Twelve players join Mr. Basketball Luke Ertel as Indiana All-Stars

Twelve players have been selected to join 2026 IndyStar Indiana Mr. Basketball Luke Ertel of Mt. Vernon on the 2026 IndyStar Indiana Boys' All-Stars, All-Stars game director Mike Broughton announced Thursday.

Those chosen to the team will play three games in June -- one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

Ertel's selection as Mr. Basketball was announced April 9 after he received the most votes from coaches and media from across the state. Dikembe Shaw of Crown Point, Brady Scholl of Northridge, Brennan Miller of Lawrence North and Noah Smith rounded out the top five in Mr. Basketball voting, and they will join Ertel on the team.

Players completing the 2026 Indiana Boys' All-Stars are Dane Caldwell of Silver Creek, Anthony Fresh of Charlestown, Evan Harrell of Carmel, Ja'Shawn Ladd of Ben Davis, Kai McGrew of Fishers, Nick Shrewsberry of South Bend Saint Joseph, Baron Walker of Noblesville and Cameron Webster of Lawrence North.

The 2026 boys' All-Stars have two players who have been a part of state championship teams in Ertel (2026 4A) and Shrewsberry (2025 3A). The team has two additional players who have been a part of state runner-up teams in Shaw (2026 4A) and Ladd (2024 4A).

Shaw becomes part of the 13th brother-sister All-Star combination. His sister, Dash, was a 2020 All-Star, also from Crown Point. Previous brother-sister combinations were Trena and Daric Keys, 1982 and 1987, Marion; Derrick and Cheryl Dowell, 1983 and 1985, Evansville Bosse; Dana and Bryce Drew, 1990 and 1994, Valparaiso; Richie and Suzie Hammel, 1992 Lafayette Jefferson and 2000 Lebanon; Caleb and Kelly Springer, 1997 Logansport and 2001 Leo; David and Ashley Barlow, 2003 and 2006, Pike; Rachel and Matt Kenney, 2004 and 2009, Mooresville; Tanika and Julius Mays, 2005 and 2008, Marion; Julian and Stephanie Mavunga, 2008 and 2013, Brownsburg; Jordan and Kaila Hulls, 2009 and 2011, Bloomington South; Nicole and J.R. Konieczny, 2017 and 2021, South Bend Saint Joseph; and Jordyn Poole and Chase Barnes, 2024 Fort Wayne Snider and 2025 Fort Wayne Wayne.

Ertel is the brother of 2017 All-Star Michael Ertel, also from Mt. Vernon. There have been numerous All-Star brother combinations over the years going back to Don and Ted Server, 1941 and 1950 from Madison.

Also of note, Ertel and Scholl were selected IBCA first-team Academic All-State. In addition, Ladd was recognized as IBCA honorable mention Academic All-State.

Todd Woelfle of Terre Haute North has been named head coach of the 2026 boys' All-Stars. He will be assisted by Chad Ballenger of Hamilton Heights and Joe Bradburn of Mt. Vernon.

Woelfle is 278-177 in 18 seasons at Terre Haute North, including a 24-4 finish with sectional and regional crowns in 2025-26.

Ballenger is 335-265 in 26 seasons as a head coach, including 259-182 in 19 seasons at Hamilton Heights after previously coaching at Eastern (Greentown) and Knightstown. Bradburn is 365-252 in 27 seasons as a head coach, including 28-3 this past season and 64-18 in three seasons at Mt. Vernon. He previously coached at Cowan, Yorktown, DeKalb, Huntington North and Greenwood.

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 3 at Mt. Vernon. The first game against Kentucky will be June 5 at Lexington Catholic High School. The final game against Kentucky will be June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana Girls' All-Stars.

The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play two girl-boy doubleheaders this year -- May 31 against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars at Charlestown and June 3 against the Indiana seniors at Mt. Vernon.

The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana Boys All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls' portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996.

The All-Star senior boys have played Kentucky in all but three years since 1940 -- 1943 (World War II), 1944 (World War II) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). The All-Star senior girls have played Kentucky every year since 1976, except 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indiana Senior boys lead 107-46 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior boys lead 42-12 in games against the Indiana Junior boys. The Indiana Junior boys lead 9-5 in their series with Kentucky.

The Indiana Senior girls lead 55-43 in their series with Kentucky. The Indiana Senior girls lead 42-12 in games against the Indiana Junior girls. The Indiana Junior girls lead 13-1 in their series with Kentucky.

The fourth annual IndyStar Indiana All-Star "Futures Games" doubleheader will be June 1 at New Palestine. The Futures Games will be a girls-boys doubleheader with Indiana-only squads of sophomores and freshmen in a North vs. South format.

The IndyStar Indiana Boys' All-Star Team is selected through a balloting process of coaches and media overseen by game organizers from the IBCA. The top vote getter is named Mr. Basketball, and the remainder of the team is finalized by Broughton after observing numerous games and events throughout the season, conferring with coaches, school officials and media across the state. Broughton also reviews votes submitted by coaches and media who each could recommend up to 10 players.