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Neese 'honored, blessed' with Indiana All-Star spot
Monday’s announcement that Cooper Neese of Cloverdale became the seventh Putnam County basketball player to earn Indiana All-Star honors was somewhat of a foregone conclusion, considering he had been named earlier this month as one of four finalists for the state’s Mr. Basketball award.
Still, Neese’s enthusiasm is undiminished.
“It’s awesome,” Neese said of the continuing honors and awards that have come his way in this off-season. “Making the Indiana All-Star team has been a goal of mine since my freshman year. Growing up, I always wanted to go to the games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and see who’s coming up and going to be the next great players in college.
“Now to get to be a part of it makes it even more special.”
Neese will see many familiar faces when the all-star camp convenes during the first week of June and the team prepares for the two-game series against Kentucky.
The Butler-bound Neese knows and has played with nine of the other 12 team members in various AAU or all-star game competitions, and he thinks the committee chose a strong team.
“We are a long and big team,” he said. “There are a few other people who could have been on there, but they did a good job.”
Neese averaged 27.2 points and 9.5 rebounds as a senior and shot 118-for-309 (38.2) percent from the 3-point line. He led the Clovers to three consecutive sectional titles and finished seventh in state history with 2,496 points.
Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady has been around many Indiana All-Stars from his time at Terre Haute South coaching under his father, but Neese is the first player from his own head coaching career to receive such the honor.
“To me it is the greatest honor a senior athlete, playing sports in Indiana, can receive,” Rady said. “To be one of only 13 players selected in a state known for basketball is special. For Cooper, other than him winning Mr. Basketball, this is the cherry on top of his illustrious career at Cloverdale. Being only the third player from Cloverdale to be named an Indiana All-Star shows how rare this accomplishment is.”
Rady thinks the honor is exciting for his entire program.
“It just adds to the excitement we have had over the last four seasons and hopefully will inspire other players to work on their game and have pride in playing for the name of the front of the jersey just as Cooper did,” he added. “I'm extremely pleased for Cooper. He has helped bring success back to the Cloverdale basketball program and it is nice to see him be recognized for his efforts.”
Previous Indiana All-Stars from Putnam County were Greencastle’s Don Frazier and George Taylor in 1939, Bainbridge’s Jeff Blue (1960) and Larry Steele (1967) and Cloverdale’s Rick Ford (1968) and Chad Tucker (1983).
Rod Hervey of Cloverdale, a 1966 graduate, was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame “Silver Anniversary” team in 1991, and Greencastle’s Laura Ledbetter Branagin will receive a similar honor later this month.
The Indiana All-Stars will play exhibition games against the Junior All-Stars on June 6 at New Albany and on June 8 at Plainfield. Cloverdale’s Jalen Moore will be a member of the Junior All-Stars at the New Albany game, and Neese will face his longtime teammate as an opponent for the first time.
“That will be fun,” Neese said. “I’ll probably pick him up and guard him a few times.”
The games against the Kentucky All-Stars will be June 10 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and June 11 at a still-to-be-determined location in Kentucky.
The remainder of the Indiana All-Star squad is:
Jaylen Butz, Fort Wayne North, 6-10 center – Led the Legends to the Class 4A state finals. Averaged 17.2 points and 12.6 rebounds this year. College: DePaul.
Jermaine Couisnard, East Chicago Central, 6-3 guard - Averaged 28 points per game to lead East Chicago Central to the Class 4A regional semifinals. College: Undecided.
Michael Ertel, Mt. Vernon, 6-2 guard – Averaged 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior to lead Mt. Vernon to a 14-9 record. He scored 1,282 career points to rank second in school history. College: Louisiana-Monroe.
Zach Gunn, Hamilton Southeastern, 6-6 forward – Averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots as a senior, finished as HSE’s all-time leading scorer (1,660 points) and rebounder (791). College: Ball State.
Kyle Mangas, Warsaw, 6-3 guard – Averaged 22.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a senior to lead Warsaw to an 18-10 record and a regional championship appearance. College: Indiana Wesleyan.
Jaylen Minnett, Terre Haute South, 6-1 guard – Averaged 26 points per game and set the school’s all-time scoring record with more than 1,700 career points. College: IUPUI.
Jack Nunge, Castle, 6-10 center – Averaged 22.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots as a senior. Finished his career with 1,376 points. College: Iowa.
Grant Smith, Connersville, 6-6 forward – Averaged 18.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season in leading team to 26-2 record and regional finals. College: Indiana Wesleyan.
Mack Smith, Warren Central, 6-2 guard – Averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot 44 percent from the 3-point line for the Metropolitan Interscholastic Champions. College: Eastern Illinois.
Sasha Stefanovic, Crown Point, 6-4 guard – Led Crown Point to a 22-4 record as a senior as he averaged 19.9 points and 6.9 rebounds. He set the school’s all-time scoring record with 1,385 points. College: Purdue.
