2026 Boys Junior All Stars Named

2026 Indiana boys' Junior All-Stars named

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Contact: Pat McKee, 317-403-1665

April 1, 2026                            IBCA Director of Special Projects

2026 Indiana boys' Junior All-Stars named

18 players selected to face Kentucky Juniors, Indiana Seniors in June games

Eighteen players have been selected to the IndyStar Indiana boys' Junior All-Stars for 2026, All-Stars games director Mike Broughton announced Wednesday (April 1).

Those selected to the six-player Core Group include Harper Baker-Lands of Plainfield, Jason Gardner Jr. of Fishers, Isaiah Hill of Pike, Jahari Miller of Pike, Max Vise of Mt. Vernon (Fortville) and Cooper Zachary of Fishers.

In addition to the Core Group, six players each were chosen for squads labeled Red Group and Blue Group.

The Red Group players are Devin Bolden of Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Duncan Combs of Bloomington South, Derrick Cross Jr. of Bloomington North, Jake Grissom of Guerin Catholic, Brandon Hunter of Silver Creek and Tyler Renn of Terre Haute North.

The Blue Group players are Brody Baker of Harrison (West Lafayette), Cash Daniels of Carmel, Elijah King of South Bend Saint Joseph, Da'Kori Parker of South Bend Riley, Austin Schlabach of Westview and Mack Welker of Homestead.

Scott McClelland of Noblesville will be the head coach, and Heath Howington of Class A state champion Barr-Reeve will be the assistant coach.

McClelland has an 86-38 record with one sectional title in five seasons at Noblesville, including a 13-11 mark this past season. He is 332-207 in 23 seasons overall as a boys' varsity coach. That includes a 73-78 record in seven seasons at Morristown, a 25-16 mark in two seasons at Brebeuf Jesuit, a 31-35 ledger in three seasons at Western Boone and a 117-40 slate in six seasons in a second tenure at Morristown. His Morristown team was the 2018 Class A state champion, and his Yellow Jackets won additional sectionals in 2007 and 2019. He was an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 2018 and was a 2018 Junior All-Star assistant coach.

A 1993 graduate of Yorktown High School, McClelland played basketball and football. He played basketball for one season at Ancilla College, then completed his education at Ball State, earning a bachelor's degree in 1998. He began coaching as a Yorktown girls' basketball assistant from 1995-98. He went 11-11 as the Wapahani girls' head coach in 1998-99, then was a boys' assistant for one season each at Blue River Valley, Indianapolis Cathedral and Indianapolis Scecina before being named boys' head coach at Morristown in 2003-04.

Howington guided Barr-Reeve to a 28-1 season and the Class A title. In his first season at Barr-Reeve, his Vikings also won the Blue Chip Conference, the Loogootee Sectional, Washington Regional and Washington Semi-State. He has a 182-158 ledger in 14 seasons as a head coach. He previously went 83-113 in eight seasons at North Posey and 71-44 in five seasons at Evansville Memorial. Howington is a 2002 graduate of Evansville Reitz and earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Southern Indiana. He was an assistant coach at Eastern Greene, Bloomington South and Evansville Harrison before becoming a head coach at North Posey.

The Junior All-Stars will play one game against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday, May 31 at Charlestown High School. The Junior All-Stars also will play one game against the Indiana All-Star senior boys on Wednesday, June 3 at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville. Both games will be doubleheaders with the 2025 Indiana girls' Junior All-Stars, whose roster was announced on March 9.

The players listed as Core Group players each will play in two games. The players listed in the Red and Blue groups each will play in one game, the Red Group on May 31 against the Kentucky Juniors and the Blue Group on June 3 against the Indiana Seniors.

The Indiana senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 5 at Lexington Catholic High School. The Indiana senior All-Stars will play Kentucky's seniors again on June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The roster for the Senior girls was announced March 18. The roster for the Senior boys will be announced later.

The fourth annual IndyStar Indiana All-Star "Futures Games" doubleheader will be played on June 1 at a site to be announced. The Futures Games will be a girls-boys doubleheader with Indiana-only squads of sophomores and freshmen in a North vs. South format. The girls' Futures Game rosters were announced on March 26. The boys' Futures Game rosters will be announced later.

