The 2023-24 high school boys basketball season starts this week. Meet our preseason ALL-USA Central Indiana preseason Super Team:
FIRST TEAM
Dezmon Briscoe, Crispus Attucks
Nickname: Dez
College: Undecided
Year: Junior
Why he’s here: The 6-8 Briscoe led Attucks to a City tournament championship and is a big reason why the Tigers are picked to do it again. He averaged 15.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.0 blocked shots and 2.4 assists and shot 53% from the field and 64% from the free-throw line, while connecting on 27.5% (14-for-51) of his 3-point attempts. Briscoe has offers from Ball State, Butler, Cincinnati, East Tennessee State, Indiana State, Iowa, IUPUI, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Toledo and Valparaiso.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Chris Hurt. He’s always getting sturdy with it. Probably between him and ‘Rut’ (Ron Rutland).”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Probably Jacson Payton. His music is banging pregame.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably fouls.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “Outside of basketball, I like playing games or just hanging out with my people.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Mason (Lewis).”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Probably (Steph) Curry.”
If you could star in another sport what would it be? “Football. I feel like I could go D1 in that, too, if I played it more. I played third through sixth (grade). I played (defensive) end and tight end.”
What sport is the easiest? “I think swimming.”
If you started an expansion team, what would you name it? “Tigers.”
Why do you wear No. 11? “My brother won a state championship in 2017 and he wore No. 11. So I went after him, chasing dreams.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Probably Ashton (Williamson) from Gary 21st Century. (In AAU) probably Jermaine O’Neal’s son (Jermaine O’Neal Jr., a four-star prospect from Texas in the 2025 graduating class).”
IHSAA basketball preview: Everything you need to know for 2023-24 season
Evan Haywood, Brebeuf Jesuit
Nickname: Slaywood
College: Butler
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-4 Haywood averaged 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game and shot 37.1% (53-for-143) from the 3-point line as a junior to lead the Braves to a 15-9 season. The Butler recruit expects to build off that as a senior both individually and for his Brebeuf team, which returns several veteran players. Haywood picked Butler over Appalachian State, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee State, Vermont and others.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “I’d probably say Javawn, for sure. Javawn Brooks. He has a pretty deep bag of tricks. You don’t know what he’s going to do. He likes to move around, likes to jump a lot.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “I’d say Reis (Butcher). Reis has some pretty good music to get me locked in for the game. Usually like NBA YoungBoy that will get you in the mood.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “I’d say lazy or bad referees. Referees that aren’t willing (to give an answer) if I mess something up, I can’t ask them ‘What did I do?’ They don’t really care. But shout out to the good ones.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I like to golf. I golf with my friends a good amount. I hope to join the golf team this spring. I play at Saddlebrook sometimes and my friend has a membership at Golf Club of Indiana so I go with him sometimes.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I try not to wear an arm sleeve on away games. I only wear an arm sleeve for home games. That’s something I do.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “I’d say Will Ryan, our point guard.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Steph Curry.”
If you could star in another sport what would it be? “I’d say football. I used to play quarterback but I think I’d switch positions just because of my height. I played my freshman year then stopped going into my sophomore year.”
Why do you wear No. 1? “I used to wear No. 4. That was because my dad wanted me to wear No. 4. Freshman year I walked in and coach had my jersey laid out and he gave me No. 1. Not really any deeper meaning. I was given it and I like it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Myles Colvin. For sure. Very strong. Gets really high on his jump shot and he’s hard to block. Very aggressive.”
