Merrillville’s Johnny Bernard Named Among 2017 Boys Indiana Junior All-Stars

merrillville-james-bernardEighteen players have been selected for the IndyStar Indiana boys Junior All-Stars for 2017.

Players in the core group include Damezi Anderson of South Bend Riley, Aaron Henry of Ben Davis, Eric Hunter of Tindley, Mekhi Lairy of Evansville Bosse, Romeo Langford of New Albany and Robert Phinisee of McCutcheon.

The North group players are Johnny Bernard of Merrillville, Gavin Bizeau of Plainfield, Kevin Easley of Lawrence North, Walter Ellis of South Bend Adams, Jamal Harris of Indianapolis Attucks and Caleb Middlesworth of Oak Hill.

The South group players are Jarron Coleman of Cathedral, Chance Coyle of Bloomington South, Sean East of New Albany, Musa Jallow of Bloomington North, Jalen Moore of Cloverdale and De'Avion Washington of Terre Haute South.

Brian Gibson of Castle will be the head coach of the 2017 boys Junior All-Stars. He will be assisted by Barak Coolman of Valparaiso and Kevin Renbarger of Oak Hill.

The Junior All-Stars will play two games against the IndyStar Indiana All-Star senior boys. Those games are set for June 6 at New Albany and June 8 at Plainfield. Both dates will be doubleheaders with the Indiana Junior All-Star girls playing the Indiana All-Star senior girls in the first game. The girls' games will begin at 6 p.m., with the boys' games to follow.

The players listed as core group players will play in both games. The players listed as North group players will join the core group for the game in Plainfield. The players listed as South group players will join the core group for the game in New Albany.

The Indiana senior All-Stars will play the Kentucky senior All-Stars on June 10 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and on June 11 at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Ky.

The Junior All-Star team is determined by the 22-member Indiana Basketball Coaches Association all-state panel in conjunction with its selection of the IBCA/Subway Underclass All-State Team. The selection process allows all IBCA-member head coaches the opportunity to nominate players from their team or opposing teams.

Representatives from 16 regional areas, plus six representatives from the three IHSAA districts (two each from District 1, District 2 and District 3), then meet to review the nominations, vote and finalize the selections.

A list of those chosen as 2017 boys Junior All-Stars follows.

2017 IndyStar Boys Junior All-Stars

CORE GROUP
Name, Ht., Pos., High School, College Choice
Damezi Anderson, 6-6, F, South Bend Riley, undecided
Aaron Henry, 6-5, F, Ben Davis, undecided
Eric Hunter, 6-3, G, Tindley, undecided
Mekhi Lairy, 5-8, G, Evansville Bosse, undecided
Romeo Langford, 6-5, G, New Albany, undecided
Robert Phinisee, 6-0, G, McCutcheon, undecided

NORTH GROUP
Name, Ht., Pos., High School, College Choice
Johnny Bernard, 6-3, G, Merrillville, undecided
Gavin Bizeau, 6-10, C, Plainfield, undecided
Kevin Easley, 6-5, F, Lawrence North, undecided
Walter Ellis, 6-4, G, South Bend Adams, undecided
Jamal Harris, 6-2, G, Indianapolis Attucks, undecided
Caleb Middlesworth, 6-8, F, Oak Hill, undecided

SOUTH GROUP
Name, Ht., Pos., PPG, High School, College Choice
Jarron Coleman, 6-5, G, Cathedral, undecided
Chance Coyle, 6-3, G, Bloomington South, undecided
Sean East, 6-0, G, New Albany, undecided
Musa Jallow, 6-5, F, Bloomington North, undecided
Jalen Moore, 5-9, G, Cloverdale, undecided
De’Avion Washington, 6-3, G, Terre Haute South, undecided

Head coach: Brian Gibson, Castle
Assistant coaches: Barak Coolman, Valparaiso; Kevin Renbarger, Oak Hill