look forward to the competition and testing our mettle versus the top programs in our area. In the second half of the season, we have Owen Valley on the schedule and that game will have a pretty big emotional impact as we have multiple coaches who were part of the success at Owen Valley the past two seasons coaching against players that we love and want the best for for the Owen Valley sideline. It will be an eventful season for the Tiger Cubs, no doubt," Stephens said. 

After winning just one game a season ago, Cloverdale High School football coach Tyler Lotz knows there is only one way to go and that is up for the Clovers. 

In order to improve on their success once the 2023 season rolls around, Cloverdale has been busy in the offseason looking to secure its first winning season since 1996. 

"The off-season has been solid so far. Our main points were to continue to get stronger and to continue to recruit the hallways. I think we've done a good job at both of those," Lotz told The Putnam County Post. 

Lotz said "multiple kids" have had a strong offseason, but there are two guys that have stood out above the others -- running back Levi Johnson and center Corey Branigan. 

"Those two are constantly pushing each other to be great," Lotz said. 

The second year coach said what stands out to him when he looks at last season was turnovers. 

"We lost games we should have won because of turnovers and we let games get out of hand because of turnovers. We didn't do a great job of taking care of the ball and we didn't create enough turnovers on defense to balance ourselves out. That is the main focus going forward along with some other tweaks that will need to be made," Lotz said. 

And, when he looks to the upcoming season, Lotz notes the Clovers bring back a lot of returning skill players. 

"The big question mark as of right now is the line of scrimmage, we are going to need a big summer for the boys up front. We want to take that momentum we created last year and snow ball it into something bigger and better this year. I believe we're headed in the right direction and I'm excited to see what this group can do in our '23 season," Lotz said. 

Kerry Roussey has been around softball long enough to know it's teams that peak when it matters most that make postseason runs. 

Fresh off winning the Putnam County Softball Tournament, Roussey hopes that is the case with the North Putnam softball team, who recently made room inside the trophy case and added this year's county tournament title to the case. 

"Winning the county was and always will be a goal for us each year.  It is great honor to be Putnam County Champions and there has some very good teams that not only won the this prestigious tournament but went on and had outstanding seasons as well deep run in the state tournament," Roussey told The Putnam County Post. 

The Cougars had solid performances from several players during the county tournament, including pitcher Kyndal Brewer, who threw 12 innings against Greencastle in the championship tilt. 

Roussey singled out Brilye Schmitz, as well as Ashlyn Stacks and Emma Williams, who belted a walk off homer to lift North Putnam. 

"Brilye Schmitz that strong performer all day long in both games as well as Ashlyn Stacks with her ability to get on base but also her defense. Both Karyssa Miller and Kylie Rust with some solid defense and timely hits when we needed them.  Our seniors each contributed all day and the underclassmen also came though with Bailee Pride’s first homerun of the season in the first game and the Daigle’s, Lexi and Hailee, causing chaos on the base paths," Roussey said.

Roussey admits the season is going "in the right direction" at the moment. However, the veteran coach admits North Putnam is dealing with "some aches and pains that we will fight through."

"With our close loss to Sullivan, we will have to be sharp on the rest of the conference games and hope that someone can knock off the Golden Arrows," Roussey said. 

It is Roussey's hope North Putnam continues to grow as a team and continue playing well as the schedule marches towards May and the rest of the season. 

"We gained a lot of respect and trust for one another with the marathon game with Greencastle and want to feed off that continue to build our confidence off of that and get stronger we closer to the state tournament.  Much of our success and to have long tournament will all depend upon how we all come together as team and that foundation has been set and now it is time to build on that foundation," Roussey said.

While there is still plenty of baseball left to be played, it was mission accomplished when it comes to one of the goals for the North Putnam baseball team recently, as it captured the Putnam County championship. 

Head coach Chris Geeser admits his team is no different than any other when it comes to wanting to win the county title. 

"I think any athletic team in the county would have that as one of the top team goals. A team being the Putnam County champions, in any sport, is a big deal. There is always a lot of focus on the county tournaments and it provides some nice bragging rights for teams," Geeser told The Putnam County Post.

The veteran skipper admits he was "excited and proud" watching his team hold off Greencastle 8-6 to win the title. 

