There will be a change in the selection process for the 2007 Indiana All-Star basketball teams, according to game director Patrick Aikman of the Indianapolis Star.
Though the Indiana teams have been doing very well under the decades-old previous system (Indiana has gone 15-3 in the boys games in the past nine years and the girls have finished 24-8 in the past 16 years), the switch to all-day tryouts offers a more concentrated evaluation of prospects and also resolves some other timing issues.
The most significant change will involve separate all-day camps for the girls, tentatively set for March 4, and for the boys, tentatively set for March 25. As presently envisioned, 32 players will be invited to each camp. The all-star head coaches and their assistants will direct the camps with additional coaches from the IBCA. Final decisions on the two squads’ personnel will remain with the game director and the All-Star Coaches.
An All-Star ballot will be mailed in February to solicit votes for Miss Basketball and Mr. Basketball and to get an advisory vote on the state’s best male and female players from coaches and media. Additional nominations will be solicited from IBCA Coaches’ representatives. Final invitations to the tryouts will be sent to players as soon as the voting and nominations have been reviewed.
Previously final selections were made after the completion of the girls and boys Top 40. Often this meant the selections were not announced until late March or early April for the girls and early May for the boys, delaying ticket sales, promotion and advertising to school with prospective candidates. It also delayed ordering uniforms, shoes and other equipment, often until there were less than three weeks left in the school year.
In-season scouting, all-state teams named by media and coaches, and recommendations from coaches and others will continue to be considered in the team selection process.
The Top 40 events for boys and girls, it is expected, will continue as usual under their long-time sponsor.
Moving tryout and announcement dates ahead by weeks will also result in the earlier announcement of the boys' and girls' All-Star coaches and sites for exhibition games with the Indiana Junior All-Stars.
In 2006 games Indiana’s girls came from behind in Bowling Green, led by Ashley Barlow of Pike with 23 points and 12 rebounds, to win 71-64. Amber Harris had seven game–saving blocked shots in the final minutes. Dee Dee Jernigan of East Chicago Central added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Luke Harangody, Andrean, scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the boys to a relatively easy 90-74 win. Chris Kramer, Huntington North, and Vaughn Duggings, Pendleton Heights, and Mike Conley, Lawrence North, added 15, 15, and 12 in the win that came without the services of Mr. Basketball, Greg Oden, out with surgery.
