Seymour’s Landon Fritsch looks to make a move against Shelbyville during a game this season.
Tribune file photo
Seymour’s Eli Meyer, right, sets up a shot during a home game against Silver Creek.
Tribune file photo
Sixty-nine Indiana high school seniors — 36 boys and 33 girls — have been chosen as first team academic all-state for 2023 by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Thursday.
In addition, 234 more boys and 247 more girls were recognized as honorable mention academic all-state for 2023, IBCA Executive Director Marty Johnson said. In total, 550 players received some level of recognition in this year’s IBCA academic all-state program.
Seymour’s Landon Fritsch earned a spot on the IBCA academic all-state first team, and Eli Meyer was IBCA all-state honorable mention.
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,” Johnson said in a news release. “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 nominated 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% of one’s class and either an SAT score of 1,100 (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.
Those selected will receive certificates from the IBCA for their honor. Plans are for certificates to be distributed in PDF form to coaches via email during April for the coach to print. The coach then may present the certificate to each honored player sometime before the conclusion of the 2022-23 academic year.
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.