"I was excited for my guys in the program. We have been putting in a lot of hard work since off-season workouts, the first couple of weeks of practice, and the first couple of weeks of the season to continue to get better. So to see all of that hard work be rewarded by achieving one of our team goals, it's very exciting. The seniors getting their first baseball county bucket, seeing the excitement on all the players faces, and watching my assistant coaches celebrate just added to the excitement. I am certainly very proud of this program as well. It was a program win for us. We had seniors through freshmen play important roles in this tournament. Even our non-starters made impacts this tournament. Whether it was coming into the game to courtesy run, pitch run, keeping the energy up in the dugout, or picking up our stranded runners gear; everyone played a role for us," Geeser said.

He notes he was proud of how his team competed, especially after falling behind against South Putnam in the first game, before responding and earning a spot in the final.  

"We also got down early in the championship game, 3-0 in the first inning. We battled all game long to keep it close and give us a shot in the 7th inning. We trailed 6-4 going into our last at bats. We go on to put up four runs to take our first lead of that game and then hang on for the win in the bottom of the seventh. I am so proud of these kids," he said.

The Cougars got solid production from quite a few players during the county tourney.

Freshman Alec McKenzie was 4-for-7 with three RBI's, four runs, a walk and two stolen bases, while sophomore Braxton Woodall was 3-for-5 with four RBI's, four runs, two walks and was hit by a pitch. Junior Brogan Woodall was 4-for-7 with two RBI's and a walk, while sophomore Kaden Helderman was 3-for-6 with five RBI's, two runs and was hit by a pitch. Senior Brayden Monnett was 4-for-8 with four RBI's and four runs. Senior Ian Patrick was 2-for-4 with an RBI, four runs, a walk and three times he was hit by a pitch. Freshman Jayce Monnett was 2-for-6 with four RBI's, three runs and two walks, while classmate Chase Barber was 2-for-7 with an RBI, two runs and a walk. Senior Jaylen Windmiller was hit twice, had two runs and an RBI. 

On the mound, Kaden Helderman went five innings, getting the win after scattering four hits, allowing two runs and striking out seven. 

Against Greencastle, Jaylen Windmiller went four innings, giving up six hits, five runs, no earned runs, two walks and struck out eight. Brayden Monnett threw three innings, getting the win after surrendering an earned run, a run, a walk and fanning one. 

"Our pitching was excellent all day long," Geeser said. 

Heading into this week, North Putnam is 7-3 and has not had any games lost due to weather. 

"We have cleaned up some of our sloppy play early and continue to make strides as a team. I would say the only thing that has surprised me a little this season, is how well this young squad has played as a team. I knew that we had a lot of talent with this young squad, but I did not expect them to adjust to the varsity level of play as fast as they have. We have certainly had our moments of growing pains or mistakes, but we have learned from those moments and gotten better from them. All of the guys that I mentioned above have played well for us. If I had to pick a handful, I would say Brayden Monnett, Brogan Woodall, Jaylen Windmiller, Alec Mckenzie, Braxton Woodall, and Kaden Helderman have been our leading guys on the field. I will say that everyone in the program has been playing well this year," Geeser said. 

 With the backend of the schedule approaching, Geeser is optimistic the county championship win and experience provides valuable experience for his team down the stretch. 

"I believe that it definitely adds confidence to our guys from here on out. We beat a really solid Greencastle team, so we should have that extra confidence against anyone we go up against. I also believe that since we were able to comeback in the first game and then again the second game, shows that we aren't going to just give up when we get down. As I said before, I was so proud with my squad with how we never gave up and battled back. We were down two runs in our last at bats and fought our way back, so we should carry that forward with us for the rest of the year. We can come from behind, even if it's our last at bats. We also have Greencastle in our sectional this year, so knowing that we can beat them if we play our game, should also help us come playoff time," Geeser said. 

With the loss of 13 seniors from last year's team that went 7-3 and lost to defending Class A champ Lutheran in the sectional, the South Putnam football team has been busy this offseason looking to get stronger and improve ahead of the 2023 season. 

"We have had really good workouts during class and after school preparing for the upcoming season.  This will be the strongest (weight room) team we have had in my 5 years. This class has been lifting with me since 8th grade and the gains are really beginning to show. We have also added a lot of speed and explosion work into the lifts. We have to do everything we can to beat Lutheran. We must be faster and stronger than we have ever been.  We currently have five 500 pound squatters and 12 over 405," South Putnam coach Chuck Sorrell told The Putnam County Post. 