Braylon Mullins, Greenfield-Central
Nickname: B-Mull
College: Undecided
Year: Junior
Why he’s here: The 6-6 Mullins continued his progression as one of the area’s top players with a big sophomore season that saw him average 16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.3 assists and shoot 58% from the field, including 46.6% (54-for-116) from the 3-point line for a team that went 21-2 to set a program record for wins. Mullins has high-major offers from Butler, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Definitely Boston Willard. He’s more of the energy guy so I’ll give that to him. Definitely not me.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Definitely Braden Robertson. That dude listens to music all day. He has all the music tastes in the world. Again, not me. I don’t really care about it. Sometimes I’ll recommend a song.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably a bad call or something. I always get called for illegal screens and I don’t think it’s an illegal screen. So probably that one. I’ll set like a back screen and move to late or something.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I’m good at Fortnite a little bit. Every other video game I’m not great.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I’ll definitely go say ‘hi’ to my mom before the game, then hit the training room and stretch before every game.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Can’t be myself? Luke Ertel. He doesn’t miss a lot of free throws, especially during AAU season. He gets all the technical foul free throws.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Steph Curry. He definitely doesn’t miss free throws.”
Why do you wear No. 24? “My dad wore ‘24’ but I think he was a big fan of Kobe (Bryant) so it got passed along to me. I wore 24 because of him.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Definitely Darryn Peterson (a 6-5 guard at Huntington Prep, ranked No. 3 in the country in the 2025 class). When we went to South Carolina we played an exhibition game before the (Adidas) 3SSB finals and he had like 35 points. We won that game but he had a great game. (In high school) Jack Benter (of Brownstown Central) was a tough one in the summer. He had like 25 in the first half on us.”
Azavier Robinson, Lawrence North
Nickname: Stink
College: Undecided
Year: Junior
Why he’s here: The 6-1 Robinson, who has high-major offers from Arizona State, Butler, Central Florida, Georgetown, Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John’s, Saint Louis, Temple, TCU and Xavier, is a high-energy guard who led the Wildcats to an 18-8 season last year as he averaged 20.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals per game.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Probably Bradley Mason. I’m last.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Davion Hampton.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “I don’t like when refs get too involved in a game. It bothers me because one bad call can ruin a whole game.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “My freshman year I would get in triple threat and go and they would call a travel. But I’ve been working on that since and got a little better with that my sophomore year.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I just do stuff with my family outside of school.”
Where does your nickname come from? “My mama. She said she always used to call me that when I was a baby and it just stuck. She used to call me that at the games and everybody started repeating it.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Probably Macoyion Brown.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Michael Jordan. I could go Steph (Curry), too. But Michael Jordan is a clutch player.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “Probably Hoopsters. That was the first team I played on. Or Icy Ballers.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “For me basketball because it’s the only sport I ever played, but I feel like football is the easiest sport. I feel like if you are athletic you can have a chance at football.”
Why do you wear No. 23? “Michael Jordan. When I was a little kid I used to watch clips of him and stuff and I saw he wore No. 23. My first time playing I couldn’t wear 23 because it went from 1 to 10 but after that I wore 23 ever since.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “One this summer was Dekwon Brown (a top point guard from Chicago Simeon). … (In high school) probably (Pike grad and Indiana State guard) Ryan Conwell.”
KJ Windham, Ben Davis
Nickname: KJ
College: Northwestern
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-4 Northwestern recruit was selected as a core member of the Indiana Junior All-Star team last season after helping Ben Davis to a 33-0 record and Class 4A state championship. Windham averaged 8.6 points, 1.7 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game and shot 36.4% (48-for-132) from the 3-point line. He moves into a role as the top offensive threat for the Giants as a senior.
Best dancer on your team: “I’m going to give it to Jahmir Avery. He’s always dancing. He listens to a lot of music, though, so he’s always dancing. Last year, Clay (Butler). He has some stuff. I’ll give it to Clay. It was them two, for sure.”
Who has the aux in the locker room? “Me. That’s easy. If anything fails, just give KJ the phone.”
What’s your basketball ‘ick’? “I hate losing. That’s my worst ‘ick.’ I can’t stand losing. That’s really it. There’s not too much that can make me mad on the court except losing.”
What’s the official’s call you dislike the most? “The block instead of the charge. You gotta put your body out there sometimes and if I take one to the chest and I get a block instead of a charge, I’m mad about it especially if I think I’m set.”
