IBCA E-Newsletter

Second national Rising Senior Academy a success

The second national Rising Senior Academy was held at Ben Davis High School in July 2014.

This event was created by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association and supported by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The purpose of this event was to bring some of the top players in the nation together to develop leadership and basketball skills.

The following five states participated with nine teams as the event was expanded to include boys and girls – Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin each had boys’ and girls’ teams; Washington brought only a boys’ team.

During the three-day event, which included an Opening Ceremony at New Castle Fieldhouse and a tour of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, the teams participated in four games utilizing round-robin format. The players heard presentations related to leadership, the recruiting process, social media and the student-athlete, and reaching one’s full potential as a person and player.

These speakers addressed the players: David Ginsberg, NHSBCA, Executive Director; Paul Biancardi, ESPN basketball analyst and former college coach; Ira Childress, Childress Sports Consulting; Bob Lovell, Indiana Sports Talk host, former college coach, author; and Brett Ledbetter, a nationally known basketball skills trainer.

NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Junior College coaches were in attendance to observe the event.

The Indiana boys’ team went 2-2 in the 2014 event. Representing Indiana were Sean McDermott, Pendleton Heights; Joel Okafor, Richmond; Jordan Geist, Penn; Drew Hackett, Munster; Matt Holba, Guerin Catholic; Tahjai Teague, Pike; Adam Eberhard, Evansville Memorial; Chris Palombizio, Chesterton; and Brennan Gillis, Ben Davis. Indiana coaches were Jamie Kolkmeier of Corydon Central, Chad Ballenger of Hamilton Heights and Brent Keck of Perry Meridian.

The Indiana girls’ team went 3-1 in the 2014 event. Players for Indiana were Josie Fisher, Homestead; Lamina Cooper, Lawrence North; Alexa Bailey, Bedford North Lawrence; Darby Maggard, Fort Wayne Canterbury; Tiara Murphy, South Bend Washington; Olivia Crozier, Madison; Tori Schickel, Evansville Mater Dei; Dominique McBryde, Bedford North Lawrence; Brittany Ward, Pike. Victoria Gaines of Merrillville and Jordyn Frantz of NorthWood also attended, but played just briefly because of injury. Coaches were Pat McKee of Columbus North, Lisa Blalock of Muncie Central and Ron Patberg of Columbus North.

Teams from Wisconsin went 4-0 in the boys' and girls' competitions. For a more thorough recap and to see some photos from the event, go to http://www.ibcacoaches.com/news-events/rising_stars.aspx.