Charlie Hughes Shootout standouts Part 1: 30 players who shined in high school basketball event
CARMEL – It was a jam-packed weekend of high school basketball at the Charlie Hughes Shootout (technically called the IBCA/IHSAA Boys Team Showcase in Memory of Charlie Hughes). The added bonus is that the annual June event now comes during an evaluation period for college coaches.
I was not able to see every team or every player, obviously. There were 199 teams playing over the three days. I tried to watch full games, or at least most of full games and not bounce around so much. I'm splitting this into two parts. These is the first group of 30 players I saw in person who caught my eye this weekend (years listed are for upcoming season):
∎ Keaton Aldridge Jr, Cathedral: The 6-3 senior left-hander is a physical player with an old-school game. Aldridge had 21 points in an impressive 22-point win over Avon and 25 in a 77-71 loss to Plainfield. Plays hard on defense and is a willing rebounder. Has offers from Detroit Mercy and Kent State.
∎ Prince Anga, Ben Davis: The 6-7 senior does not have much basketball experience, but I liked how he played against Westfield on Sunday. Big and strong. Can clear space in the paint and go get a rebound. Ben Davis always does a good job developing big men. Will be interesting to see how Anga contributes this season.
Charlie Hughes Day 1: Noah Smith shines, Luke Ertel sits and 10 more takeaways
Charlie Hughes Day 2: Jason Gardner Jr. makes 'money' play, Crown Point finishes 4-0
∎ Harper Baker-Lands, Plainfield: Clearly one of the biggest high-risers of the weekend was the Quakers' 6-3 junior guard. Baker-Lands had a team-high 27 points in a 77-71 win over Cathedral and a team-high 31 points in a 92-88 win over Silver Creek. He also had 32 points in a four-point loss to South Bend St. Joseph. Great weekend overall for Baker-Lands, who averaged 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds last season. Plainfield went 3-1 with wins over Silver Creek, Mt. Vernon and Cathedral. Current offers are Eastern Illinois, Morehead State and Tulane.
∎ Malakai Bravard, Southport: Southport will create some matchup problems with James Kalala and Samuel Lloyd in the high post/low post game. The 6-1 Bravard can keep opponents honest with his outside shooting. The senior had 23 points in a seven-point loss to Crispus Attucks. Bravard was a 32% 3-point shooter last year but is capable of shooting at a higher rate.
∎ Ben Bremer, Carmel: Bremer, a 6-foot senior guard, will have a lot more on his plate this season as a ballhandler and scorer. He showed he can in a 4-0 weekend for Carmel, including a 21-point game in a win over South Bend St. Joseph. Bremer is the second-leading returning scorer (6.1 ppg) and top 3-point shooter (39%).
∎ Dane Caldwell, Silver Creek: The 6-9 senior continues to perform well for a Silver Creek team that will be one of the best teams in Class 3A. Caldwell had 26 points in a 92-88 loss to Plainfield on Friday. He is coming off a strong spring and has picked up offers in June from Bellarmine, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee State and Miami of Ohio. Caldwell averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds as a junior.
∎ Caden Claxton, Shelbyville: Tough competitor. The senior guard had 20 points in a seven-point loss to Brownsburg and had to work hard for them. Claxton shot 37% from the 3-point line as a junior. He fills more roles than just a shooter, handing the ball and creating for others. Shelbyville is going to be a strong team in Class 3A again. Claxton averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season.
∎ Derrick Cross Jr., Bloomington North: The 6-3 guard was really impressive with a 23-point game on Sunday in a win over Tri-West. He missed a couple minutes late with a turned ankle but seemed OK and came back in game. It was otherwise a weekend of close losses for the Cougars, who fell by one point to Cardinal Ritter and Fort Wayne Snider and by four points to North Central. Cross is a player. He averaged 16.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a sophomore. Cross picked up an offer Sunday from Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and one earlier this month from Southeast Missouri State.
