UPDATED – 4-16-21
Indiana 2021 Indiana Mr. Basketball voting:
- 1) Caleb Furst/Blackhawk Christian (73 votes)
- 2) Trey Kaufman-Renn/Silver Creek (47)
- 3) Luke Brown/Blackford (40)
Furst wins three of Indiana’s top basketball ball honors–State Champion, Trester Award Winner and Mr. Basketball.
(4-13-21) Some of the nation’s top Seniors could be the next Indiana Mr. Basketball, this has to be one of the most talented groups of players in one season to be finalist for the honor. They are all impact players for their teams.
So good that quality players did not make the finalist list.
Class wise there are two finalist each from 4A, 3A and 2A, that speaks highly of all levels of basketball in the Hoosier state.
The six finalists include-
Vance, Barnhizer and Konieczny
- Shamar Vance from Lawrence North
- Brooks Barnhizer from Lafayette Jeff
- JR Konieczny from South Bend St. Joseph
- Luke Brown from Blackford
- Caleb Furst from Fort Wayne Blackhawks Christian
- Trey Kaufman-Renn from Silver Creek
Kaufman-Renn, Furst and Brown
The winner of Mr. Basketball in Indiana will be announced by the IndyStar, the sponsor of the award on Friday.
The IndyStar’s Indiana Mr. Basketball for 2021 will be selected selected by the online voting of media and boys’ varsity coaches conducted overseen by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and All-Star game director Mike Broughton.
The Mr. Basketball award goes to the top boys’ basketball senior in the state.
Overlooked…
These three players could have easily qualified as a finalist this year.. as they we instrumental in their team’s success. Jalen Blackmon, Marion Luke Goode, Homestead and Blake Wesley, South Bend Riley.
These three cemented the quality of this year’s candidates for the honor.
Blackmon, Goode and Wesley
The History of the Award
The Award was started in 1939 with the first winner being Franklin’s George Crowe.
Over the years since that first award went out some of the nation’s best high school basketball players have been named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball.
During World War II (1943 and 1944) no winners were selected for the award. Some of the highlights of the winners…1961 Indianapolis Manual twins, Tom and Dick Van Arsdale shared the honor. There have been three ties over the years with two winners being named, the first in 1974 with Steve Collier of Southwestern and Roy Taylor of Anderson, the second time was in 1984 Anderson’s Troy Lewis and Michigan City Rogers’ Delray Brooks, the third time was in 1987 when Marion teammates Jay Edwards and Lyndon Jones were both honored. Milan’s Bobby Plump, whose last second shot in the state final that would inspire the movie ‘Hoosiers’, won the award in 1954.
INDIANA’S Mr. Basketball Winners
Multiple winners from Indiana schools….
Lafayette Jeff could move up to a tie with four other schools with the most winners who have won the award over the years…if Brooks Barnhizer wins the award they will have four.
Of the six 2021 finalist schools Blackhawk Christian, Blackford, South Bend St. Jospeh and Silver Creek have never won the award.
| SCHOOL | WINNERS | YEARS WON | ||
| Anderson | 4 | 1946, 1974, 1984, 1993 | ||
| Marion | 4 | 1950, 1976, *1987, *1987 | ||
| Indianapolis North Central | 4 | 1999, 2004, 2007, 2017 | ||
| Washington | 4 | 1979, 2005, 2008, 2011 | ||
| Lafayette Jefferson | 3 | 1948, 1964, 1986 | ||
| Muncie Central | 3 | 1951, 1960, 1963 | ||
| Bloomington North | 2 | 2000, 2002 | ||
| Bloomington South | 2 | 2009, 2020 | ||
| Carmel | 2 | 1968, 1970 | ||
| Indianapolis Crispus Attucks | 2 | 1953, 1956 | ||
| Ft. Wayne South Side | 2 | 1958, 1967 | ||
| Gary Roosevelt | 2 | 1955, 1991 | ||
| Hamilton Southeastern | 2 | 2012, 2013 | ||
| Indianapolis Manual | 2 | *1961, *1961 | ||
| Indianapolis Pike | 2 | 2001, 2003 | ||
| Indianapolis Tech | 2 | 1952, 2014 | ||
| Indianapolis Washington | 2 | 1965, 1969 | ||
| Kokomo | 2 | 1945, 1959 | ||
| Madison | 2 | 1949, 1962 | ||
| Michigan City Rogers | 2 | 1981, 1984 | ||
| New Castle | 2 | 1973, 1983 | ||
| Valparaiso | 2 | 1982, 1994 | ||
| Warsaw | 2 | 1985, 1996 | ||
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