Northeast Indiana players named Academic All-State by IBCA

The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) announced their Academic All-State teams on Tuesday. The IBCA names teams in both boys and girls basketball, although the girls also had Academic All-State teams named last month by the ICGSA.

In all, 76 players (39 boys and 37 girls) were awarded the top Academic All-State honor by the IBCA.

“The quality of these student-athletes shows that success in academics and success in athletics are not separate entities,” IBCA executive director Steve Witty said in a release. “Rather, in many cases, a player’s success in the classroom directly contributes to his or her success on the floor.”

IBCA-member head coaches from schools across the state may nominate their seniors who meet criteria that include a 3.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale, a class rank in the upper 25 percent of one’s class, an SAT score of 1,100 (on the reading and math sections) or an ACT score of 24.

Northeast Indiana area boys players named to the highest IBCA Academic All-State honor are Adams Central’s Kevin Brown, Westview’s Elijah Hales, Bishop Dwenger’s Jared Lee and Hayden Smithey, Carroll’s Dan McKeeman, Eastside’s Alex Yoder and Central Noble’s Ridley Zolman.

On the girls side, the highest IBCA Academic All-State honor went to Concordia’s Carissa Garcia and Central Noble’s Meleah Leatherman.

Northeast Indiana area girls players named to the highest IBCA Academic All-State honor are

382 additional players between both genders were named IBCA Academic All-State Honorable Mention.

Area boys players making that Honorable Mention list are: