NEW PALESTINE — It was a different look for Maximus Gizzi, wearing a blue and white jersey instead of the red and white of New Palestine.
He earned the blue jersey of the Indiana Jr. All-Stars for what he accomplished while wearing the red of New Palestine, and it gave the junior the opportunity to represent his state on June 2 in Kentucky.
It was an entirely new type of experience for Gizzi, but it was one he definitely enjoyed and learned from.
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“I will say that it is something I have not experienced before. To be a part of it was really cool,” Gizzi said. “I did learn how many good players there are in the state. At the practice, I hadn’t even heard of a couple of the kids before, and they showed up and they were really good. I also felt like I learned that I do belong with that group of kids and that I proved myself a little bit.”
The group got together for one practice the week before the game, albeit a long one. It ran three to four hours, and the coaches implemented a handful of plays so the team would have some structure when they traveled to Louisville to take on the Kentucky Jr. All-Stars at Mercy Academy.
They gelled as best they could, then headed to the game early so they could take pictures, shoot around and watch the girls all-star game beforehand.
“It was really fun. It’s cool kind of just going into it knowing that you’re going to be playing with the best players from Indiana against the best players from Kentucky,” Gizzi said. “You know that’s kind of the cream of the crop. To kind of be considered in that regard is an amazing honor. I wouldn’t say it’s nerve-wracking, but warming up its cool, you have a lot of adrenaline. Not a lot of people get to experience something like this.”
Gizzi played 13 minutes in the game, a 115-104 loss to the Kentucky Jr. All-Stars. He scored two points, had two assists and grabbed one rebound in the game.
Overall he was mostly happy with his individual performance and how the team came together, considering the lacking chemistry from all being new to one another.
The team met back up for the Senior All-Star Game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Indiana team dominated the seniors from Kentucky. The junior group sat together for the game and was introduced on the court and given plaques to commemorate their selection to the team.
The all-star game followed a successful start to summer AAU ball for Gizzi. His team got the opportunity to play in the Adidas Gold Gauntlet, in which he said the team “definitely held our own.”
He’s working with the Dragons again during June before getting back into AAU ball in July, and has some college visits scheduled as his recruitment starts to pick up. He recently visited Ball State and he picked up his first offer, from Marian University, and an offer from Hillsdale College as well.
Gizzi said he considers the all-star experience a bit of a confidence boost, but he is using it more as motivation as he looks ahead to his senior year at New Palestine.
“It is the junior all-stars, and it’s based on your junior season,” he said. “For me, I’m starting over my senior season to try to help my team win as much as we can. I’ll kind of use it as motivation to try to make the all-star team moving forward. It’s a new year and another opportunity to prove myself.”