Do you have any hobbies or special talents? “I rap. That’s my not-so-hidden talent.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “We have a team ritual. We always listen to ‘Faneto’ by Chief Keef. We always run out to that song.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Can it be myself? No? I’ll say Jahmir Avery. Every time we play in open gym and have to make a free throw to win, he always knocks them down. Even when he’s against me.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Kobe. Alive, I’d pick Klay Thompson or Steph (Curry). One of them. Klay Thompson, though, I can’t tell you last time I saw him miss a free throw.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “Football. Me and Mark (Zackery) had this talk a lot. I think I could star in football if I took it serious through high school I could be a dual-sport athlete just like him. Personally, I want to be good at tennis. I think that’s a good sport conditioning wise. I think you can have fun doing it and it’s good for other sports that you play too. I definitely want to try tennis. I don’t think it’s too late.”
Why do you wear No. 24? “Kobe and my brother (Jalen). We were 10 coming up for my sister (Jazmine). My brother got 24 so I kind of made that transition from 10 to 24. In AAU I was always zero. My brother got it from Kobe and Kobe is my favorite player so it’s kind of for both of them.”
Who is toughest player you’ve played against? “Flory (Bidunga). There’s not too much you can do about it. I think we did pretty good at state and ‘Sneakers for Santa’ but it’s really only so much you can do. We had such a good team we were able to bring it down together. But there’s not too many that can stop him.”
SECOND TEAM
Micah Davis, Franklin
Nickname: MD
College: Eastern Kentucky
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-2 Davis was named a core Junior All-Star last season after he averaged 17.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the Grizzly Cubs. He led Franklin on a surprising run to the regional championship game as a sophomore, averaging 14.8 points and 5.8 rebounds that season.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Probably me.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Adrian Moss, our coach. He plays Rod Wave but he doesn’t know any of the words so I don’t know why he plays that. Before games I normally connect it but I just go off what everyone else wants to listen to. So we all just share it.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably like when everybody is just playing and chilling and there’s one person going try hard mode.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “Probably hanging on the rim. I got a lot of those through my years in high school so probably that.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? I like to sing. But that’s just to myself. I play (video games) with my brother sometimes but not a lot. Other than that, it’s just basketball.
Where pregame rituals or superstitions? “I listen to motivational speeches before games.
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Grant Hunter, probably. He’s a good free-throw shooter. He doesn’t miss a lot.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “(Derrick) Rose. He’s making it for sure. He’s my favorite player.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “Probably football. I played football in elementary all the way through sixth grade. Then I had double knee surgery so I stopped playing and I just played basketball.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “Probably the Red Devils, something like that.”
Why do you wear No. 4? “I wore No. 4 two years ago in the summer for Indy Heat. I just liked playing in it so ever since then I just rock with it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Probably AJ Dybantsa (a 6-9 forward who is now the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class). He was good. We played them (in AAU) in Arizona and he played up for a 17U team. In high school, probably JQ Roberts (an Indiana All-Star from Bloomington North, now at Vanderbilt). He always played good against us.”
Aaron Fine, Noblesville
Nickname: A-Fine
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-3 senior averaged 13.8 points, 3.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds as a junior to earn a spot on the Junior All-Star team. Fine, who will be a four-starter for the Millers, should go over 1,000 career points this season, entering his senior year with 775 points and 171 career assists.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “I’d give that one to T.J. (Davidson) or Aiden Brewer. They are always making TikToks in the locker room. It’s hilarious. I love those guys. I’m not a dancer. I’m the worst dancer on the team.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “T.J. (Davidson) or Hunter (Walston). One of those two. I like to try to snatch it sometimes but they are first to grab the speaker. I like old school Biggie or Tupac, that kind of stuff. They go with Drake, Lil Baby. My dad’s always kind of raised me on the old school.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “When someone messes up a play, especially when we just talked about it. That frustrates me a little bit. I have to get better at helping guys out and being the leader as the point guard. But that frustrates me.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “Just the travels. It’s older refs, old school, but nowadays there are Euro steps, low pick-ups, all that kind of stuff. Maybe in the past it would have been a travel but you can’t call that a travel anymore.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I like drawing and painting. I’ve customized my own shoes before with different Marvel characters, that kind of stuff. I like that kind of stuff, so does my little sister.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I always kind of get in my zone when I meditate a little bit before games. This one is probably kind of crazy and people look at me weird but I listen to the ‘Halloween’ theme song. Michael Myers before games to get locked in. Killer mentality. I like doing that. I don’t know if he actually did it or not but people say Kobe (listened to it) so I did that. It works.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Luke (Almodovar). He’s got that. If I couldn’t pick myself I’d pick Luke.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Steph Curry. Best shooter of all time.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the mascot be? “A lion. That’s my favorite animal so I’d go lion.
