Annual Indiana vs. Kentucky prep basketball showcase is back. Here’s what to know
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- The all-star high school basketball showcase between Indiana and Kentucky is this week.
- Indiana and Kentucky girls and boys all-stars will play Friday night in Lexington.
- The border rivals will then face off again Saturday night in Indianapolis.
An annual summer sports tradition is back in the bluegrass.
The annual Kentucky-Indiana High School All-Star Classic basketball series is taking place this weekend.
The Indiana and Kentucky senior all-stars will face off Friday night at Lexington Catholic High School and Saturday night in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Each night will feature a girls-boys doubleheader, in that order, pitting the best prep seniors from each state against each other as the players close the curtain on their respective high school careers.
Friday’s doubleheader at LexCath begins with the girls game at 5:30 p.m. and the boys game after at approximately 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the girls game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis begins at 5 p.m., with the boys matchup to follow around 7:30 p.m.
General admission tickets for Friday’s games are available at kentuckybasketballcoaches.org and cost $15. Tickets for Saturday’s games in Indianapolis can be found on Ticketmaster.
Once again, there’s expected to be plenty of star power on display in the series.
Kentucky Mr. Basketball Jake Feldhaus, a South Florida signee, and Kentucky Miss Basketball Ashlinn James, who is heading to Indiana, will lead their squads into this weekend’s matchups.
Feldhaus’ name is synonymous with Kentucky basketball at the prep and college levels. The 6-foot-8 forward from Madison Central High School in Richmond is a son of former UK standout Deron Feldhaus, who was part of the Cats’ “Unforgettables” team in the 1991-92 season. Allen Feldhaus Jr., who is Jake’s uncle, coached Jake at Madison Central. The late Allen Feldhaus Sr., who is Jake’s grandfather, played at UK for Adolph Rupp and was the boys basketball coach at Mason County.
Jake Feldhaus earned Kentucky Mr. Basketball honors this year after averaging 20.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for Madison Central.
James is 5-8 point guard from Louisville’s Assumption High School. She averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals per game as Assumption reached the Sweet 16 state tournament title game. ESPN ranks James as a top-70 player in the 2026 recruiting class.
Who else is on the senior Kentucky All-Star teams?
In addition to Feldhaus, the boys senior all-star team for Kentucky includes Leek Ateny (Danville Christian), Malachi Ashford (George Rogers Clark), Keriawn Berry (North Hardin), Cole Edelen (Ballard), Jeremiah Jackson (St. Xavier), Jayden Johnson (Trinity), Damian Jung (Eastern), Athens McGillis (Covington Catholic), Jonathan Moss (Daviess County), Amari Owens (Bryan Station), Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County), Demarcus Surratt (Frederick Douglass) and DeAaron Watkins (Daviess County).
Owens, a Herald-Leader All-State first team selection, is the all-time leading scorer in both Bryan Station and Lexington boys high school basketball history with 2,606 points. He’s heading to Eastern Kentucky to start his college career.
Surratt, who was also named to the Herald-Leader All-State first team, averaged 18.8 points per game for Frederick Douglass as a senior and will play at Bellarmine.
Edelen, Johnson, Moss and Jackson are all ranked by 247Sports among the top college basketball prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. Edelen is heading to Fairfield, Johnson is joining Feldhaus at South Florida, Moss is going to Appalachian State and Jackson will play at Southern Illinois.
Ashford, who averaged 13.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for Clark County’s Sweet 16 state championship-winning team, will play at Georgetown College. Ashford earned MVP honors for Clark County in the Sweet 16 state tournament.
Along with James, the girls senior all-star team for Kentucky features A’Tylia Green (Henderson County), Emma Holtzapfel (Notre Dame Academy), Jaelyn Jones (Ryle), Taylor King (Rockcastle County), Jaidan Koch (Calloway County), Kennedy Lane (Daviess County), Ava Moore (Assumption), Destiny Scott (North Hardin), Anna Tinelli (Bullitt East), Haylie Webb (Simon Kenton), Brianna Wilkins (Sacred Heart), Cariann Williams (Edmonson County), Teigh Yeast (George Rogers Clark) and Madison Young (South Oldham).
Yeast, who averaged 12.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for Clark County — which also won the Sweet 16 state championship on the girls’ side — will start her college career at Robert Morris. Yeast, who was named the Girls’ Sweet 16 tournament MVP, is also a decorated track state champion and a younger sister of college basketball player Timberlynn Yeast, who transferred from Marshall to Robert Morris this offseason.
