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BENNETT'S MINUTES: Stellar season not enough for Moore
Dominated by Class 4A players, Indiana All-Star team has no room for Cloverdale standout
The 2018 boys’ Indiana All-Star basketball team was announced on Wednesday, predictably led by New Albany senior Romeo Langford.
Langford, whose team lost to Warren Central in the Class 4A Semistate this winter, was one of 11 players on the 13-man team to play for schools in the 4A classification.
Evansville Bosse guard Mekhi Lairy, who led the Bulldogs to the state finals in two of the past three seasons, is the team’s only representative from a Class 3A school.
Purdue-bound Eric Hunter Jr., attends Indianapolis Tindley, a Class 1A private school.
First of all, the selection of this team must be a nightmare — since most years there are far more than 13 deserving players.
And what’s the goal? To reward players for outstanding seasons/careers, or construct the best team possible to win the games against Kentucky? It seems those two goals would go hand-in-hand, but not always.
One of the potential players who fell through the cracks is Cloverdale’s Jalen Moore, whose resume is pretty impressive. Eleventh-best scorer in state history. Third-highest single-season scoring total ever. State’s leading scorer. State records for most free throws shot and attempted. Led team to four straight sectionals, including regional finals this year.
Yet, he didn’t make the cut.
Should the state’s leading scorer automatically have a spot on the team? I would say not. If someone plays for an awful team and scores all the points out of necessity, that doesn’t automatically make him worthy.
Moore’s team won 21 games this year and 93 over his career.
Some basketball friends I have talked to about this topic have quickly noted this year’s senior class is “guard heavy,” and it is.
Indiana-bound Robert Phinesee is a point guard. So is Lairy. So is New Albany’s Sean East, whose head coach happens to be the all-star team coach.
The one who probably got Moore’s spot is Warren Central’s Dean Tate, yet another point guard whose team eliminated New Albany from the tourney.
I have seen all those guys play in person. They all are good players. All are deserving.
But not all are more deserving than Moore.
Moore’s accomplishments this year, and for his career, should have made him a lock for a spot.
Shenandoah coach Dave McCollough said it best in preparation for the Greenfield-Central Regional last month.
“The dude can score,” he said. “If somebody gets 30 or 35 in a game, that’s one thing. To average that, I know how difficult that is. In order to do that on a regular basis, you are a special player. What a great guy to build around.”
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel, whose employer sponsors the team, agreed in a tweet to Moore on Thursday.
“Outrageous. Outrageous that you didn’t make it.”
For some people, comparing Cooper Neese’s all-star team selection last spring and Moore’s omission this year requires just one piece of evidence: Neese had a Division I scholarship attached to his name and Moore doesn’t, yet.
Whether fairly or not, many people attach importance to that distinction. Considering that three of the all-stars are undecided on their college choice and another is going to a Division II school, that point seems to be wishy-washy at best.
To be fair, Moore could have helped himself by attending the Top 60 workout last Saturday, but was out of town on spring break. Playing against the competitors for roster spots either then, or on the summer AAU circuit, could have helped him sway the minds of doubters but neither avenue was utilized.
Saturday could be really interesting. Moore is playing for the North team in the North-South All-Star Classic at Martinsville, and both East and Lairy will be on the South team.
To coin a new phrase, “Hell hath no fury like a Clover scorned.”
That game could be Moore’s last competitive endeavor to showcase his skills for college coaches. A couple of Division II schools (Newberry in South Carolina, Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee) have started showing interest, but no new offers have been extended.
Eventually some college coach will get the bargain of the century. Until then, Moore just has more fuel added to his fire to keep working hard.
2018 IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars
Name, School, Height, Pos., PPG, College Choice
Damezi Anderson, South Bend Riley, 6-7, G/F, 19.2, Indiana
Gavin Bizeau, Plainfield, 6-11, F, 21.6, Duquesne
Jarron Coleman, Cathedral, 6-6, G/F, 17.2, Ball State
Chance Coyle, Bloomington South, 6-4, G, 19.9, Southern Indiana
Kevin Easley, Lawrence North, 6-7, F, 16.9, UT-Chattanooga
Sean East, New Albany, 6-0, G, 18.2, undecided
Aaron Henry, Ben Davis, 6-5, F, 16.5, Michigan State
Eric Hunter, Tindley, 6-3, G, 25.5, Purdue
Mekhi Lairy, Evansville Bosse, 5-9, G, 26.5, Miami (Ohio)
Romeo Langford, New Albany, 6-5, G, 34.2, undecided
Robert Phinisee, McCutcheon, 6-1, G, 29.4, Indiana
Dean Tate, Warren Central, 5-8, G, 11.9, undecided
De’Avion Washington, Terre Haute South, 6-4, G, 22.1, Indiana State
Head coach: Jim Shannon, New Albany
Assistant coaches: Mike Hall, South Newton; Scott Radeker, Lafayette Jeff
Odds and ends
• Edgewood girls’ basketball coach Gary Sims has resigned.
Sims led the Mustangs to a 164-108 record in 11 seasons, winning three sectional titles. The Mustangs had .500 records or better every year until this season, when they finished 12-13.
• Two Putnam County senior-to-be basketball players will be returning to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 100 Underclassman workout in July.
Both South Putnam’s Allen Plunkett and Cloverdale’s Tori Combs participated in the event last summer, and will be returning again this year for the final time.
Plunkett has also been selected to play in the Class Basketball All-Star Game at Anderson University this summer, an event directed by former Indiana University All-American Kent Benson.
• Several area baseball teams are included in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings this week.
Crawfordsville is No. 4 in Class 3A, followed by Danville at No. 5 and Sullivan at No. 7.
Teams also receiving votes are Edgewood, Brebeuf Jesuit, Cardinal Ritter and Tri-West. Those latter three teams are all in the Danville Sectional, along with Greencastle.
In softball, Riverton Parke was ranked eighth in this week’s Class 1A rankings. The Panthers lost 13-6 to Northview on Wednesday. Monrovia is No. 13 in Class 2A.