Sixty-nine Indiana high school seniors -- 35 boys and 34 girls -- have been chosen as first-team Academic All-State by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Wednesday (April 8).
In addition, 180 more boys and 139 more girls were recognized as honorable mention Academic All-State for 2015, IBCA executive director Steve Witty said.
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, assists per game and shooting percentage.
"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 1,500 or an ACT score of 23. 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 24-25 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.
Players honored for 2015 are listed below in the attached file.
2015 BOYS ACADEMIC ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM (35)
Name | School | | Coach
Blake Berger | LaVille | | Michael Edison
Sol Brenneman | Bethany Christian | Gary Chupp
Kyle Bumbalough New Castle | Daniel Cox
Jarin Bush | Carroll (Flora) | Matt Weaver
Ranger Caffrey | Crawford County | Mike Brown
Luke Callahan | Danville | Brian Barber
Jeremy Coney | Central Noble | Ethan Marsh
Keegan Culp | Carmel | | Scott Heady
Eric Dodson | Northeast Dubois | Terry Friedman
Nick Floyd | Jimtown | Marcus Moore
Christopher Graman | North Knox | Aaron Hall
Matt Holba | Guerin Catholic | Pete Smith
Clayton Howard Rossville | Cory Dunn
Matthew Hurm | Oldenburg Academy | Gary Moorman
Johnny Jager | Bloomington South | J.R. Holmes
Jimmy King | Roncalli | Michael Wantz
Skyler Kolli | International | Scott Schmelzer
Christian Kreiger Fort Wayne Canterbury Scott Kreiger
Trent Larson | Columbus North | Jason Speer
Noah Long | Anderson Prep Academy Corey Scott
Ryan Lutz | Penn | | Al Rhodes
James Marshall | North Posey | Heath Howington
Caley Morey | Yorktown | Greg Miller
Joshua Mullens | North Judson | Phil Shabi
Steven Pergola | Castle | | Brian Gibson
Nick Podkul | Andrean | Scott Hicko
Josh Price | Evansville Mater Dei | Kurt Wildeman
Alex Smith | Gibson Southern | Kyle Runyon
Nick Tinsley | Silver Creek | Brandon Hoffman
Trevor Waite | Tri-West | Adam Bontreger
Austin Weaver | Western | Bart Miller
Jasen Webb | New Prairie | Tim Scott
Ryan Welage | Greensburg | Stacy Meyer
Dylan Windler | Perry Meridian | Brent Keck
Timothy Wiseman Corydon Central | Jamie Kolkmeier
2015 GIRLS ACADEMIC ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM (34)
Name | School | Coach
Brooke Bradford | Batesville | Darrick Cox
Olivia Brewster | Paoli | Don Helmick
Macy Burton | Knightstown | John Boyer
Avery Chezem | Covington | Jeff McCoy
Jordan Cole | Munster | Jim Davidson
Lamina Cooper | Lawrence North | Chris Giffin
Claire Cromer | Wabash | Matt Stone
Grace Dury | Bishop Chatard | Kevin Sweeney
Megan Galle | Columbus East | Danny Brown
Lacey Garrett | Crawfordsville | Tony Thomas
Grace German | Homestead | Rod Parker
Annie Gillard | Bloomington South | Larry Winters
Katrina Headlee | Tri-West | Nathan Begle
Grace Herzog | Jac-Cen-Del | Scott Smith
Taylor Holliday | Eastern (Greentown) | Todd Stout
Taylor Hopf | Forest Park | Marty Niehaus
Courtney Jacobsen Harrison (West Lafayette) Jon Laird
Karen Jones | Tri-West | Nathan Begle
Lindsay Kusbel | Lake Central | Marc Urban
Regan Lewis | Greenfield-Central | Doug Laker
Anna Logan | Bishop Chatard | Kevin Sweeney
Cassandra Morton | Penn | Kristi Kaniewski Ulrich
Megan Niese | South Decatur | Jessica Sell
Ali Patberg | Columbus North | Pat McKee
Mikayla Rowan | Northview | Scott Buell
Kaley Rose | Evansville North | Annette Combs
Tori Schickel | Evansville Mater Dei | Steve Goans
Rachel Schurman | Covenant Christian (DeMotte) Dave Heerema
Stephanie Sherwood | Evansville Memorial | Bruce Dockery
Kerrigan Shourds | South Spencer | Jason Mayes
Natalie Stephenso | Triton Central | Bryan Graham
Maggie Weeks-Foy Blackford | Jack Norton
Abigail Wilson | Columbus East | Danny Brown
Grace Withrow | Valparaiso | Candy Wilson