Sorrell said the Eagles have always worked in position groups during the offseason. 

Up front on the offensive line, South Putnam looks to replace Ethan Harcourt, who will play at Wabash, and Brock Heavin, who will play at DePauw, and Sorrell notes the three returning linemen have done a great job trying to prepare the new players to be ready. 

"Every position has gotten bigger, stronger and faster since last football season. We have also had really good sessions with our incoming 8th grades and a few of them will be ready to play sometime during the 2023 season. That group is lead by Bransyn Hanley, Drew Cline, and Keenan Mowery-Shields," Sorrell said. 

When he looks back on last season, Sorrell said the way the defense played at times is something that stands out to him. 

"We return 9 of those starters and we have a chance to be really good on defense.  Also, how much Wyatt Mullin has grown physically and mentally. He will be the nucleus of our team and everything offensively will work through him," he said.

South Putnam will open the season against Putnam County rival Cloverdale, a team the Eagles soared past 70-0 last year.  

And, while the Eagles are looking to start the season off strong again, Sorrell knows it will take more work to ensure South Putnam is ready. 

"With three new coaches in the county in the past two years, we have to continue to get better to make sure we are ready to defend that crown.  All three schools are doing great jobs of building football programs so we can not look past any of them.  I think everyone will think we are down because we lost 13 seniors, but that is a good thing for us.  I feel we will have the best overall team that we have had in my five years.  We will not get there just by talking. We have a demanding summer planned to get us ready to win county, conference, and state championship games," Sorrell said. 

Tippecanoe Valley and Plymouth will be represented at a special IHSAA scholarship presentation.

Cato Memorial Scholarships will be presented to 12 seniors.

The student-athletes will be recognized April 19 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

DNR is stocking nearly 50,000 trout throughout Indiana for trout season opening day, April 29.

Lake trout stocking has already begun as trout fishing on lakes is open year around. Stream trout stocking is expected in the weeks before opening day, the first day anglers can legally catch trout from streams.

One site is in Parke County at the Harden Reservoir Tailwater.  750 rainbow trout are being stocked there by DNR.

Thirteen players have been selected for the 2023 IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars, All-Stars game director Mike Broughton announced Tuesday.

Those chosen to the team will play three games in June -- one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

The players chosen the 2023 Indiana Boys All-Stars, listed alphabetically, are Luke Almodovar of Noblesville, Xavier Booker of Indianapolis Cathedral, Markus Burton of Penn, Myles Colvin of Heritage Christian, Zane Doughty of Ben Davis, Joey Hart of Linton-Stockton, Logan Imes of Zionsville, Mason Jones of Valparaiso, A.J. Lux of Crown Point, Sam Orme of Carmel, Ian Raasch of NorthWood, JaQualon Roberts of Bloomington North and Sheridan Sharp of Ben Davis.

The 2023 IndyStar Indiana Mr. Basketball winner will come from among this group of 13 players. The 2023 Mr. Basketball winner is expected to be announced as part of the IndyStar Indiana High School Sports Awards program on April 19 at Butler University's Clowes Hall in Indianapolis.

This year's boys' All-Star team features five players who have been a part of state championship teams in Doughty and Sharpe of Ben Davis (2023 4A), Raasch of NorthWood (2023 3A), Booker of Cathedral (2022 4A) and Orme of Carmel (2021 4A). The squad also includes an IBCA first-team Academic All-State selection in Raasch plus two IBCA honorable mention Academic All-State picks in Doughty and Imes.

Don Carlisle of Ben Davis has been named the head coach of the 2023 All-Stars. He will be assisted by

Brent Brobston of Frankton and Shane Burkhart of Evansville Bosse.

Carlisle is 144-66 in eight seasons as an Indiana varsity coach. That includes a 98-41 mark in five seasons at Ben Davis -- with a 33-0 ledger and the Class 4A state title in 2022-23 -- and a 46-25 slate in three seasons at Indianapolis Arlington. Brobston is 239-136 in 15 seasons at Frankton. Burkhart is 250-132 in 15 seasons at Evansville Bosse.