What sport do you think is the easiest? “I’d say football. You just have to be athletic. Basketball you have to be skilled. Have to be able to shoot, have to be able to dribble, pass, defend. Football, you are going to be good if you are athletic and tough.”
Why do you wear No. 3? “I wear No. 3 because my dad wore No. 32 in high school and I started out with 32. When my brother kind of got into it I went with 3 and he went with 2. I kind of liked 3 so that’s part of the reason I went that way but we’re both sort of the two halves of my dad’s number in high school.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “In AAU I’d probably say VJ Edgecombe (the No. 5 ranked prospect in the 2024 class). He’s so athletic. I had to guard him when we were in Las Vegas. In high school (2022 Mr. Basketball and Purdue guard) Braden Smith. He’s so smart. He kind of made me look stupid a couple times my freshman year when we played in the sectional and he had like 40 on us. He’s probably the toughest player in high school I ever had to guard.”
Grant Porath, Brownsburg
Nickname: G-Baby (from soccer teammates)
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-2 guard was a big part of Brownsburg’s 22-win regional championship team as a junior, averaging 10.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Porath shot 49.4% from the field, including 47% from the 3-point line (16-for-34) and 85% from the free-throw line.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “JD (Lynch).”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Probably Kayden English. I don’t really care what they play. I usually just listen to my own music.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably bouncing an indoor ball outside.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “I try to take a lot of charges so obviously I want the refs to call charges on either team so I get frustrated when they call a block.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “Nope. I just play soccer and basketball year-round so those are my hobbies.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I eat a granola cereal bar before every game.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Probably either me or Drew Thompson.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Steph Curry.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “Grizzlies or Stars, something like that.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “Probably baseball.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “I kind of wanted to play football but it’s in the same season as soccer so it’s tough. I never did. They wanted to me to get into it in football but I never did.”
Why do you wear No. 11? “When I went from freshman to sophomore year, there was no 20 on varsity so I could either choose 11 or 14. I was already 11 in soccer so I just stuck with it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Probably Markus Burton when we played him at Purdue (team camp). He was real quick. It was hard to keep him in front of me.”
Ron Rutland III, Crispus Attucks
Nickname: Rut
College: UIndy
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-2 Rutland averaged 18.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a junior at Attucks to help the Tigers to a City tournament championship. One of the top 3-point shooters in the state, Rutland was 75-for-189 from the arc (39.6%) last season. He averaged 8.5 points as a sophomore at Attucks.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Chris Hurt. For sure it’s Chris.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Last year (Devin) Briscoe had aux. This year probably Jacson (Payton) or a little bit of everybody. We all have similar music tastes before games.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably if I shoot and I miss and somebody doesn’t give me my layup after I miss.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “I feel like when I get a block it will be clean but because my arm came down and I swatted for it, they call a foul. I get all ball but because I swatted down too hard, I get a foul.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I’m pretty good at (NBA) 2K. My team is the Bucks. We just got Damien Lillard, too, so it’s not really fair.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “Usually I’ll go get shots up before a game, then go listen to music somewhere. Just get my mind ready before a game and give myself a little pep talk about things I can do to impact the game, how I can help my teammates and just do whatever it takes to win.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “I’d probably say Chris (Hurt), Julian (Norwood) or Ethan (Martin).”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Give me (Steph) Curry. He shoots like 90-something percent his whole career. Or my dad. I know he’d hit a free throw for me.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “I’ll rep my future school and say Greyhounds or my high school, a Tiger.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “I feel like it could be soccer or flag football. Soccer you have to be really fast and athletic. Flag football I feel like you could just go out there and have fun.”