The 2026 Indiana boys' Junior All-Star team was selected through a process that allows all IBCA-member head coaches to nominate players through the IBCA all-state process. The 22-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association all-state committee reviewed and voted on players for the 2026 IBCA boys' All-State teams that were released on March 25.

The 22 all-state committee members also provided input to a five-person IBCA committee appointed by IBCA executive director Marty Johnson and chaired by IBCA assistant director Brandon Ramsey. That committee finalized the selections for the 2026 boys' Junior All-Stars.

The Indiana Junior All-Star program was founded in 1996 by former Indiana All-Star games director Patrick Aikman. In most years, 18 players have been chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In five years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019), 24 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In 2021, just 12 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars.

In games from 1996 through 2024 (with no games in 2020 because of COVID-19), the Indiana Senior boys lead the Indiana Junior boys 42-12 and the Indiana Senior girls also lead the Indiana Junior girls 42-12. In nine years of games against the Kentucky Juniors, the Indiana Junior boys lead 9-5 and the Indiana Junior girls lead 13-1. Games against the Kentucky Juniors previously have been played in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The Indiana portion of the All-Star Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is the title sponsor. Hoosier Shooting Academic is a presenting partner for All-Star Week. Energy Systems Group is a presenting partner of the Saturday doubleheader against Kentucky.

A list of those chosen as 2026 boys' Junior All-Stars follows.

2026 IndyStar Indiana boys' Junior All-Stars

BOYS CORE GROUP (playing on May 31 and June 3)

Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice

Harper Baker-Lands, 6-4, G, 17.6, Plainfield, undecided

Jason Gardner Jr., 6-1, G, 20.3, Fishers, undecided

Isaiah Hill, 7-0, C, 12.0, Pike, undecided

Jahari Miller, 6-3, G, 13.9, Pike, undecided

Max Vise, 6-8, F, 14.3, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), undecided

Cooper Zachary, 5-10, G, 14.8, Fishers, undecided

BOYS RED GROUP (playing on May 31 vs. Kentucky Juniors)

Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice

Devin Bolden, 6-8, F, 20.9, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, undecided

Duncan Combs, 6-6, F, 15.0, Bloomington South, undecided

Derrick Cross Jr., 6-3, G, 18.5, Bloomington North, undecided

Jake Grissom, 6-3, G, 20.7, Guerin Catholic, undecided

Brandon Hunter, 6-3, G, 12.0, Silver Creek, undecided

Tyler Renn, 6-6, F, 9.5, Terre Haute North, undecided

BOYS BLUE GROUP (playing on June 3 vs. Indiana Seniors)

Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice

Brody Baker, 6-0, G, 19.0, Harrison (West Lafayette), undecided

Cash Daniels, 5-10, G, 13.7, Carmel, undecided

Elijah King, 6-2, G, 19.2, South Bend Saint Joseph, undecided

Da’Kori Parker, 5-10, G, 13.3, South Bend Riley, undecided

Austin Schlabach, 6-2, G, 19.9, Westview, undecided

Mack Welker, 6-6, F, 20.8, Homestead, undecided

Head coach: Scott McClelland, Noblesville

Assistant coach: Heath Howington, Barr-Reeve

* * *

2026 IndyStar Indiana All-Star key dates

Sunday, May 31 — Indiana Juniors vs. Kentucky Juniors at Charlestown High School (1 Pirate Place, Charlestown, IN 47111) — girls, 2:00 p.m. EDT; boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).

Monday, June 1 – Indiana All-Stars “Futures Games” doubleheader at site TBA – girls, 6:00 p.m. EDT, boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).

Wednesday, June 3 — Junior-Senior All-Star game at Mt. Vernon High School (8112 N. 200 W., Fortville, IN 46040) — girls, 6:00 p.m. EDT; boys, to follow; admission, $15 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).

Friday, June 5 — Indiana at Kentucky at Lexington Catholic High School (2250 Clays Mill Rd., Lexington, KY 40503) — girls, 5:30 p.m. EDT; boys, to follow, time TBA. Ticket information, Available starting May 1 at kentuckybasketballcoaches.org.

Saturday, June 6 — Indiana vs. Kentucky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (125 S. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) — Senior girls, 5:00 p.m. EDT; Senior boys, to follow (about 7:30 p.m. EDT). Ticket information, TBA.

^^^

Gene Milner

IBCA Website Coordinator