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 7 at a site to be announced. The first game against Kentucky will be June 9 at the Owensboro Sportscenter in Owensboro, Ky. The final game against Kentucky will be June 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana Girls All-Stars, whose roster was announced March 14. The roster for the Indiana girls Junior All-Stars was announced March 8. The roster for the Indiana boys Junior All-Stars was announced March 31.

The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play two girl-boy doubleheaders this year -- June 4 against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars at Jeffersonville and June 7 against the Indiana seniors at a site to be announced.

The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana Boys All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls' portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996. The All-Star senior girls have played Kentucky every year since 1976, except 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The All-Star senior boys have played Kentucky in all but three years since 1940 -- 1943 (World War II), 1944 (World War II) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic).

The Indiana Senior boys lead 103-44 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior boys lead 41-10 in games against the Indiana Junior boys. The Indiana Junior boys lead 7-4 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior girls lead 52-40 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior girls lead 41-10 in games against the Indiana Junior girls. The Indiana Junior girls lead 10-1 in their series with Kentucky. 

 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 lineups were announced Feb. 16. The boys' Futures Games lineups were announced March 21.

The Indiana portion of the All-Star Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is a title sponsor.

Mr. Basketball is selected through a balloting process of coaches and media overseen by game organizers from the IBCA. The remainder of the team is finalized by Broughton after observing numerous games and events throughout the season, conferring with coaches, school officials and media across the state. Broughton also reviews votes submitted by coaches and media who each could recommend up to 10 players.

A complete list of those chosen as 2023 IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars is below. Jersey numbers will be assigned later, after the winner of Mr. Basketball is announced.

2023 IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars

Name, School, Height, Pos., PPG, College Choice

Luke Almodovar, Noblesville, 6-3, G, 17.5, Saint Francis (Ind.)

Xavier Booker, Cathedral, 6-11, F, 15.2, Michigan State

Markus Burton, Penn, 6-1, G, 30.2, Notre Dame

Myles Colvin, Heritage Christian, 6-7, F, 19.5, Purdue

Zane Doughty, Ben Davis, 6-9, F, 13.5, undecided

Joey Hart, Linton-Stockton, 6-6, G, 23.7, Central Florida

Logan Imes, Zionsville, 6-4, G, 16.9, undecided

Mason Jones, Valparaiso, 6-7, F, 19.7, Ball State

A.J. Lux, Crown Point, 6-5, G, 21.5, Bellarmine 

Sam Orme, Carmel, 6-9, F, 18.0, Belmont

Ian Raasch, NorthWood, 6-6, G, 15.0, Grace (Ind.)

JaQualon Roberts, Bloomington North, 6-8, F, 19.6, Vanderbilt

Sheridan Sharp, Ben Davis, 6-3, G, 9.8, Nicholls State (La.)

The Indiana High School Athletic Association is pleased to announce the 86th Annual IHSAA Wrestling State Finals will be contested at the Ford Center in Evansville.

This will be the first time the city of Evansville has hosted an IHSAA State Finals event in any sport.

The regularly scheduled dates of next year’s state finals are Friday and Saturday, February 16-17, 2024. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, which has hosted the state finals every year since it opened in 2000, will be home to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game on the same weekend.

The Ford Center, which has an approximate capacity of 11,000, is in downtown Evansville and has served as host of the Evansville Wrestling Semi-State for 11 of the last 12 years since opening in 2011.

“We’re extremely pleased and grateful to the city of Evansville for their willingness to host the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals - one of our premier events every year,” said IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig.

“Evansville has an impeccable reputation for hosting amateur athletic competitions and we are very confident this will be a great and memorable experience for everyone who attends. Evansville stands ready for this opportunity to host this event and share their hospitality with the rest of the state.”

The IHSAA reached out to other venues in the state with the necessarily specific availability, capacity, infrastructure, and willingness to host this event and the Ford Center was found to be the most compatible.

“We are elated that Evansville has been selected to host the 2024 IHSAA State Wrestling tournament,” said Lloyd Winnecke, Mayor of Evansville. “We eagerly await the opportunity to roll out the red carpet for student athletes and spectators. The remarkable Ford Center will serve as a dynamic host venue, and we are confident that visitors will enjoy our thriving downtown, and all the amenities and hospitality our great city has to offer.”