Why do you wear No. 5? “I’m actually not sure why I wear 5. When I first go to Attucks I was going to wear 13 because my grandfather because he passed away the summer I transferred (from North Central) and he played at Attucks and wore 13 but I couldn’t because they had the number retired. The way 5 looked, I liked it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Probably Braden Smith (2022 Mr. Basketball from Westfield). I played against him in open gym when I was playing with Grand Park AAU. Good competition.”
Mark Zackery IV, Ben Davis
Nickname: MZ
College: Undecided
Year: Junior
Why he’s here: The 6-1 junior averaged 6.6 points and 2.4 assists as a sophomore on Ben Davis’ 33-0 state championship team. Zackery shot 32.6% (28-for-86) from the 3-point line. He came up clutch in some of Ben Davis’ biggest games, putting up 16 points, three rebounds and two steals in the state championship against Kokomo.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Probably me. I don’t dance a lot but I’ll say me. Last year it was Clay (Butler). He was the dancing guy.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “KJ (Windham). I trust him in my car. We listen to a lot of the same things. He has an influence on what I listen to so he gets the aux.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Long socks. Long shorts. Those are the main two. That’s bad. If shorts are past your knees, your wrong.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “Probably learning to cook from my mom. Playing video games. Talking with my sister, talking with my family. I like talking a lot with my family, my close peers. Special talents, I take pictures. When we have JV games or freshman games at our school, I take pictures for those guys and post them on social media to get their stuff out there.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I’d say praying by myself before a game. I do it for football, too. Finding like a little spot, whether it is coming out last in the locker room or finding spot by myself where I can pray about what I have going on in my life.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “I’ll probably have to say KJ. If my life depended on it, he’s going to make it.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “My dad. He’s not a super basketball player, but if it’s a competitive thing, he’ll knock it down.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “Baseball. I always wish I’d played baseball. I have the athleticism. I feel like if I played now I’d be pretty good. I just can’t hit the ball because they are throwing too fast now. If I would have started when I was younger, I feel like I’d be pretty good at that.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “Probably the Fruit Snacks. Or something to do with lunches. That’s all I eat. If you gave me a box right now I’d be gone before I left, I promise.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “Probably football. Just because I’ve been around it a lot more and my dad played it. He put me out there. I played different positions so I know what people are thinking on the field, playing both sides of the ball on offense and defense helps me a lot. Offense is probably easier for football. Defense not as much but playing receiver is pretty easy.”
Why do you wear No. 2? “No. 4 was taken. I wear No. 4 for football because I’m Mark Zackery IV. I really just don’t change it for basketball. I wore 20 my freshman year, then I wanted to wear 4 my sophomore year but a senior had it so I’m just going to stick with 2 for the rest of my high school basketball career.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Markus Burton. Easy. Easy. He’s tough to guard. When that game was over (at the Hall of Fame Classic) and they were saying, ‘You shut him down’ I was like, ‘Bro, he had 20-something.’ He shot a lot of shots, but he was so tough to guard. We started communicating a little bit after the season. I love watching his game and I’m looking forward to seeing him play (at Notre Dame). Good thing I don’t have to guard him anymore.”
THIRD TEAM
Kobi Bowles, Lawrence North
Nickname: Kob (or “Hollywood” from grandma)
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-1 senior averaged 13.8 ppg, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 steals to help the Wildcats to an 18-8 season. Bowles has the ball in his hands a lot as a playmaker for Lawrence North and is a strong defender.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “I’d have to say Cam Webster. I don’t do any dancing.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “I’d say me.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “I think when I’m backing down sometimes and they miss the flop. They call it an offensive foul.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I think my special talent is my athleticism and I use that to play basketball. I really try to put all my effort toward that.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “No I just keep it basic to not throw my flow off or anything or how I feel before the game. Just keep a steady mood and mindset to go out there and dominate.