∎ Justin Curry, Noblesville: The 6-4 Curry recently picked up an offer from Nevada, adding to a list that already includes Northwestern, DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, Kent State, Indiana State and Toledo. Curry had a great weekend for the 3-1 Millers, who beat Gary 21st Century, Penn and Silver Creek before losing by four points to New Albany. Curry is clearly one of the best players in the class, coming off a season that saw him average 15.6 points and 5.6 rebounds.
∎ Kasen Daeger, Silver Creek: The 6-3 Daeger is coming off an ankle injury that is keeping him from his usual explosion, but he shot the ball well in the couple Silver Creek games I caught. Daeger shot 40% from the 3-point line as a junior, averaging 16.2 points per game.
∎ Mason Darrell, Crown Point: I watched quite a bit of Crown Point this weekend, which turned out to be a smart move as the Bulldogs went 4-0 with victories over Mt. Vernon, Parke Heritage, Lawrence North and Fishers. One of the big reasons was the play of the fiery Darrell, who averaged 14.1 points and shot 41% from the 3-point line as a junior. The 6-1 Darrell had 22 points in the win over Fishers and added 14 vs. LN. He makes things happen.
∎ Brock Detamore, Westfield: The 6-1 senior made some big plays down the stretch in Westfield's win on Sunday against Ben Davis. Detamore finished with 11 points. He might not be the most high-scoring player but has experience (8.0 ppg, 2.8 rebounds) and contributes in a lot of areas.
∎ Landon Gilliatt, Plainfield: The 6-foot Gilliatt had a great weekend, forming a tough trio with teammates Harper Baker-Lands and Noah Smith. He handles the ball well and can really shoot it, going for 22 points in a tough six-point win over Cathedral and 17 in a four-point loss to South Bend St. Joseph. Physical guard with good touch and great passing instincts. He averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 assists as a junior.
∎ Rylon Gore, Zionsville: Shot the lights out. I don't know his exact stats for weekend, but believe the junior guard was better than 50% from the 3-point line. I had him at 7-for-9 from the arc in a win over Mooresville on Sunday. Zionsville finished 4-0 with wins over Marion, South Bend Riley, Valparaiso and Mooresville.
∎ Drew Haffner, Westfield: The 6-4 Haffner called game against Ben Davis with a tough shot at the buzzer. Fun player. He has an outstanding offensive game and quickly picked up offers from Huntington and LeMoyne after the weekend (has previous offers from Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor). He averaged a team-high 12.4 points and 3.1 rebounds last year, shooing an eye-popping 48% from the 3-point line.
∎ Charles Hardiman, Merrillville: I had a chance to see the 6-4 sophomore in the Futures Game and really liked his offensive game. He had another good performance in a loss to Decatur Central, scoring 22 points. Hardiman averaged a team-high 15.5 points as a freshman, shooting 33% from the 3-point line. Merrillville went 1-3 with a win over Blackford and losses to Roncalli, Decatur Central and Gibson Southern.
∎ Evan Harrell, Carmel: Another one of the biggest standouts of the weekend. The 6-8 senior looked much more confident, athletic and efficient than he did at the end of his junior season. He put up 25 points in the last game of the day Sunday against Northridge and had a 20-point game on Saturday in a 13-point win over South Bend St. Joseph. I think we'll see Harrell have a big senior season. He averaged 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds as a junior.
∎ Terrence Hayes Jr., Gary 21st Century: I really like this 6-1 left-handed point guard. Hayes ran the show against Terre Haute North in every way possible, hitting 3-pointers and leading the team in transition. Very impressive. Makes confident decisions and sees the floor. Long and rangy. Hayes averaged 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.4 steals as a junior. Has offers from Valparaiso, Northern Illinois, IU Indy, Youngstown State, Saint Louis, Nevada, Missouri State, Illinois-Chicago and Murray State.
