BOYS BASKETBALL | HOOSIER BASKETBALL MAGAZINE'S TOP 60 WORKOUT
INDIANAPOLIS | Kawann Short might have understood it better than anyone else. He knew the reason that 60 of the best seniors in Indiana arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday with their gym shoes in hand.
"We're all playing for that one spot," said the E.C. Central forward after his workout at the Hoosier Basketball Magazine's Top 60 workout at Marian College.
Indiana All-Star coach Rick Baumgartner of Muncie South was in the gym, along with West Side's John Boyd, who is part of the All-Star staff. Indiana will compete against Kentucky in June.
That dream was in the back of the minds of all the players there, regardless of chance or ability.
"Yeah, that was in my mind earlier in the week," Crown Point's Stephen Albrecht said.
"I just got to do what I do," Short said. "If I do what I do, I'm pretty sure they'll pick me."
The locals included Albrecht, Gerald Campbell (West Side), Jason Chorba (Bishop Noll), Derrell Conner (E.C.), Jarrod Jones (Michigan City), Zack Novak (Chesterton) and Short. And Valparaiso University recruit Logan Jones of Madison was also in the house.
"We're looking for complete players," Baumgartner said. "Guys who can do it on both ends of the floor. Guys who go at it. And with the positions we have, we have to make sure we have enough points, bigs and everything else."
There were two sessions Sunday, with ball-handling and shooting drills followed by scrimmages.
In the last scrimmage, Short stole a pass and went coast-to-coast, finishing with a beautiful floating finger roll. The crowd went crazy watching the athleticism of the Purdue-bound football player.
On the last play, Conner made a steal and was fouled, hitting a free throw, something the Cardinals couldn't do when they were upset by South Bend Riley in the Michigan City Regional.
"Man, after that game I didn't come out of my house for a week," Short said. "But everyone here knows that we're still the state champs."
Except for the two players from Brownsburg, who won the 4A state title in March.
Chorba had several nifty takes in the lane, at one point hitting a runner over Mr. Basketball Tyler Zeller of Washington. The smile on his face was shared by all of the Region's best.
"The whole experience was awesome," Chorba said. "It's an end of the year thing. It's a privilege to be here. The whole drive down here I knew I just wanted to play hard and that's what I did."
Hoosier Basketball Magazine publisher Garry Donna was very impressed with the players who call Northwest Indiana home.
"The Region's kids were impressive," Donna said. "They played well, like they almost always do. They're good kids, and your area should be proud of them."
