Advertisement

Dozens of Indiana high school basketball players will be in the NCAA Tournament

Indiana high school basketball stars often have dreams of playing in March Madness, and dozens have the chance this year.

Purdue heads this year's list 7 scholarship players from Indiana high schools. The following schools have 2: Akron, Illinois, Stetson, Grambling State and Western Kentucky.

Here are 10 most likely to make an impact over the next three weekends.

Jalen Blackmon: The junior from Marion leads Stetson with 21.5 points per game while shooting 38.9% from 3-point range and 91% on free throws. He scored 43 points in the Hatters' Atlantic Sun tournament championship game win over Austin Peay.

Johnell Davis: Florida Atlantic hopes the senior from Gary 21st Century can lead it to a second straight Final Four. He averages 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals, shooting 42.5% from 3-point range.

Braden Smith: The 2022 IndyStar Mr. Basketball from Westfield leads the Purdue backcourt and is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard. He averages 12.5 points, 7.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 45.4% on 3-pointers.

Jermaine Couisnard: The fifth-year player from East Chicago averages 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists for Oregon. He averaged 14.7 points and 7 assists in the Ducks' run through the Pac-12 tournament.

Ali Ali: The fifth-year player from East Noble came back to Akron after one year at Butler, and averages 15.6 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Brooks Barnhizer: The senior from Lafayette Jeff averages 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds for Northwestern, which is in the tournament for a second consecutive season for the first time in program history.

Jayden Taylor: The junior from Perry Meridian (formerly Butler) averages 11.9 points per game for North Carolina State, which won five days in a row to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Brandon Newman: The senior from Valparaiso (formerly Purdue) averages 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds for Western Kentucky, which won the Conference USA tournament.

Fletcher Loyer: The Purdue sophomore from Homestead averages 10.4 points on 43.9% 3-point shooting.

Tre Coleman: The senior from Jeffersonville averages 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals for Nevada.

Indiana high school basketball players in the NCAA Tournament

(with player, high school, college: key stats)

Khristian Lander, Evansville Reitz, Western Kentucky: 9.1 points

Mason Gillis, New Castle, Purdue: 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 48.1% 3s

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Silver Creek, Purdue: 6.1 points, 4.0 rebounds

Caleb Furst, Blackhawk Christian, Purdue: 2.4 points, 2.6 rebounds

Myles Colvin, Heritage Christian, Purdue: 3.8 points, 44.7% 3s

Brian Waddell, Carmel, Purdue: Appeared in 12 games

Josh Smith, Monrovia, Stetson: 8.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, but he suffered a season-ending injury in February

Jalen Washington, Gary West, North Carolina: 4.1 points, 2.7 rebounds

Luke Goode, Homestead, Illinois: 6.0 points, 39.6% 3s, 3.6 rebounds

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Lafayette, Ind., Illinois: 2.4 points

Connor Essegian, Central Noble, Wisconsin: 3.2 points

Dylan Ritter, Zionsville, Charleston: Appeared in 6 games

Evan Wilson, Noblesville, Akron: Appeared in 5 games

Jonah Lucas, Lafayette Harrison, Marquette: Appeared in 10 games

Joey Hart, Linton-Stockton, Kentucky: Appeared in 7 games

Jalen Windham, Ben Davis, Morehead State: Has not played this season

Mike Saunders Jr., Lawrence North, McNeese State: 5.9 points

Xavier Booker, Cathedral, Michigan State: 3.6 points

Sydney Curry, Fort Wayne Northrop, Grand Canyon: 3.1 points

Alex Hemenway, Castle, Clemson: 5.2 points in 5 games before suffering a season-ending injury

Jarron Coleman, Cathedral, Nebraska: Appeared in 12 games

Mikale Stevenson, Fort Wayne South Side, Grambling State: 4.6 points, 2.1 assists

Jalen Johnson, Manual, Grambling State: 7.6 points, 3.9 rebounds

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school basketball players in the NCAA Tournament