Amanda Knapp
Purdue University's basketball team, the Boilermakers, has been home to some of Indiana's top high school basketball players, with 12 players in the program's history earning the Indiana Mr. Basketball title. The Indiana Mr. Basketball award is the oldest such award in the nation, with the first recipient being George Crowe of Franklin High School in 1939. Purdue recruits have won consecutive Indiana Mr. Basketball titles for the first time in over 50 years, with Caleb Furst of Fort Wayne's Blackhawk Christian High School being named the 2021 recipient, and Westfield High School's Braden Smith, who will join the team in 2022.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What is Indiana Mr. Basketball? | An honour recognising the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana |
| Who is eligible? | Only seniors |
| Who selects the winner? | The Indianapolis Star newspaper |
| When was it first awarded? | 1939 |
| Who was the first recipient? | George Crowe of Franklin High School |
| How many Indiana Mr. Basketball recipients has Purdue had? | 15 players in total; 13 recipients played at Purdue |
| Purdue's Indiana Mr. Basketball recipients | Billy Keller (1965), Rick Mount (1966), Dennis Brady (1964), Caleb Furst (2021), Braden Smith (2022) |
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What You'll Learn
Indiana Mr. Basketball 2022: Braden Smith
Westfield High School guard Braden Smith was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball 2022. Smith, a Purdue basketball signee, edged out his future Purdue teammate Fletcher Loyer of Homestead High School for the title. Smith averaged 18.3 points, 6.0 assists, 6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 21 games as a senior for Westfield High School. He is the 13th recipient of Indiana Mr. Basketball to play at Purdue and the 15th player named Mr. Basketball in the program's history.
Smith is Westfield's all-time leader in scoring (1,629 points) and assists (453). In his senior year, Smith and his teammates won Westfield's first sectional championship in 105 years of basketball. Smith received 128 votes, while Loyer received 109, Lawrence North's CJ Gunn was third with 57 votes, Central Noble's Connor Essegian was fourth with 41 votes, and Chesterton's Travis Grayson was fifth with 16 votes.
This is the second consecutive year that Purdue recruits have won the Indiana Mr. Basketball award. Last year's winner, Caleb Furst of Fort Wayne's Blackhawk Christian High School, will join Smith and Loyer at Purdue next season. Furst and Kaufman-Renn were also the top two vote-getters in 2021. Smith will be the third player on the Purdue roster with the title of Mr. Basketball, alongside Furst and 2020 Pennsylvania Mr. Basketball Ethan Morton.
Purdue has a rich history of producing and recruiting Mr. Basketball winners. Since 1952, 15 players who have gone on to play for the Purdue Boilermakers have been named Indiana Mr. Basketball. The university has also recruited Mr. Basketball winners from other states, such as Ethan Morton from Pennsylvania.
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Indiana Mr. Basketball 2021: Caleb Furst
Caleb Furst, a 6-foot recruit from Fort Wayne's Blackhawk Christian High School, was named Indiana's 2021 Mr. Basketball. Furst averaged 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game during his four years of high school basketball. As a senior, he put up 18.3 points, 6.0 assists, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 21 games. He was also a two-time state champion at Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian and was on course for a third championship before the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID.
Furst scored 2,087 career points and was the school's all-time leader in points and rebounds. He won 105 games in his four years at Blackhawk Christian and was the first Class 2A player in Indiana to win Mr. Basketball since 2010. He was also named the recipient of the Class 2A Trester Mental Attitude Award.
Furst was the 12th recipient of Indiana Mr. Basketball to play at Purdue and the first since Caleb Swanigan in 2015. He was also the Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana for Boys Basketball in 2020-2021.
Purdue has had 15 players named Mr. Basketball in its history. The university has welcomed back-to-back Mr. Basketball recipients to campus for the first time since the trio of Dennis Brady, Billy Keller, and Rick Mount between 1964 and 1966.
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Indiana Mr. Basketball 1981: Dan Palombizio
Dan Palombizio was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1981. He was one of the nation's best high school basketball players, playing for Michigan City Rogers High School. Palombizio originally committed to Indiana but signed with Purdue, where he played for two seasons.