Kris Wilkes, North Central, 6-7 forward – A McDonald All American, he averaged 22.1 points and 7.0 rebounds as a senior and shot 39.3 percent (39-for-99) from the 3-point line. The two-time Marion County Player of the Year finished his career with 1,831 points. College: UCLA.
Malik Williams, Fort Wayne Snider, 7-foot center – Led Snider to a 17-7 record, averaging 21.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots as a senior. College: Louisville.
Neese was chosen to play in the North-South All-Star Game at Logansport last Sunday, but was unable to compete due to a minor knee procedure he had done upon his return from the national 3-point competition in Phoenix.
“I had a torn meniscus in the front right of my knee, and there was no blood flow so it couldn’t heal,” he said of the injury, which happened during Cloverdale’s sectional game against North Putnam. “I held off on the surgery until after everything else was done, and they just went in and cleared everything out. It’s as good as new, really.”
Neese is already walking, nine days following the procedure, and plans to be running during therapy sessions this week. He expects to be 100 percent and cleared to return to the court in a couple of weeks.
“I’m just going to keep working on my game,” he said. “Both what I do best, and on my weaknesses as well.”
The next specific thing on his basketball agenda is the Mr. Basketball announcement at the Indiana Sports Awards on April 27.
Neese, Wilkes, Williams and Nunge are the four all-star team members who are in competition for Mr. Basketball. The award will be presented by 1969 Mr. Basketball George McGinnis, who will be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.
Former Indianapolis Colts’ punter Pat McAfee, now a professional comedian, will perform during the awards program.
“To grow up and want to be on the all-star team, and to get even more than that, is just unreal,” he said. “I can’t even comprehend some of it. Every kid in high school basketball in the state of Indiana wants to do that.
“I am honored and blessed to be on the team, and to be in the top four is really special.”
Putnam County Indiana All-Stars
1939
Don Frazier and George Taylor, Greencastle – The first-ever Indiana All-Star team featured two players from Greencastle. The Tiger Cubs won the sectional title during all four years Frazier and Taylor played ... Greencastle won regional titles during Frazier and Taylor’s junior and senior years.
1960
Jeff Blue, Bainbridge – Bainbridge team went undefeated his junior year and was regional champion ... senior year they lost two games ... Was Putnam County’s career scoring leader until record was broken by Cooper Neese in 2016-17 season ... Graduate of Butler University … a three-year all-conference center and team MVP, was Butler's leading scorer in 1963 and 1964, while also leading the team in rebounding for three straight years. He played on Butler's 1962 team which posted a school-record 22-6 mark and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Finished his career with school season and career records for scoring and rebounding. He was selected in 1965 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Finished Butler career with 1,392 points … was a member of Butler’s 1960s All-Decade team ... Inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
1967
Larry Steele, Bainbridge – As a junior had a high game of 46 points and 38 points as a high during senior year ... total high school points 1,648 ... senior year selected All-County, All-Sectional, All-Regional, All-Semi-State, Indianapolis News 1st Team All-State ... inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 … three-year starter for University of Kentucky ... stats: scoring 13.1, rebounds 6.7, assists 3.9, 1st Team All-SEC, Co-captain, MVP, Leadership Award, led team in assists ... drafted by ABA and NBA, went to the NBA Portland Trail Blazers on 37th pick, playing nine years ... led NBA in steals 1973-74 ... member of 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers World Championship Team ... head basketball Coach for University of Portland 1987-1994 ... chosen for 1992 Silver Anniversary Team.
1968
Rick Ford, Cloverdale – Helped Clovers to state finals appearance as a sophomore in 1966 … scored career-high total of 53 points against Eminence on Nov. 1, 1966 … scored 1,386 points in high school, averaging 27.8 points and 14.3 rebounds in his senior year ... his team's record was 72-5 in high school, and the Clovers never lost to another Putnam County in games when he played ... played three seasons at Indiana University, averaging 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore while setting a Big Ten free throw percentage record of .883 ... averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds as a junior and 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds as a senior in Bob Knight’s first season in Bloomington (freshmen were ineligible to play) … Later coached high school basketball at Southmont and Cascade.
1983
Chad Tucker, Cloverdale – Helped Cloverdale to a 67-11 record and three sectional championships over three varsity seasons … scored 1,338 points and had 600 career rebounds … averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 rebounds as a senior, was all-sectional and all-regional three consecutive years and all-state … inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 … set all-time scoring record at Butler with 2,321 points, graduated as 4th all-time leading rebounder (689) and 8th in career assists (206)… three-time team MVP, three-time 1st team all-conference, 1985 honorable mention All-American, named to Butler’s 1997 all-time team, 1980s all-decade team, sesquicentennial team and 2007 Butler Athletic Hall of Fame … played professionally for seven seasons overseas.