In addition to Teigh Yeast, several other players on the Kentucky girls’ squad are heading to Division I college programs this year. Holtzapfel is going to Bellarmine, Jones has signed to play at Western Illinois, Koch is going to Southern Indiana, Wilkins will play at Marshall and Young is heading to Illinois State.
Which players are on the Indiana All-Star teams?
This year’s Indiana boys’ team includes plenty of size. Seven players on the Indiana roster are listed as 6-7 or taller.
Leading the way for Indiana is that state’s Mr. Basketball, Luke Ertel, a point guard from Mt. Vernon High School who averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game this past season. 247Sports ranks Ertel, who is heading to Purdue, as a top-50 recruit in the 2026 cycle.
In addition to Ertel, Indiana’s boys’ team includes Anthony Fresh (Charlestown), Dane Caldwell (Silver Creek), Evan Harrell (Carmel), JaShawn Ladd (Ben Davis), Kai McGrew (Fishers), Brennan Miller (Lawrence North), Brady Scholl (Northridge), Dikembe Shaw (Crown Point), Nick Shrewsberry (South Bend St. Joseph), Noah Smith (Plainfield), Baron Walker (Noblesville) and Cameron Webster (Lawrence North).
The top college recruits are the Indiana boys team are Smith (DePaul), Shaw (Illinois-Chicago), McGrew (Ball State) and Miller (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville). Harrell, who averaged 15.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this past season, is heading to Bellarmine. Shrewsberry is a son of Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry, and he will play for his father later this year with the Fighting Irish.
The Indiana boys team will be coached by Todd Woelfle of Terre Haute North, with assistant coaches Chad Ballenger of Hamilton Heights and Joe Bradburn of Mt. Vernon.
On the girls’ side, 12 of the 13 players selected for the Indiana team are committed to Division I programs. Indiana’s Miss Basketball is Gracyn Gilliard, a 5-11 guard/forward who averaged 25.6 points per game at Center Grove High School and will begin her college career at Stanford.
Along with Gilliard, the Indiana girls’ team features Lillian Barnes (Valparaiso), Komari Booker (Pike), Joslyn Bricker (Warsaw), Laniah Davis (Marquette Catholic), Myah Epps (Homestead), Mollie Ernstes (Jennings County), Kennedy Holman (Hamilton Southeastern), Lola Lampley (Lawrence Central), Brooklynn Renn (Silver Creek), Vanessa Rosswurm (Norwell), Laniah Wills (Lapel) and Brooke Zartman (Warsaw).
The most prominent college prospects from this group are Epps (Louisville), Ernstes (Kansas), Gilliard (Stanford), Holman (Oregon), Lampley (LSU) and Renn (Kansas).
Epps, who averaged 14.0 points, 4.1 assists, 4 rebounds and 2.3 steals this past season, underwent back surgery this spring after being involved in a serious car accident and won’t play in the series. Renn, who averaged 21.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks during her senior campaign, is a cousin of former Purdue men’s basketball star Trey Kaufman-Renn.
The Indiana girls’ team will be coached by Joe Huppenthal (Lake Central), with assistant coaches Amy Shearer (Columbia City) and Brian Smith (Loogootee).
What’s the history of the Indiana vs. Kentucky all-star basketball event?
Last year, the Indiana boys all-stars claimed both games of the series against Kentucky, while the Kentucky girls all-stars also swept their games.
The Kentucky girls scored an 84-73 win in Lexington and a 106-103 win in double overtime in Indianapolis. Those games are best remembered for the legendary performances put on by ZaKiyah Johnson, who capped her storied Kentucky prep career with 28 points and 11 rebounds in the game in Lexington and 34 points in the victory in Indianapolis.
This was the first time since 2012 that the Kentucky girls swept Indiana in the series. Indiana still leads the all-time girls series over Kentucky by a 55-43 margin. The girls series began in 1976.
On the boys’ side, Indiana recorded a 98-89 win in Lexington and a 105-92 triumph in Indianapolis. Indiana leads the all-time boys series 107-46 over Kentucky. This series began in 1940.
Indiana has performed particularly well against Kentucky in recent years. The Indiana boys have defeated their Kentucky counterparts in 35 of the past 40 games, with all five Kentucky wins coming in the commonwealth.