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Azavier (Robinson). No doubt.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Kyrie Irving.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “Football, most definitely. I think my athleticism would be something to see on the football field. Last time I played was fifth grade. I was running back, had some touchdowns. Don’t want to say I was the star player but I was pretty good.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “The Angels. Something with some good meaning and positivity.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “I’d say tennis. Even though that my be the hardest. But as long as you have really good anticipation and are athletic enough, I think tennis would be the easiest one.”
Why do you wear No. 13? “Really no story behind it. It’s my mom’s favorite number. I used to wear No. 2.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “My teammate, Azavier Robinson. We have some really good battles. I feel like that’s what makes the team so competitive. I think us going at each other really pushes us. I can’t wait to see what it looks like this year.”
Trey Buchanan, Westfield
Nickname: TB
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-foot guard averaged 14.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a junior, shooting 37.9% (58-for-153) from the 3-point line. He made 10 3-pointers in a game against Frankfort last season to set a program record for a single game.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Probably Charles Farrell. He’s probably the smoothest dancer. I’m not a huge dancer. He’s definitely got it though. I’ll give it to him.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “It’s kind of first come, first serve. Whoever makes it to the speaker the fastest gets the aux. But it’s probably Charles again. He’s usually the one doing the music. It’s either him or Rylan Rauch, but it’s usually Charles. Sometimes morning practice if I get there before every else, I’ll throw something on myself.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably not talking on a screen. As a guard, getting drilled on a screen that you have no clue is coming is probably the biggest ick for me. It’s usually a big man, too, so that’s mine.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I play the piano. I’ve played the piano for the last seven years. I like music a lot and my mom was big on learning an instrument so that was the one I chose. We have a piano at home so I hop on there every now and then. My go to when somebody asks me to play something is “I Spy” by Lil Yachty. It’s easy chords that I can remember. If it’s a longer song I need to see notes in front of me and play each note and get the rhythm down and then I can play it. “I Spy” I just know by heart. I do a lesson once a week.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I have a pregame warmup that I do before every game. Dribbling and shooting stuff. I would say I’m a superstitious guy, watching my favorite teams, but not really once I’m preparing for my own game. I do my routine, bunch of a dribbling stuff that I learned from Payton Pritchard when I lived in Oregon and start off with close-range shooting and move back from there.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “I’ll take Jack Benter (AAU teammate). Or Isaac Andrews. Those are probably best two shooters I’ve played with that are current teammates. One of those two, for sure.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Probably Curry. That’s a pretty common answer though, so I’ll go Damian Lillard. That’s my favorite NBA player so I’m sticking with Dame there.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “I played baseball up until high school and soccer until I moved here. If I picked one up, it might be soccer. I like baseball but I think it’s one of those sports that you can’t really just pick up and be good at it again. I think I could hang in soccer because I’m in condition and have decent footwork. Soccer I always played defense. Baseball I was second base, pitched a little bit and played outfield.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? Give me the leprechaun.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “Physically, golf. But definitely not mentally. Swimming maybe. But that uses the whole body. I’ll go with tennis. But any sport is not easy.”
Why do you wear No. 3? “My name is Trey so I’ve always been 3. I liked Chris Paul and watched a lot of him when I was young. They called him CP3 so I like to call myself TB3 when I was young.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “I’ll go with Flory (Bidunga). He’s pretty tough. Jack (Benter) is pretty tough, too.”
Keenan Garner, Fishers
Nickname: KG
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-6 Garner averaged 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game last season for Fishers. He shot 55% from the field in his first season at Fishers after moving from Germany. He has offers from Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “I’d have to say Justin Kirby. He’s a little TikTok star but he’s definitely the best dancer on the team.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Always me. I always on the aux. I usually try to get the team hype but I will throw some Beyonce in there, Rod Wave. Some Lil Baby, too.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably people who wear like Adidas socks and Nike shoes. That’s a pretty big ‘ick’ for me.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I used to play the tuba. I’m not very good at it anymore because I haven’t played in a minute but that’s probably a hidden talent I have.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “Not really. I just really like listen to music and get locked in before the game and get some shots up. I always like to eat good before the game. Some Chick-fil-A. A Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich is definitely a go-to before the game.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Jalen Haralson. That’s my guy right there. He’d hit it for me.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “I’ll stick with Jalen. I’m confident in my boy.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “I’d definitely go with a bear, something like that. A big animal, something intimidating.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “I’d say volleyball. I think boys volleyball is pretty easy to get into compared to other sports.”
