Columbus North High School

Release courtesy of Pat McKee, IBCA director of special projects Sixty-nine Indiana high school seniors -- 36 boys and 33 girls -- have been chosen as first-team Academic All-State for 2023 by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Thursday (March 9). In addition, 234 more boys and 247 more girls were recognized as honorable mention Academic All-State for 2023, IBCA executive director Marty Johnson said. In total, 550 players received some level of recognition in this year's IBCA Academic All-State program. (Note: Columbus North's Ty Ferguson, Cooper Horn, Zac Horn, and Emma Long were included among the honorable mention list). The IBCA Academic All-State program is one where academic prowess and athletic prowess both are considered in the selections. Items such as grade-point average, academic class rank and SAT or ACT scores are considered along with athletic performance in areas such as points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game. "The quality of these student-athletes shows that success in academics and success in athletics are not separate entities," Johnson 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 senior student-athletes 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 and either an SAT score of 1100 (on the reading and math sections) or an ACT composite score of 24. Once nominations were received, an IBCA committee reviewed the information and determined awards for first team and honorable mention. Those selected will receive certificates from the IBCA for their honor. Plans are for certificates to be distributed in PDF form to coaches via e-mail during April for the coach to print. The coach then may present the certificate to each honored player sometime before the conclusion of the 2022-23 academic year. 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. Boys' first-team players for 2023 are: Landon Biegel, Oak Hill; Luke Chambers, Lewis Cass; Peter Combs, Bloomfield; Austin Cripe, West Noble; Hayden Dase, Kankakee Valley; Owen Duff, Carroll (Flora); Drew DuPont, Tecumseh; Cooper Farrall, Culver Military Academy; Landon Fritsch, Seymour; Josh Furst, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian; Ben Henderson, Harrison (West Lafayette); Isaac Higgs, Evansville Reitz; Dayton Hoover, Frontier; Jase Howell, Madison-Grant; Lucas Kegerreis, Roncalli; Ben Keil, Lakeland; Keegan Manowitz, Jennings County; Bauer Maple, Maconaquah; Luke McBride, Norwell; Peyton Merica, Rising Sun; Tyler Myers, Evansville Day; Grant Oldham, Tri-West; Andre Ozlowski, University; Jake Parker, Norwell; Cole Pride, Batesville; Ian Raasch, NorthWood; Alex Romack, Westfield; Caleb Roy, Christian Academy; Sheperd Scott, Washington Township; Gage Sefton, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian; Coda Snyder, Bloomington Lighthouse Christian; Eli Swank, McCutcheon; Wyatt Thornburgh, Blue River Valley; Lance Wilson, North Daviess; Logan Wilson, North Daviess; and Lane Zohrlaut, Jennings County. Girls' first-team players 2023 are: Trinity Britton, South Spencer; Sidney Brown, Salem; Kristin Bukata, Valparaiso; Ally Capouch, Kouts; Cristen Carter, Ben Davis; Maci Chamberlin, Blue River Valley; Mya Cline, Washington Catholic; Vanessa Cook, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger; McKinley Correll, Southwestern (Shelby); Kelsey DuBois, University; Katelyn Fennell, West Vigo; Caitlin Heim, Bloomington South; Laila Hull, Zionsville; McKenna Layden, Northwestern; Caroline Long, Western; Reagan Martin, Owen Valley; Preslee Michael, Terre Haute North; Katie Moyer, Bremen; Karsyn Norman, Bedford North Lawrence; Bailey Parham, Tri; Abby Parsons, Cascade; Maeve Perry, Brebeuf Jesuit; Lizzie Redar, Lawrenceburg; Gabby Richie, Logansport; Tessa Robertson, North White; Katheryn Rutherford, Western Boone; Haylee Schott, Leo; Ashlee Schram, Tipton; Hallie Schweitzer, Triton Central; Avah Smith, Woodlan; Amber Tretter, Forest Park; Whitney Warfel, Pendleton Heights; and Kate Wenger, Evansville Mater Dei.