Greenfield-Central’s Braylon Mullins and New Palestine’s Julius Gizzi are among the 18 players selected to play for the Indiana boys’ Junior All-Stars for 2024, All-Stars games director Mike Broughton announced the selections Monday.
Mullins was named as part of the six-player Core Group with Dezmon Briscoe of Indianapolis Attucks, Brady Koehler of Indianapolis Cathedral, Azavier Robinson of Lawrence North, Trent Sisley of Heritage Hills and Mark Zackery IV of Ben Davis.
In addition to the core group, six players each were chosen to squads labeled Red Group and Blue Group.
Gizzi was chosen for the Red Group with Michael Cooper of Jeffersonville, JonAnthony Hall of Fishers, Cedric Horton of Richmond, Tre Singleton of Jeffersonville and Shane Sims of Evansville Harrison.
The Blue Group players are Chase Barnes of Fort Wayne Wayne, Damien King of Anderson, Chase Konieczny of South Bend Saint Joseph, Dominique Murphy of East Chicago Central, Kellen Pickett of Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian and Jack Smiley of Valparaiso.
This past season, Mullins, a 6-5 guard, ranked No. 6 in the state in scoring with a 25.0 points per game average. He added 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game. He shot 56 percent from the field and had 61 3-pointers and set a single-season school record for points in a season with 625.
Gizzi, a 6-3 guard, was the second-leading scorer in the state, averaging 28.9 points per game. He also grabbed 8.0 rebounds and dished out 2.3 assists per contest. He, too, set a school record for points in a season with 810, most of any player in the state this season. Gizzi shot 55 percent from the field and hit 55 3-pointers.
Matt Luce of Wapahani, a Class 2A State Finalist this season, will be the head coach of the 2024 Indiana boys’ Junior All-Stars. He will be assisted by Tom Wells of Michigan City.
Luce has a 309-96 record in 17 seasons at Wapahani, including a 26-2 mark heading into the ’24 State Finals. In 22 seasons as a head coach, he has a 359-156 ledger with previous stops at Southwestern (Hanover), Crawfordsville and Benton Central. Over the years, Luce’s teams have won six sectional titles, two regional crowns and the 2024 semi-state. Wells has a 76-46 record in five seasons at Michigan City. Overall, Wells is 402-376 in 35 seasons with earlier tenures at Prairie Heights, Griffith, Portage and LaPorte.
The Junior All-Stars will play one game against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars on Sunday, June 2 at Scottsburg’s Charles E. Meyer Gymnasium. The Junior All-Stars also will play one game against the Indiana All-Star senior boys on Wednesday, June 5 at Kokomo High School. Both games will be doubleheaders with the 2024 Indiana girls’ Junior All-Stars, whose roster was announced on March 4.
The players listed as Core Group players each will play in two games. The players listed in the Red and Blue groups each will play in one game, the Red Group on June 2 against the Kentucky Juniors and the Blue Group on June 5 against the Indiana Seniors.
The Indiana Senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky Senior All-Stars on Friday, June 7 at a site to be announced. They will play again on Saturday, June 8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The second IndyStar Indiana All-Star “Futures Games” doubleheader will be played on Monday, June 3 at Hamilton Southeastern High School. The Futures Games will be a girls-boys doubleheader with Indiana-only squads of sophomores and freshmen in a North vs. South format. The Futures Games rosters will be announced later.
The 2024 Indiana boys’ Junior All-Star team was selected through a process that allows all IBCA-member head coaches to nominate players through the IBCA all-state procedure. The IBCA 22-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association boys’ all-state committee reviewed and voted on players for the 2024 IBCA/Franciscan Health boys’ All-State teams that were released on Friday (March 22).
The boys’ all-state committee members also provided input to a six-person boys’ Junior All-Star subcommittee appointed by IBCA executive director Marty Johnson and chaired by Brandon Bradley of Kankakee Valley. Bradley, Broughton plus coaches Ryan Abbott of Carroll (Fort Wayne), Chris Giffin of Lawrence North, Mark Rohrer of Gibson Southern and Andy Weaver of Plainfield finalized the selections for the 2024 boys’ Junior All-Stars.
