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BENNETT'S MINUTES: Wilkes wins top honor on big night
INDIANAPOLIS — Kris Wilkes of Indianapolis North Central was named Mr. Basketball on Thursday night at the Indiana Sports Awards program held at Clowes Memorial Hall on the Butler University campus.
Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese finished fourth in the statewide voting by coaches and media.
Of the 445 ballots submitted, the UCLA-bound Wilkes was named on 185 of them to more than double the total of runnerup Jack Nunge of Castle. The Iowa-bound big man had 84 votes.
Placing third was Fort Wayne Snider’s Malik Williams (headed to Louisville) with 46, while the Butler-bound Neese had 45.
Wilkes was the clear favorite for the prestigious title, having been the state’s only player named to the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Neese could not capitalize on the potential appeal of being the only small-school candidate in the final four, and not even having the ceremony about one good tee shot from his future college homecourt could help turn the tide.
He didn’t mind losing to his good friend in Wilkes, with whom he has played on a summer travel team for the past five years.
“Congrats, bro,” Neese said on his Twitter account after the announcement. “Most outright deserving for the award. Honored to be a teammate and hopefully lifetime friend with ya man. Much love.”
The basketball awards were the final ones given in the two-hour event, an ESPYS-type affair which honored a top male and female athlete in each fall and winter sport. Since spring sports are still ongoing, finalists for top spring athletes were identified as “athletes to watch.”
While the event at times looked like a larger version of a Carmel sports banquet, considering the large number of Greyhounds honored, athletes from all corners of the state were involved.
Brownsburg’s Hunter Johnson, who graduated early and is now in spring practice with defending national champion Clemson, was named Mr. Football.
The title of Miss Basketball went to Homestead’s Karissa McLaughlin, who will attend Purdue.
Former Indianapolis Colts’ punter Pat McAfee described his rise from a small town in Pennsylvania to the NFL in a lengthy story detailing how he was discovered by the University of West Virginia.
Besides the two athletes honored from the individual sports, there were also categories for Scholar Athlete, Courage Award, Coach of the Year and Team of the year.
Of all the stories identified during those awards, the Courage Award had some of the best ones.
Perry Meridian’s Caroline McLaughlin, a cross country runner, was one of the nominees.
She underwent a 4.5-hour surgery in February 2016 to remove half of a brain tumor that doctors had determined could not be fully removed.
Despite being in the hospital for three weeks, she returned to the cross country course in time for practice last fall.
A great story about a great kid.
And she didn’t even win.
The winner was Ajanae’ Thomas of North Central, who in 2009 was a 10-year-old living in Detroit who witnessed her father murder her mother in the family home.
She and her brother moved to Indianapolis to live with their grandmother, mostly because of Indiana’s basketball history.
Thomas averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season, helping the Panthers to their first sectional title since 2012.
She has received a scholarship from Indiana State.
All in all, it was a great night for a lot of great kids to honored. Neese didn’t walk away with the top honor, but represented his school community well — as he always does.