Basketball State Finals Lunch
75 Years of Hoosier Hoops Hysteria
Celebrating Hoosier Hoops
Since 1947
The Impact
Tens of thousands of players and fans have joined us the day before tip-off to talk hoops with teams in the state tournament.
The first annual Basketball Roundup was held on March 19, 1947 at The Hotel Antlers in downtown Indianapolis. The Final Four coaches and three local sports writers discussed the upcoming state finals with IHSAA Commissioner L.V. Phillips and Gene Kelly of WIBC. The event was rebroadcast on the air for the entire state to celebrate Hoosier Hysteria. This year's event will be livestreamed by the IHSAA Champions Network.
The Impact
Tens of thousands of players and fans have joined us the day before tip-off to talk hoops with teams in the state tournament.
BASKETBALL STATE FINALS LUNCHEON
JIM MILLS ACADEMIC MVP SCHOLARSHIP
The Academic All-Star Awards honor the five senior basketball players with the highest academic achievement based on grade point average, SAT/ACT scores, and class rank. The student athlete with the highest academic achievement is named MVP of the Academic All Star Team and receives the $1,500 Jim Mills MVP Memorial Scholarship. Four $1,000 Academic All-Star Scholarships are provided through the Kiwanis Foundation of Indianapolis. Since introducing scholarships in 1991 through the support of the Kiwanis Foundation of Indianapolis, we have awarded $136,350 to 129 players for their achievement in both the classroom and on the court.
2020: Ian Kraft
$1,500 - North Central
2019: Michael Santoro
$1,500 - Franklin Central
2018: Joey Gruber
$1,500 - Cardinal RitterAcademic MVP
1998 Brad Taphorn (Cardinal Ritter)
1999 Mike Kirk (Bishop Chatard)
2000 Carl Lehenbauer (Lutheran)
2001 Matt Willsey (Roncalli)
2002 Kyle Shipley (Park Tudor)
1991 Matt Brindle (Scecina)
1992 Chris Ings (Ben Davis)
1993 Jeremy Wagner (Speedway)
1994 Matthew L. Miller (Perry Meridian)
1995 Matthew Reed (Speedway)
1996 Jeb Sloan (Cardinal Ritter)
1997 Aaron Anderson (Cardinal Ritter)1998 Brad Taphorn (Cardinal Ritter)
1999 Mike Kirk (Bishop Chatard)
2000 Carl Lehenbauer (Lutheran)
2001 Matt Willsey (Roncalli)
2002 Kyle Shipley (Park Tudor)
2003 Drew Robarge (IN School for Deaf)
2004 Thomas Reives (Arsenal Technical)
2005 Matthew Baldwin (Park Tudor)
2006 Darryl Finkton (North Central)
2007 Evan Bugher (Lutheran)
2008 Jordan Jones (Lutheran)
2009 John Schouten (Southport)
2010 Kendall Smith (Decatur Central)
2011 Kyle James (Franklin Central)
2012 Austin Kyker (Park Tudor)
2013 C.J. Harrington (Park Tudor)
2014 Daniel Jones (North Central)
2015 Ethan Smith (Covenant Christian)
2016 Ian Deiters (Ben Davis)
2017 John Dietrick (Bishop Chatard)
2018 Joey Gruber (Cardinal Ritter)
2019 Michael Santoro (Franklin Central)
2020 Ian Kraft (North Central)
2021 Trevor Nibbs (Ben Davis)
2022 Dagan Knight (Perry Meridian)
2023 Nolan Stiffler (Bishop Chatard)
2024 Mark White (Ben Davis)
2024 Mark White (Ben Davis)
2025 Colton Phillips (Perry Meridian)
2025 Muna Newman-Nwodika (Pike)Academic All-Star Teammates
- 2007 - Chris Coons (Franklin Central), Matthew DeVito (Park Tudor), David Geiger (Lawrence Central), Joe Watts (Speedway)
- 2008 - Seth Bavel (Covenant Christian), Michael Case (Southport), Manvir Heir (Park Tudor), John Okerson (Scecina)
- 2009 - Devon Sharpe (Decatur Central), Luke Johnstone (Bishop Chatard), Nick Hurt (Beech Grove), Casey Coons (Franklin Central)
- 2010 - Jacob (Speedway), Matthew Glick (Lawrence Central), Ben Failinger (Lutheran), Curtis Reeser (Roncalli)
- 2011 - John Byers (Covenant Christian), Ian Carroll (Speedway), Michael Davidson (Decatur Central), Henry Will (Cathedral)
- 2012 - Charlie Dant (Warren Central), Brian Failinger (Lutheran), Cole Toner (Roncalli), Daniel Wagner (Bishop Chatard)
- 2013 - Samuel Elmore (Scecina), John Padgett (Perry Meridian), Dan Scofield (Lawrence North), Wade Stallings (North Central)
- 2014 - Daniel Fesenmeier (Ritter), Matt Gregory (Cathedral), Stephen Schueth (Bishop Chatard), Cam Smock (Roncalli)
- 2015 - Carter Herman (North Central), Jacob Okerson (Scecina), Tommy Pich (Beech Grove), Tyler Schoettle (Roncalli)
- 2016 - Jared Chandler (Lutheran), John William Deane (North Central), Matt Fox (Lutheran), Isaac Vaught (Shortridge)
- 2017 - Chase Andries (Beech Grove), Curtez Hudgins (Arlington), Alex Kuntz (Roncalli), Andrew Sandifer (Ritter)
- 2018 - Jacob Ball (Cathedral), Nick Hall (Franklin Central), T. J. Mann (Bishop Chatard), Trevor Russell (Lutheran)
- 2019 - Franco Bippus (IN School for the Deaf), Alan Michael Cox (Franklin Central), Paul Jones (Perry Meridian), Ross Welch (Cathedral)
- 2020 - Jarret Frank (Cathedral), Samuel Fulbright (Covenant Christian), Jalen Love (Pike), Jevin Ruffin (Speedway)
- 2021 - Caleb Crane (Covenant Christian), Timothy Godsil (Ritter), Carson Harrison (Speedway), Jalen Edward Johnson (Cathedral)
- 2022 - Luke Hern (Cathedral), Davis Olson (North Central), Reis Walker (Speedway), Ben Wright (Bishop Chatard)
- 2023 - Cale Bennett (Speedway), Creighton Bennett (Speedway), Tony Flatt (Covenant Christian), Rylen Horen (Beech Grove)
- 2025 - Camden Bennett (Speedway), Mark Crane (Covenant Christian), Reece Koomler (Lutheran), Nate Smith (Cardinal Ritter)
- 2026 - Isaac Crane (Covenant Christian), Julien Smith (Cathedral), Willem Eakins (Herron), Caden Dooley (Lawrence Central)
Where are they now?
More than twenty years ago, the Jim Mills Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Carl Lehenbauer from Lutheran High School. We thought it might be interesting to see where Carl was and what he’d been doing since receiving his scholarship. Read Carl's Where Are You Now!