The Indiana Junior All-Star program was founded in 1996 by former Indiana All-Star games director Patrick Aikman. In most years, 18 players have been chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In five years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019), 24 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars. In 2021, just 12 players were chosen to the Junior All-Stars.
In games from 1996 through 2023 (with no games in 2020 because of COVID-19), the Indiana Senior boys lead the Indiana Junior boys 41-11 and the Indiana Senior girls lead the Indiana Junior girls 41-11. In seven years of games against the Kentucky Juniors, the Indiana Junior boys lead 7-5 and the Indiana Junior girls lead 11-1. Games against the Kentucky Juniors previously have been played in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Indiana portion of the All-Star Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is the title sponsor. Hoosier Shooting Academic is a presenting partner for All-Star Week. Energy Systems Group is a presenting partner of the Saturday doubleheader against Kentucky.
A list of those chosen as 2024 boys’ Junior All-Stars follows.
2024 IndyStar Indiana Boys’ Junior All-Stars
BOYS CORE GROUP (playing on June 2 and June 5)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Dezmon Briscoe, 6-8, F, 14.3, Indianapolis Attucks, undecided
Brady Koehler, 6-9, F, 15.5, Indianapolis Cathedral, undecided
Braylon Mullins, 6-6, G, 25.0, Greenfield-Central, undecided
Azavier Robinson, 6-1, G, 20.0, Lawrence North, undecided
Trent Sisley, 6-8, F, 24.2, Heritage Hills, undecided
Mark Zackery IV, 5-11, G, 10.3, Ben Davis, undecided
BOYS RED GROUP (playing on June 2 vs. Kentucky Juniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Michael Cooper, 6-3, G, 16.4, Jeffersonville, undecided
Julius Gizzi, 6-3, G, 28.9, New Palestine, undecided
JonAnthony Hall, 6-1, G, 11.3, Fishers, undecided
Cedric Horton, 6-5, G, 18.0, Richmond, undecided
Tre Singleton, 6-8, F, 14.2, Jeffersonville, undecided
Shane Sims, 6-3, G, 15.1, Evansville Harrison, undecided
BOYS BLUE GROUP (playing on June 5 vs. Indiana Seniors)
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Chase Barnes, 6-1, G, 14.3, Fort Wayne Wayne, undecided
Damien King, 6-4, G, 23.1, Anderson, undecided
Chase Konieczny, 6-4, G, 20.2, South Bend Saint Joseph, undecided
Dominique Murphy, 6-5, G, 20.9, East Chicago Central, undecided
Kellen Pickett, 6-9, F, 20.5. Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, undecided
Jack Smiley, 6-2, G, 23.8, Valparaiso, undecided
COACHES
Head coach: Matt Luce, Wapahani
Assistant coach: Tom Wells, Michigan City
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2024 IndyStar Indiana All-Star key dates
Sunday, June 2 — Indiana Juniors vs. Kentucky Juniors at Scottsburg’s Charles E. Meyer Gymnasium (375 E. McClain St., Scottsburg, IN 47170) — girls, 2:00 p.m.; boys, to follow; admission, $10 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Monday, June 3 – Indiana All-Stars “Futures Games” doubleheader at Hamilton Southeastern (13910 E. 126th St., Fishers, IN 46037) – girls, 6:00 p.m., boys, to follow; admission, $10 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Wednesday, June 5 — Junior-Senior All-Star game at Kokomo (200 S. Apperson Way, Kokomo, IN 46901) — girls, 6:00 p.m.; boys, to follow; admission, $10 per person at the door (adults, school-aged students; pre-school children are free).
Friday, June 7 — Indiana at Kentucky at TBA — girls, time, TBA; boys, to follow, time TBA. Ticket information, TBA.
Saturday, June 8 — Indiana vs. Kentucky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (125 S. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) — Senior girls, 5:00 p.m.; Senior boys, to follow (about 7:30 p.m.). Ticket information, TBA.
