Jordan Hulls of unbeaten Class 4A champion Bloomington South and Miss Basketball Skylar Diggins of tourney runner-up South Bend Washington head The Associated Press All-State basketball teams for 2009.
Hulls, a 6-foot Indiana University recruit, led the Panthers to a 26-0 record and the school’s first state tourney championship in 90 years. He was the leading vote-getter on the boys team and is among the favorites for Mr. Basketball when it is announced this month by the sponsoring Indianapolis Star.
Diggins, a 5-10 Notre Dame recruit who led Washington to the 4A finals for the fourth straight year, had the most votes among the girls. She also led the state in scoring at 29 points a game and was a first-team AP All-State selection for the third year in a row.
Kelly Faris of four-time Class 2A champion Heritage Christian, a Connecticut recruit, also was a repeat selection on the AP first team. Chrissy Steffen of Carmel and Alex Bentley of 4A champion Indianapolis Ben Davis moved up from the second team last year to first team this time. Courtney Osborn of Hamilton Southeastern was also named to the top team.
The boys’ first team is made up of four other major college recruits besides Hulls.
Second in the statewide media voting conducted by the AP was 6-7 junior Deshaun Thomas of Fort Wayne Luers, who led the state in scoring at 30 points a game and led Luers to its second straight 2A championship. Thomas, also a first-team selection last year, has already committed to Ohio State for 2010.
Also on the first team are IU recruit Derek Elston of Tipton, Purdue recruit D.J. Byrd of North Montgomery and North Carolina State recruit Scott Wood of Marion. Elston was a third-team selection last year.
The boys’ second team includes two other future Boilermakers: 6-9 Patrick Bade of Franklin Central and 6-2 junior Terone Johnson of Indianapolis North Central. The other second-team picks are Louisville recruit Stephan Van Treese of Lawrence North, Valparaiso recruit Matt Kenney of Mooresville and Southern Illinois recruit Kendal Brown of Evansville Harrison.
Bruce Grimm Jr. of Rochester, the Class 3A tourney most valuable player last week with 40 points in a double-overtime loss to Princeton in the championship game, heads the All-State third team. His father, Bruce Grimm Sr. was a first-team AP pick at Plymouth in 1973.
The other third-team selections are Colt Ryan of Batesville and juniors Donnie Hale of New Albany, Dominque Ferguson of Lawrence North and Travis Carroll of Danville. Carroll already has committed to Purdue.
Courtney Moses of 2A runner-up Oak Hill, another junior who has committed to Purdue, is on the girls’ second team. The others are Aulani Sinclair of Eminence, Skyler Gick of Benton Central, Tabitha Gerardot of Class A champion Fort Wayne Canterbury and Dragana Grbic of Terre Haute South.
The girls’ third-team is led by sophomore Bria Goss, who hit the winning basket with 3 seconds left to give Ben Davis a 71-69 win over South Bend Washington for the championship. Also on the team are Lecretia Smith of 3A champion Fort Wayne Elmhurst, Claire Freeman of Heritage Christian, Adrienne Sahm of Indianapolis Cathedral and TaKenya Nixon of Michigan City.