∎ Brandon Hunter, Silver Creek: I have enjoyed watching the Dragons' 6-3 junior point guard play. Outstanding passer any player would love to have on his team. Has to be fun for him to have so much talent around him on this Silver Creek team. Hunter averaged 9.4 points, 7.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds last season.
∎ Dane Kunz, Whiteland: This is the one player on this list I did not see this weekend unfortunately. But the senior's 40-point game (on 8-for-10 shooting from 3) in a win over Andrean is worth including. Whiteland went 4-0 with wins over Andrean, Anderson, Lake Central and Taylor.
∎ Ja'Shawn Ladd, Ben Davis: To say the 6-4 Ladd has major upside is putting it mildly. He made a couple of moves against Westfield that showed where he can go as a player. Ladd finished with 14 points in that game and had 27 in a Saturday win over Gary 21st Century. Ben Davis also defeated Guerin Catholic and Fort Wayne South Side to finish 3-1. Ladd, who has an offer from Miami (Ohio), averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists as a junior.
∎ Ryan Miller, Tri-West: I watched the junior guard score 13 points in Tri-West loss to Bloomington North on Sunday. He came back to put up 39 points later in the day in a 73-61 win over Mishawaka Marian. Miller averaged 13.5 points and 3.1 assists as a sophomore and shot 38% from the 3-point line.
∎ Sherman Moss-Wright, Ben Davis: The 6-4 Moss-Wright has great size at the guard sport and should benefit from his experience a season ago (7.0 ppg, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists). Recently picked up offers from Marian and UIndy. Knocked down a couple late 3-pointers against Westfield, an area where he should be improved this season.
∎ Vincent Nover, Carmel: The 6-4 junior had good size at the guard spot. He can handle the ball and shoot. Nover played in only 11 games as a sophomore but looks like a player who can help the Greyhounds in a bigger role this year and really take off.
∎ Dikembe Shaw, Crown Point: The 6-7 Shaw was expected to be one of the top players to watch this weekend and he certainly did not disappoint. Shaw's best performance was probably his 31-point game in a win over Lawrence North but he also had 17 of his 24 in the first half of a 78-73 win over Fishers. He picked up a new offer from Murray State after the shootout, adding to Coastal Carolina, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana State, IU Indy, Miami of Ohio and Toledo. It will be interesting to see if a high-major program makes a move.
∎ Nash Sigmund, Decatur Central: The 6-1 junior guard can absolutely shoot the ball. He started 8-for-9 from the 3-point line in a 72-60 win over Merrillville and finished with 28 points. You don't always see teams face guarding opponents during June, but that happened to Sigmund, who averaged 9.8 points and shot 36% from the 3-point line as a sophomore.
∎ Baron Walker, Noblesville: If you have watched a lot of basketball in your life and can appreciate a player who plays hard, plays defense, makes the right play on offense and can score from multiple levels, I'm 99.9% certain you will like Walker's game. He has offers from Boston University and Indiana State. Averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season for the Millers.
∎ Graham Wilson, Westfield: I don't make a habit of watching middle school games, so I had never seen this incoming freshman before. I was really impressed how he handled the ball and carried himself in a two-point win over Ben Davis, in addition to scoring seven points. The 5-11 Wilson looks like he's ready to contribute right away.
∎ Kayleb Young, Gary 21st Century: The 6-8 junior has a chance. Takes up space inside but he is light on his feet and has good touch. With good returning guards around him, Young should benefit. Like his game.
∎ Elyas Zapata, Decatur Central: The 6-3 senior had 17 points in Decatur Central's 12-point win over Merrillville, including a fastbreak two-hand dunk. Zapata is another nice piece for the young Hawks, coming off a season that saw him average 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.
