INDIANAPOLIS | A lot of things were said on Sunday afternoon inside Marian College's gym, aptly nicknamed "The Dungeon."
Sixty of the best senior basketball players in the state competed at the Hoosier Basketball Magazine's Top 60 workout. It was just a handful that had the packed gym talking. The play of Chesterton's Zack Novak did cause some chatter.
"He's going to Michigan."
"Boy, they're going to be happy."
"Wow, nice move."
These were not the sentences being expressed last June in New Castle when Novak was a member of the Indiana Junior All-Star team. He scored three points, had two rebounds and two assists.
The 6-foot-5 guard was outplayed and dominated at almost every level, something he understood. Novak was at the high end of the chart on Sunday.
"It was an all-star game," Novak said. "My game wasn't where it needed to be to play at that kind of level. I wasn't shooting all that well. I needed to slim down. My game just wasn't there.
"Not like it is today."
The Indiana All-Star coaches were in attendance, with West Side's John Boyd there with a clipboard and pen in hand. They didn't tip their hand on who will be selected. But a couple of things were clear.
"Some players came in here like somebody owed them something," Boyd said. "Effort is the biggest thing we're looking for, and the guy who played the hardest was (Washington's) Tyler Zeller. That's why he's Mr. Basketball and going to North Carolina.
"We're looking for guys who are motivated, energy guys. I like what I saw in Novak. He is an energy guy."
Novak was very clear about his goal, which was to show enough to make the Indiana All-Star team. On my clipboard, he was a Top 5 player out of the Top 60. He had a dunk over Crown Point's Stephen Albrecht that almost tore the roof of the place.
Two handed. Rim bending. Crowd pleasing.
All-Stars please pick up gear behind Door No. 2.
"I'm glad it went well," said Novak, The Times Player of the Year for the past season. "Now I don't have to feel like I did last year."
Last year wasn't pretty for Novak. But Sunday afternoon showed one thing: If you work hard, if you dedicate everything you have and if you leave everything out on the floor, things can change in a big way.
You can go from a player losing a scholarship to Valparaiso University to a player gaining a scholarship to a Big Ten school. You can go from a "who's that?" player in an all-star game to a player signing autographs.
That's what Novak did. And that's what he'll do in June against Kentucky.
"I think I played pretty well," Novak said. "I like my chance of playing with these guys."
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at shanlon@nwitimes.com.
