NEW PALESTINE — Life just makes sense for Maximus Gizzi when he’s playing basketball.
The teamwork, the slick crossovers, the jumpers, the no-look passes, the competition and drive to win, each evokes a smile, even if he doesn’t show it on his face.
Basketball is life for the New Palestine senior point guard, and justifiably so.
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The oldest of three siblings, Gizzi’s younger sister, Isabella, is the starting point guard on the Dragons’ girls varsity team. His younger brother, Julius, is a grade-school basketball player, while his mother, Sarah, is the head coach for the girls varsity team.
His father, Mike, helped launch the New Palestine Heat, the community’s youth hoops feeder program, and has coached Maximus at nearly every level, including AAU.
Maximus Gizzi credits every one of his family members, including his grandfather, Bruce Haynes, who was a boys varsity coach at New Palestine in the 1990s, for each ounce of talent he puts on display once the ball goes up.
His humble nature won’t allow him to take any praise without dishing it out, much like his game.
As the Dragons’ all-time career-leading scorer with 1,612 points, Gizzi could boast. The 6-foot-1 playmaker has the right to be arrogant, but despite holding three career-school marks — assists (375) and steals (115) — he’s appreciative.
Gizzi, the 2019-20 Hancock County Boys Basketball Player of the Year, loves the game too much to take anything for granted, especially during these unprecedented times.
Able to win the final game of his high school career, Gizzi would like nothing more than to run the floor one more time as a Dragon, but the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic erased that wish once the IHSAA state tournament was cancelled this spring.
Gizzi last left the court a sectional champion as the Class 4A Dragons claimed their second straight title on March 7 with a 54-53 victory over Muncie Central. But, he didn’t realize it would be final high school game — ever.
“It’s definitely frustrating. You want to have a chance to play in those big games because that’s when the crazy and fun stuff can happen, and it’s definitely frustrating that it had to end like this, but at the same time, instead of frustrating, I would say it’s weird,” Gizzi said.
“Nobody anticipated it, but it’s definitely frustrating because I would give anything to get to play with those guys I’ll never to play with again that had such a huge part in my success and career there.”
Gizzi and the Dragons were set to compete in the Southport Regional before the state tournament was initially set for limited fan attendance, then postponed before officially getting cancelled due to the pandemic.
But, he hasn’t truly left the game.
Running drills with his siblings on the outdoor courts at New Palestine Intermediate School, which is a bounce pass away from their family home, Gizzi can’t stay away from the game.
“I know I love it because I don’t know what I would do without it. So much of our life revolves around it here for me personally and the rest of my family,” Gizzi said. “I love it. I look forward to every single practice, to every single game. That’s why I know I love it. I don’t ever feel like taking a day off.”
When he’s not on the courts, Gizzi workouts with New Palestine junior and teammate Eli Stephens. Gizzi knows no off switch, and Dragons’ head coach Trent Whitaker is all too familiar.
“He works so incredibly hard. The scoring record, he shattered it. It’s mind-blowing. But, at the same time, the all-around player that he was with the assists and steals record. Those things have been around for a while,” Whitaker said. “Obviously, records are meant to be broken at some point in time, but I don’t think there will be anybody that comes along and breaks all three of them at the same time.”
Gizzi did with steady efficiency.
As a freshman, he averaged 12.3 points per game, only to see those numbers increase to 16.5, 15.8 and 23.4 over the past four seasons.
He overtook family friend Tom Giles’ career-scoring record of 1,285, a mark that stood since 1979. He added 362 career rebounds to his list of can-dos, while posting 105 3-pointers, 512 field goals made and 483 free throws.
“It’s amazing that I had the opportunity to do any of that. I thank coach Whitaker for giving me the opportunity. He put me in a position to succeed,” Gizzi said. “Looking back, now that it’s done, it’s honestly pretty crazy and pretty special to think about.”
Gizzi’s legacy is a generational one with his mom being a 1994 Indiana All-Star and New Palestine’s all-time girls basketball career-scoring leader with 1,172 points. As a coach, she’s led the girls’ program to two sectional titles (2018, 2020) and a Hoosier Heritage Conference championship in 2019.
His drive to win comes naturally from both of his parents, Gizzi admits, and it started early from watching his dad, a Philadelphia native, compete overseas with stops in France and Greece before spending 10 years in Italy until Maximus turned 7.
“They deserve 99 percent of my success because they started me out, and if they didn’t do that I might not be here and enjoy it as much as I do today,” Gizzi said. “I attribute a ton of my success to them because they’ve done everything they possibly can to support and help me and help me get to this point.”
Gizzi’s leadership played a role, especially this season as the team struggled early to match the immense success of reaching the regional title game in 2018-19 with a record of 18-9.
At 3-9 to start the 2019-20 campaign, there were grumbles the Dragons were incapable of winning, but Gizzi and seniors Eric Roudebush and Dawson Eastes believed otherwise.
“It definitely tested our patience, but if I had to go back, I wouldn’t change it. I think it definitely made us a better team this year and it kind of united everybody,” Gizzi said. “We had a couple of player meetings and had to sit everybody down and say, ‘we could right this ship, but it has to start now.’ That was a huge piece to our success at the end of the season.”
The turnaround led to an 11-3 run towards a sectional title, the program’s first HHC championship since 2013 and another shot at regional before it was taken away by unexpected circumstances.
It was a devastating blow when the news broke on March 12 and continued to spiral as time went on.
“Right before our team meeting (on March 12) was over, coach (Chris) Cherry learned that the school was closing, so we knew there was a good chance (regional) was going to be postponed,” Gizzi said. “(Us seniors) kind of hung around for a while because we realized it had the potential to be our last practice. That’s tough to swallow on the spot for guys like Dawson and I. We sat around and tried to enjoy that time.”
Gizzi thinks back fondly on his last game, however.
The clutch 3-pointer off his quick pass to sophomore Steele Brasfield that put the Dragons on top for good is one of his favorite highlights to watch. The hug he shared with coach Whitaker, his father, who served as an assistant this season, his mother and his sister are etched in his memory.
“It was also a family victory because I definitely tried to be the leader on the team this year, and my parents saw how irritated I was with how we started the season. Just going through those struggles,” Gizzi said. “Having my dad on the bench, it definitely made the win a lot sweeter because they both were there.”
While he still has his high school jerseys at home, Gizzi is looking forward to moving onto the next level when he heads to Marian University to play for head coach Scott Heady.
Often overlooked by Div-I scouts because of his size, Gizzi plays with enormous passion no matter where he brings the ball up the court. And, he won’t anytime soon.
“I like to be able to do everything because it makes you harder to guard, but in all honestly, that versatility comes from wanting to win. I want to do whatever I need to do for my team to win,” Gizzi said. “And, that’s just what I try to do.”