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Cherry is also a standout baseball player. ∎ Jerimy Finch Jr., Warren Central: The second-ranked in-state prospect in the 2026 class by 247Sports, Finch announced his commitment to Alabama on Sunday. The 6-3, 260-pound Finch picked the Crimson Tide over his other four finalists: Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Purdue and Tennessee. Finch took an official visit to Alabama at the end of May. He also took official visits to each of his other four finalists. ∎ Dominick Barry, Center Grove: Wake Forest swooped in and gained a commitment from one of the state's top prospects after an official visit. The 6-4, 225-pound Barry, a versatile tight end, caught 31 passes for 237 yards and five TDs last season. 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Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Indianapolis Star
Charlie Hughes Shootout standouts Part 1: 30 players who shined in high school basketball event
CARMEL – It was a jam-packed weekend of high school basketball at the Charlie Hughes Shootout (technically called the IBCA/IHSAA Boys Team Showcase in Memory of Charlie Hughes). The added bonus is that the annual June event now comes during an evaluation period for college coaches. I was not able to see every team or every player, obviously. There were 199 teams playing over the three days. I tried to watch full games, or at least most of full games and not bounce around so much. I'm splitting this into two parts. These is the first group of 30 players I saw in person who caught my eye this weekend (years listed are for upcoming season): ∎ Keaton Aldridge Jr, Cathedral: The 6-3 senior left-hander is a physical player with an old-school game. Aldridge had 21 points in an impressive 22-point win over Avon and 25 in a 77-71 loss to Plainfield. Plays hard on defense and is a willing rebounder. Has offers from Detroit Mercy and Kent State. ∎ Prince Anga, Ben Davis: The 6-7 senior does not have much basketball experience, but I liked how he played against Westfield on Sunday. Big and strong. Can clear space in the paint and go get a rebound. Ben Davis always does a good job developing big men. Will be interesting to see how Anga contributes this season. Charlie Hughes Day 1: Noah Smith shines, Luke Ertel sits and 10 more takeaways Charlie Hughes Day 2: Jason Gardner Jr. makes 'money' play, Crown Point finishes 4-0 ∎ Harper Baker-Lands, Plainfield: Clearly one of the biggest high-risers of the weekend was the Quakers' 6-3 junior guard. Baker-Lands had a team-high 27 points in a 77-71 win over Cathedral and a team-high 31 points in a 92-88 win over Silver Creek. He also had 32 points in a four-point loss to South Bend St. Joseph. Great weekend overall for Baker-Lands, who averaged 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds last season. Plainfield went 3-1 with wins over Silver Creek, Mt. Vernon and Cathedral. Current offers are Eastern Illinois, Morehead State and Tulane. ∎ Malakai Bravard, Southport: Southport will create some matchup problems with James Kalala and Samuel Lloyd in the high post/low post game. The 6-1 Bravard can keep opponents honest with his outside shooting. The senior had 23 points in a seven-point loss to Crispus Attucks. Bravard was a 32% 3-point shooter last year but is capable of shooting at a higher rate. ∎ Ben Bremer, Carmel: Bremer, a 6-foot senior guard, will have a lot more on his plate this season as a ballhandler and scorer. He showed he can in a 4-0 weekend for Carmel, including a 21-point game in a win over South Bend St. Joseph. Bremer is the second-leading returning scorer (6.1 ppg) and top 3-point shooter (39%). ∎ Dane Caldwell, Silver Creek: The 6-9 senior continues to perform well for a Silver Creek team that will be one of the best teams in Class 3A. Caldwell had 26 points in a 92-88 loss to Plainfield on Friday. He is coming off a strong spring and has picked up offers in June from Bellarmine, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee State and Miami of Ohio. Caldwell averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds as a junior. ∎ Caden Claxton, Shelbyville: Tough competitor. The senior guard had 20 points in a seven-point loss to Brownsburg and had to work hard for them. Claxton shot 37% from the 3-point line as a junior. He fills more roles than just a shooter, handing the ball and creating for others. Shelbyville is going to be a strong team in Class 3A again. Claxton averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season. ∎ Derrick Cross Jr., Bloomington North: The 6-3 guard was really impressive with a 23-point game on Sunday in a win over Tri-West. He missed a couple minutes late with a turned ankle but seemed OK and came back in game. It was otherwise a weekend of close losses for the Cougars, who fell by one point to Cardinal Ritter and Fort Wayne Snider and by four points to North Central. Cross is a player. He averaged 16.