During his senior year in high school, Palombizio led the state in scoring and rebounding, averaging 31.8 points and 17.4 rebounds per game. He set or tied game, season, or career records 42 times at Rogers, graduating as Indiana's ninth all-time leading scorer with 2,092 career points and 1,224 career rebounds. He was the second player in the state to make the first team all-state three times.
Palombizio struggled to find early success at the college level. In his two seasons with the Boilermakers, he averaged 4.6 points, three rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. He then transferred to Ball State University, where he revived his career in the Mid-American Conference. As a junior, he averaged 23.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game, becoming the nation's third-leading scorer and 12th-best rebounder. He also set the Ball State single-season scoring record with 762 points.
Palombizio was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1986 and played professionally in several countries, including Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, and the Dominican Republic. He led Europe in scoring three times during his career. In 2013, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
As for the number of Mr. Basketballs at Purdue, the university has had several players receive this honor. In addition to Dan Palombizio in 1981, other notable recipients include Braden Smith in 2022, Caleb Furst in 2021, and Ethan Morton in 2020.
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Indiana Mr. Basketball 1965: Billy Keller
William Curry Keller, born on August 30, 1947, is a former professional basketball player who played as a 5'10" guard. He spent his entire basketball career in Indiana. He attended George Washington Community High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in his senior year.
Keller then attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and played under head coach George King. Alongside three-time All-American Rick Mount and fellow senior and co-captain Herm Gilliam, he led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Conference Title and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance, reaching the NCAA Finals game in 1969. In 75 games, Keller, known as "Mr. Hustle", averaged 14.1 points per game and scored a total of 1,056 points. He received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award his senior year, which is given to the nation's top player under 6 feet in height.
After his senior season at Purdue, Billy Keller participated in the Kentucky-Indiana College All-Star Game, where he first played with a three-point line. He went on to play for the Indiana Pacers for eight seasons, establishing himself as one of the best three-point shooters in professional basketball. During his seven-year ABA career, he averaged 11.8 points per game and scored a total of 6,588 points. He also led the league in free throw percentage twice, in 1973 and 1976, and set a record in the 1974-1975 season by going 30-30 from the free throw line in the ABA Playoffs.
Following his playing career, Billy Keller returned to his alma mater, serving as an assistant coach at Purdue during the 1979-1980 season. He then became the head coach at the University of Indianapolis from 1980 to 1987, leading the team to an overall record of 23-10 and an NCAA Final Four appearance. In recognition of his achievements and contributions to Indiana basketball, Keller was awarded the Joe Boland Award by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) in 1978 and inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
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Indiana Mr. Basketball 1939: George Crowe
Indiana Mr. Basketball is an annual award presented by The Indianapolis Star to the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. In 1939, the inaugural Indiana Mr. Basketball award was bestowed upon George Crowe of Franklin High School. Crowe was a talented athlete, earning 12 letters in 3 sports at Indiana Central College in the 1940s, and starring in both baseball and basketball. He was also the first Indiana-born African American to play Major League Baseball.
Crowe served in the Army in Asia after graduating from college. He then played professional baseball in the Negro National League for the New York Black Yankees during the 1947 season. In 1946, he was part of a touring basketball team, the Los Angeles Red Devils, playing alongside Irv Noren and Jackie Robinson. After the Red Devils disbanded, Crowe joined the New York Rens, becoming part of the first all-black team to play at Madison Square Garden.
Crowe was a highly respected figure in the early days of baseball integration. He was known as "Big Daddy" due to his mentorship of many African American players who were newly able to play in the major leagues. Despite not getting his own shot at the major leagues until he was 30, Crowe went on to make an All-Star team and had a 30-home run season. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
George Crowe passed away at the age of 89 in 2011, having lived a secluded life in the mountains for nearly thirty years after leaving baseball.
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Frequently asked questions
Purdue has recruited 13 Indiana Mr. Basketball winners, including the 2022 recipient, Westfield High School guard Braden Smith.
George Crowe of Franklin High School in 1939.
Billy Keller (1965 recipient), Caleb Furst (2021 recipient), and Dan Palombizio (1981 recipient) are some of the other Indiana Mr. Basketball winners who went on to play for Purdue.
Indiana Mr. Basketball is an annual award presented by The Indianapolis Star that recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana.
Yes, in 2021 and 2022, Purdue recruited consecutive Indiana Mr. Basketball winners for the first time in over 50 years.