Why do you wear No. 23? “Honestly it’s because (Fishers) didn’t have my original number. I always wore No. 13 growing up for my first head coach who inspired me to play basketball. At Fishers they didn’t have 13 so I thought 23 would be a nice switch up.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “Probably who pushed me the most back when I played in Germany was Mikey De Sousa. He plays pro over there now but he’s probably one of the toughest players I’ve ever played against because I played against him so much. We knew each other’s moves. He’s just a tough player.”
Josiah Gustin, Pendleton Heights
Nickname: Jo
College: Undecided
Year: Senior
Why he’s here: The 6-7 Gustin averaged 13.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 blocked shots and 2.1 assists as a junior for the Arabians, shooting 54% from the field and 31% from the 3-point line (16-for-52). Gustin has 723 points, 418 rebounds and 140 blocked shots for his career at Pendleton Heights.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Probably Dontrez Braxton.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Dontrez Braxton, again. We have the same music tastes but his music is good. I like it.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “Probably when people have too many accessories. Like when they have an arm sleeve, headband, knee sleeves.”
Is there a call you get specifically that you dislike? “Probably when I block a shot and get called for a foul.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “I really just play basketball. That’s really the only hobby.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “I shower before every game and listen to music. That’s about it. Any song by Drake kind of gets me hyped up.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Definitely Jamison Dunham.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “Definitely Steph Curry for sure.”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “I’d probably go with the Indy Snakes.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “Probably track. It depends what I’d run but I’d probably do pretty well in that.”
Why do you wear No. 34? “When I came to high school it was kind of what was given so I’ve been sticking with that ever since. I guess Giannis (Antetokounmpo) was a big part of that because everyone said I played like him and looked like him. That’s kind of changed now but I kind of stuck with it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “I want to say Myles Colvin. He’s super athletic. We played them at home and they won (in overtime). I matched the same amount of points with him so I felt pretty good about that.”
Lonte Ward Jr., Lutheran
Nickname: LJ
College: Undecided
Year: Junior
Why he’s here: The 5-10 Ward, also a standout in football and an all-state high jumper, averaged 13.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game as a sophomore to help the Saints to a Class A state championship. He had 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals in the state championship game.
Who is the best dancer on your team? “Last year I’d say Coach Jason (Dockery) or player I’d say KJ Patterson. He’s kind of hilarious.”
Who gets aux in the locker room? “Most of the time it’s Boss Jones in football and basketball. He has the playlist. He’ll ask our player group chat for three or four songs and he’ll put it all together.”
What is your basketball ‘ick’? “When referees try to run the game or take over. It makes it bad for both teams. It takes the fun out of it. There’s a lot of good referees.”
What are your hobbies or special talents? “All I do is really play sports. For hobbies I’d say football and track. But I do listen to music a lot.”
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions? “My freshman year we used to get something to eat before the game and come back and listen music. We’d go to Culver’s since it’s close to the school.”
If your life depended on it, who is a teammate or former teammate you would pick to make a free throw? “Probably Damon Howard from Pike.”
How about anybody in the world to pick? “I’d say (Steph) Curry. If Kobe was alive I’d say him for sure.”
If you could star in another sport, what would it be? “I like track a lot (Ward was sixth in the high jump at state).”
If you were starting a professional franchise what would the name of the team be? “Like the Ducks for Oregon.”
What sport do you think is the easiest? “Football is probably the easiest to play.”
Why do you wear No. 11? “I didn’t choose this number. One of my old coaches gave me it so I just kept it.”
Who is the toughest player you’ve played against? “I played against Stink (Robinson) for Lawrence North. That was a pretty good game. It was a good matchup, pretty even. We ended up losing on a game-winning shot from Kobi but it was still a good game.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.