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a sophomore. Cross picked up an offer Sunday from Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and one earlier this month from Southeast Missouri State. ∎ Justin Curry, Noblesville: The 6-4 Curry recently picked up an offer from Nevada, adding to a list that already includes Northwestern, DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, Kent State, Indiana State and Toledo. Curry had a great weekend for the 3-1 Millers, who beat Gary 21st Century, Penn and Silver Creek before losing by four points to New Albany. Curry is clearly one of the best players in the class, coming off a season that saw him average 15.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. ∎ Kasen Daeger, Silver Creek: The 6-3 Daeger is coming off an ankle injury that is keeping him from his usual explosion, but he shot the ball well in the couple Silver Creek games I caught. Daeger shot 40% from the 3-point line as a junior, averaging 16.2 points per game. ∎ Mason Darrell, Crown Point: I watched quite a bit of Crown Point this weekend, which turned out to be a smart move as the Bulldogs went 4-0 with victories over Mt. Vernon, Parke Heritage, Lawrence North and Fishers. One of the big reasons was the play of the fiery Darrell, who averaged 14.1 points and shot 41% from the 3-point line as a junior. The 6-1 Darrell had 22 points in the win over Fishers and added 14 vs. LN. He makes things happen. ∎ Brock Detamore, Westfield: The 6-1 senior made some big plays down the stretch in Westfield's win on Sunday against Ben Davis. Detamore finished with 11 points. He might not be the most high-scoring player but has experience (8.0 ppg, 2.8 rebounds) and contributes in a lot of areas. ∎ Landon Gilliatt, Plainfield: The 6-foot Gilliatt had a great weekend, forming a tough trio with teammates Harper Baker-Lands and Noah Smith. He handles the ball well and can really shoot it, going for 22 points in a tough six-point win over Cathedral and 17 in a four-point loss to South Bend St. Joseph. Physical guard with good touch and great passing instincts. He averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 assists as a junior. ∎ Rylon Gore, Zionsville: Shot the lights out. I don't know his exact stats for weekend, but believe the junior guard was better than 50% from the 3-point line. I had him at 7-for-9 from the arc in a win over Mooresville on Sunday. Zionsville finished 4-0 with wins over Marion, South Bend Riley, Valparaiso and Mooresville. ∎ Drew Haffner, Westfield: The 6-4 Haffner called game against Ben Davis with a tough shot at the buzzer. Fun player. He has an outstanding offensive game and quickly picked up offers from Huntington and LeMoyne after the weekend (has previous offers from Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor). He averaged a team-high 12.4 points and 3.1 rebounds last year, shooing an eye-popping 48% from the 3-point line. ∎ Charles Hardiman, Merrillville: I had a chance to see the 6-4 sophomore in the Futures Game and really liked his offensive game. He had another good performance in a loss to Decatur Central, scoring 22 points. Hardiman averaged a team-high 15.5 points as a freshman, shooting 33% from the 3-point line. Merrillville went 1-3 with a win over Blackford and losses to Roncalli, Decatur Central and Gibson Southern. ∎ Evan Harrell, Carmel: Another one of the biggest standouts of the weekend. The 6-8 senior looked much more confident, athletic and efficient than he did at the end of his junior season. He put up 25 points in the last game of the day Sunday against Northridge and had a 20-point game on Saturday in a 13-point win over South Bend St. Joseph. I think we'll see Harrell have a big senior season. He averaged 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds as a junior. ∎ Terrence Hayes Jr., Gary 21st Century: I really like this 6-1 left-handed point guard. Hayes ran the show against Terre Haute North in every way possible, hitting 3-pointers and leading the team in transition. Very impressive. Makes confident decisions and sees the floor. Long and rangy. Hayes averaged 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.4 steals as a junior. Has offers from Valparaiso, Northern Illinois, IU Indy, Youngstown State, Saint Louis, Nevada, Missouri State, Illinois-Chicago and Murray State. ∎ Brandon Hunter, Silver Creek: I have enjoyed watching the Dragons' 6-3 junior point guard play. Outstanding passer any player would love to have on his team. Has to be fun for him to have so much talent around him on this Silver Creek team. Hunter averaged 9.4 points, 7.