Eastern Hancock’s Edric Miller scores on a drive against New Castle.
Staff report
Five Hancock County high school basketball players earned honorable mention selections to Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Academic All-State teams.
Eastern Hancock’s Emma Bolding and Mt. Vernon’s Samantha Mrnak received honorable mention on the girls’ side. Eastern Hancock’s Edric Miller, Greenfield-Central’s Ian Jack and Mt. Vernon’s Daylon King were selected for the boys.
The IBCA Academic All-State program is one where academic prowess and athletic prowess both are considered in the selections. Items such as grade-point average, academic class rank and SAT or ACT scores are considered along with athletic performance in areas such as points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game.
“The quality of these student-athletes shows that success in academics and success in athletics are not separate entities,” IBCA executive director Marty Johnson said. “Rather, in many cases, a player’s success in the classroom directly contributes to his or her success on the floor.”
IBCA-member head coaches from schools across the state may nominate their senior student-athletes who meet criteria that include a 3.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale, a class rank in the upper 25 percent of one’s class and either an SAT score of 1100 (on the reading and math sections) or an ACT composite score of 24. Once nominations were received, an IBCA committee reviewed the information and determined awards for first team and honorable mention.
The IBCA selected 69 Indiana high school seniors —36 boys and 33 girls — as first-team Academic All-State.
In addition, 234 more boys and 247 more girls were recognized as honorable mention Academic All-State. In total, 550 players received some level of recognition in this year’s IBCA Academic All-State program.
The IBCA has selected an Academic All-State team for boys since 1973. The program was expanded to include a girls’ Academic All-State team in 1980.
Edwards receives sportsmanship award
Anderson University freshman swimmer Luken Edwards, a graduated of Eastern Hancock High School, received a sportsmanship award from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Announced earlier this week, the HCAC, as part of a conference-wide initiative to recognize individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field/court of competition, named its Christopher M. Ragsdale Sportsmanship Team.
The sportsmanship teams include one student-athlete from each of its member institutions. For winter sports, teams were announced for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s indoor track and field.
Edwards is a sprint freestyle/mid-distance freestyle swimmer for the Ravens.
