INDIANAPOLIS — It's a jam-packed weekend for high school basketball as the Indiana All-Stars, made up of the best high school boys and girls basketball players in the state, will face off against Kentucky — first in Owensboro on Friday, then in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Saturday night.
The teams consist of the best of the best, representing state pride in the basketball mecca.
"This is what every kid dreams of that plays basketball here, you know," Ben Davis basketball player and Ball State commit Zane Doughty said. "Indiana being a basketball state and being a part of the highest acknowledgement that you can be — it really means a lot. People only dream of this."
"It means so much," Indiana Miss Basketball Laila Hull, a Zionsville alum and North Carolina commit, said. "I mean, the basketball community is so big. This is such a huge deal. Indiana is a basketball state. The fact that they chose me to represent them means a lot, just knowing how much they care about basketball, so it's great."
It means just as much for the coaches leading the way. Don Carlisle, the head coach for the boys Indiana All-Stars team, is fresh off an unbeaten season and state championship at Ben Davis. Meanwhile, the All-Star girls have Kristi Ulrich, who has never lost a game by double digits in her 14-year run at Penn High School, leading the way.
"Humble beginnings to be able to come and be selected to coach one of the most prestigious positions in high school basketball," Carlisle said. "So it's a pretty big deal for me."
"Indiana is the basketball state," Ulrich said. "Not only that, but these girls and I are extremely competitive. So, just being able to have the opportunity to compete, whether it's against Kentucky or Ohio or whoever it could potentially be, we want to go out there and put our best foot forward, and we want to win."
The pride of representing the Hoosier State is one thing, but the expectation of beating Kentucky is another.
"You want to beat them every single year," Zionsville alum and Notre Dame commit Logan Imes saod. "I think Indiana has done a good job of that, so we don't want to be the group that messes that up. We're going to try and get the win both times. All 13 of us worked for this, and it's just an honor to be here with some of the best players in the state."
No love is lost between Indiana and Kentucky at any level. Both the boys and girls will play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, June 10 — the girls at 5 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m.
Full rosters of both teams are below:
Indiana All-Stars Boys Team
Luke Almodovar
Noblesville High School, 6'3", guard, 17.5ppg, Saint Francis (Ind.) commit
Xavier Booker
Cathedral High School, 6'11", forward, 15.2ppg, Michigan State commit
Markus Burton (Indiana Mr. Basketball)
Penn High School, 6'1", guard, 30.2ppg, Notre Dame commit
Myles Colvin
Heritage Christian High School, 6'7", forward, 19.5ppg, Purdue commit
Zane Doughty
Ben Davis High School, 6'9", forward, 13.5ppg, Ball State commit
Joey Hart
Linton-Stockton High School, 6'6", guard, 23.7ppg, undecided
Logan Imes
Zionsville High School, 6'4", guard, 16.9ppg, Notre Dame commit
A.J. Lux
Crown Point High School, 6'5", guard, 21.5ppg, Bellarmine commit
Sam Orme
Carmel High School, 6'9", forward, 18.0ppg, Belmont commit
Ian Raasch
NorthWood High School, 6'6", guard, 15.0ppg, Grace (Ind.) commit
JaQualon Roberts
Bloomington North High School, 6'8", forward, 19.6ppg, Vanderbilt commit
Sheridan Sharp
Ben Davis High School, 6'3", guard, 9.8ppg, Southern Illinois commit
Indiana All-Stars Girls team
Ashlynn Brooke
Pioneer High School, 24.0ppg, Ball State commit
Olivia Brown
Hamilton Southeastern High School, 6.9ppg, Akron commit
Cristen Carter
Ben Davis High School, 18.6ppg, Miami (OH) commit
Asia Donald
Hobart High School, 26.7ppg, Indiana State commit
Layla Gold
Cathedral High School, 22.0ppg, Valparaiso commit
Laila Hull (Indiana Miss Basketball)
Zionsville High School, 22.0ppg, North Carolina commit
Rashunda Jones
South Bend Washington High School, 19.7ppg, Purdue commit
McKenna Layden
Northwestern High School, 21.6ppg, Purdue commit
Riley Makalusky
Hamilton Southeastern High School, 20.0ppg, Butler commit
Karsyn Norman
Bedford North Lawrence High School, 15.0ppg, Butler commit
Amiyah Reynolds
South Bend Washington High School, 15.2ppg, Maryland commit
Saige Stahl
Columbus East High School, 26.0ppg, Indiana State commit
Amber Tretter
Forest Park High School, 15.8ppg, Miami (OH) commit