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds last season. ∎ Dane Kunz, Whiteland: This is the one player on this list I did not see this weekend unfortunately. But the senior's 40-point game (on 8-for-10 shooting from 3) in a win over Andrean is worth including. Whiteland went 4-0 with wins over Andrean, Anderson, Lake Central and Taylor. ∎ Ja'Shawn Ladd, Ben Davis: To say the 6-4 Ladd has major upside is putting it mildly. He made a couple of moves against Westfield that showed where he can go as a player. Ladd finished with 14 points in that game and had 27 in a Saturday win over Gary 21st Century. Ben Davis also defeated Guerin Catholic and Fort Wayne South Side to finish 3-1. Ladd, who has an offer from Miami (Ohio), averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists as a junior. ∎ Ryan Miller, Tri-West: I watched the junior guard score 13 points in Tri-West loss to Bloomington North on Sunday. He came back to put up 39 points later in the day in a 73-61 win over Mishawaka Marian. Miller averaged 13.5 points and 3.1 assists as a sophomore and shot 38% from the 3-point line. ∎ Sherman Moss-Wright, Ben Davis: The 6-4 Moss-Wright has great size at the guard sport and should benefit from his experience a season ago (7.0 ppg, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists). Recently picked up offers from Marian and UIndy. Knocked down a couple late 3-pointers against Westfield, an area where he should be improved this season. ∎ Vincent Nover, Carmel: The 6-4 junior had good size at the guard spot. He can handle the ball and shoot. Nover played in only 11 games as a sophomore but looks like a player who can help the Greyhounds in a bigger role this year and really take off. ∎ Dikembe Shaw, Crown Point: The 6-7 Shaw was expected to be one of the top players to watch this weekend and he certainly did not disappoint. Shaw's best performance was probably his 31-point game in a win over Lawrence North but he also had 17 of his 24 in the first half of a 78-73 win over Fishers. He picked up a new offer from Murray State after the shootout, adding to Coastal Carolina, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana State, IU Indy, Miami of Ohio and Toledo. It will be interesting to see if a high-major program makes a move. ∎ Nash Sigmund, Decatur Central: The 6-1 junior guard can absolutely shoot the ball. He started 8-for-9 from the 3-point line in a 72-60 win over Merrillville and finished with 28 points. You don't always see teams face guarding opponents during June, but that happened to Sigmund, who averaged 9.8 points and shot 36% from the 3-point line as a sophomore. ∎ Baron Walker, Noblesville: If you have watched a lot of basketball in your life and can appreciate a player who plays hard, plays defense, makes the right play on offense and can score from multiple levels, I'm 99.9% certain you will like Walker's game. He has offers from Boston University and Indiana State. Averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season for the Millers. ∎ Graham Wilson, Westfield: I don't make a habit of watching middle school games, so I had never seen this incoming freshman before. I was really impressed how he handled the ball and carried himself in a two-point win over Ben Davis, in addition to scoring seven points. The 5-11 Wilson looks like he's ready to contribute right away. ∎ Kayleb Young, Gary 21st Century: The 6-8 junior has a chance. Takes up space inside but he is light on his feet and has good touch. With good returning guards around him, Young should benefit. Like his game. ∎ Elyas Zapata, Decatur Central: The 6-3 senior had 17 points in Decatur Central's 12-point win over Merrillville, including a fastbreak two-hand dunk. Zapata is another nice piece for the young Hawks, coming off a season that saw him average 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.
