Girls All Star Coaches Named 2026

Huppenthal, Shearer, Smith named coaches for 2026 IndyStar girls' Indiana All-Stars

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

March 2, 2026 IBCA Director of Special Projects

Joe Huppenthal of Lake Central has been named head coach for the 2026 IndyStar girls’ Indiana All-Stars, games director Mike Broughton announced Monday (March 2). Huppenthal will be assisted by Amy Shearer of Columbia City and Brian Smith of Loogootee.

The 2026 girls’ All-Stars will play three games in June – one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

   Huppenthal has compiled a 178-86 record in 10 seasons as the girls’ varsity coach at Lake Central, including a 13-13 finish in 2025-26. He is 294-125 in 17 seasons as a girls’ coach, including six seasons at East Chicago Central and one season at South Bend Clay. At Lake Central, his girls’ teams have won four Duneland Conference titles, four sectionals, two regionals, one semi-state and finished as 2024 Class 4A state runner-up. At East Chicago Central, his girls’ teams went 103-27 and won five consecutive sectionals, 1992 through 1996.

In addition, Huppenthal went 204-223 with two Northern Indiana Conference championships, three NIC Tournament crowns and two sectional titles in 19 seasons as a boys’ coach at South Bend Clay. His overall varsity record is 498-348 in 36 seasons.

He was voted an IBCA girls’ District 1 Coach of the Year in 2022. He also was selected NIC boys’ Coach of the Year in 2009 and the Northwest Indiana Times girls’ Area Coach of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

A 1982 graduate of Highland High School, Huppenthal attended Purdue University and was a student manager for Gene Keady in the men’s basketball program from 1983-87. He served as the Boilermakers’ head student manager his final two seasons.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in math, Huppenthal became a teacher and coach. He earned a master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University in 2004. He is in his 10th year teaching geometry at Lake Central.

Huppenthal and his wife, Shannon, have four adult children – Jared, Timmy, Teddy and Phoebe – and four grandchildren.

   Shearer guided Columbia City to a 16-8 mark this past season and is 237-150 in 16 seasons at her alma mater. Her teams have posted five 20-win seasons, captured three Northeast 8 Conference titles (2020, 2022 and 2023) and claimed sectional and regional crowns in 2025.

She served as the North head coach in the 2024 Futures Game and as the assistant coach for the 2025 Junior All-Stars.

The former Amy Lefever totaled 1,029 points as a Columbia City player, graduating in 1989. She matriculated to the University of Evansville, where she ranks fifth with 1,362 career points, shares the school record for 3-pointers in a season (86), is tied for second in career 3-pointers (204) and placed third in the 3-point competition held in conjunction with the 1994 NCAA men’s Final Four. She also was voted second-team all-Midwestern Collegiate Conference team in 1994, MCC all-academic in 1994 and was inducted to the UE Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from UE in education, she became a teacher and coach. She was an assistant at Gibson Southern from 1994-97 and at Huntington North from 1997-2001 before returning to Columbia City for seven seasons as an assistant to Wayne Krieger. Shearer was named the Eagles’ head coach in 2010-11 and is only the program’s third varsity coach since 1975.

She earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Indiana University in 2000 and is in her 24th year as an eighth-grade U.S. history teacher for Whitley County Schools.

Shearer has two children – daughter, Olivia, 24, and son, Peyton, 21.

   Smith is 152-111 in 11 seasons as the coach at Loogootee, including a 16-7 slate this past season. His teams have won three Blue Chip Conference titles (2018, 2020, 2021) as well as two sectionals, two regionals, two semi-states, the 2020 Class A state title and a 2021 Class A state runner-up finish.

He was the HBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 2019 and an IBCA girls’ District 3 Coach of the Year in 2020. He also served as head coach for the 2021 Junior All-Stars and as an assistant coach for the South Team in the 2023 All-Star Futures Game.

A 1991 graduate of White River Valley High School, Smith competed in basketball and cross country. He went on to Indiana State, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1997.

Smith began his coaching career in 1999 at WRV, where he served as a boys’ basketball assistant coach for seven seasons. He was named the boys’ varsity coach at Shoals in 2007, where he assumed a rebuilding program and guided the Jug Rox to a 36-90 slate over six seasons. He became the Loogootee girls’ coach in 2015.

He has been a health and physical education teacher at Shoals Junior-Senior High for 19 years and is in his 27th year overall as a teacher.

Smith and his wife, DeAnna, are parents of two sons – Nick, 25, and Jacob, 22.

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 3 at a site to be announced. The first game against Kentucky will be June 5 at a site to be announced. The final game against Kentucky will be June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar boys' Indiana All-Stars.

Rosters for the 2026 Indiana girls' All-Stars, Indiana boys' All-Stars, girls' Junior All-Stars and boys' Junior All-Stars will be announced later.

The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play two girl-boy doubleheaders this year – May 31 against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars at Charlestown and June 3 against the Indiana seniors at a site to be announced.

The 2026 IndyStar Indiana All-Star "Futures Games" doubleheader will be on June 1 at a site to be announced. This event, for girls and boys who are current sophomores or freshmen, will feature two Indiana teams in a North-South format. Rosters for the Futures Games will be announced later.

The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana boys' All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls' portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996. The All-Star senior girls have played Kentucky every year since 1976, except 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The All-Star senior boys have played Kentucky in all but three years since 1940 -- 1943 (World War II), 1944 (World War II) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic).

The Indiana Senior girls lead 55-43 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior girls lead 42-12 in games against the Indiana Junior girls. The Indiana Junior girls lead 13-1 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior boys lead 107-46 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior boys lead 42-12 in games against the Indiana Junior boys. The Indiana Junior boys lead 9-5 in their series with Kentucky. In the three years of Futures Games, the North girls lead 2-1 and the South boys lead 2-1.

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 Academy is a presenting partner for All-Star Week. Energy Systems Group is a presenting partner of the Saturday doubleheader against Kentucky.

^^^

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 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).

Friday, June 5 — Indiana at Kentucky at site TBA — girls, time, TBA; boys, to follow, time TBA. Ticket information, TBA.

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