Washington 6â??11â? center Luke Zeller â??? he of the shot heard â??round the world that won an amazing Class 3A IHSAA boys basketball championship just two weeks ago â??? has been named 2005 Indiana Mr. Basketball by The Indianapolis Star.
The Notre Dame-bound big man received 101 of a possible 247 votes that were cast by Hoosier coaches and media members. Richmondâ??s Dominic James, the stateâ??s leading scorer at 31.1 points per game, was second with 63 votes, while Carmelâ??s Josh McRoberts, the most valuable player of the recent McDonaldâ??s High School All-American Game, was third with 41.
A dozen other Indiana high school seniors earned the remaining 42 votes.
Zeller, like McRoberts a McDonaldâ??s All-American (Zeller did not play in that game as it came only days after the state finals), becomes the second Washington player to be named Mr. Basketball. In 1979, Steve Bouchie â??? whose son, Bryan, was Zellerâ??s front-line teammate this season â??? won the award before heading off to win a national championship at Indiana University.
The 240-pounder was the hero of top-ranked Washingtonâ??s classic 3A 74-72 overtime win over Plymouth, an unbelievably thrilling game that saw 21 state finals records set or tied, including 15 of the 3-point variety.
In fact, it was Zellerâ??s 3-pointer at the buzzer â??? a 40-foot jump shot from just inside the half-court line â??? that catapulted the Hatchets to victory.
â??It was a Christian Laettner-type play,â? said a jubilant Washington coach Dave Omer, who concluded a 40-year coaching career with a perfect ending. â??He caught the ball, made a quick reverse dribble â?¦ right down the middle. Him making the basket doesnâ??t surprise me.â?
Zeller, the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award winner, finished one rebound shy of a triple-double against Plymouth as he posted game highs of 11 assists (an Indiana all-time championship game record) and nine rebounds to go along with his 27 points.
The thrilling victory enabled Washington, which finished at 27-2, to capture its fourth state title to go with ones in 1930, 1941, and again in â??42. Those last two came under the direction of legendary Indiana coach Marion Crawley.
Zeller committed to Notre Dame in his junior year, choosing the Irish over Illinois, Kansas, Stanford, and Missouri. The son of 6â?? 3â? basketball-playing parents (father Steve and mother Lorri played for Springville High in Iowa), Luke is the older brother of hoops-playing siblings Tyler (a 6â??7â? freshman who plays at Washington) and 12-year-old Cody (a member of the Indianapolis Municipal Gardens AAU team).
Indianaâ??s 66th Mr. Basketball averaged 19.6 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 59.1 percent from the field and 71.9 percent on his free throws during his senior year. Zellerâ??s remarkably consistent stats from his three previous seasons were:
?· Junior: 19.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 56.1 FG%, 67.3 FT%
?· Sophomore: 18.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 58.6 FG%, 80.0 FT %
?· Freshman: 15.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 61.1 FG%, 80.0 FT%
Valedictorian of his senior class of 164 with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, the All-American Scholar is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as well as being a volunteer for the Camp Illiana Habitat for Humanity. And Zeller annually participates in the Dr. Suess â??Read Across Americaâ? in elementary schools.
â??Luke truly embodies the values of being a student-athlete by his mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability,â? said Gary Puckett, Washingtonâ??s principal. â??In four years of watching Luke competing on the court and working in the classroom, I have never seen him act or behave in a negative manner.
â??His mental attitude on and off the court is exemplary. On the court, Luke respects and responds positively to his coaches and treats his teammates, opponents, and officials with the utmost class and respect.â?
In other words, the pride of Daviess County is a truly deserving Mr. Basketball. And an instant â??Hoosier Hysteriaâ? legend.
And donâ??t think for a second that Zeller is unaware of what his spectacular shot could ultimately mean in the annals of Indiana high school basketball, because heâ??s well aware of another famous shot that won a state championship.
“I did my entire junior research project on the movie ‘Hoosiers,’ finding out which parts were true and which parts weren’t,â? Zeller told The Indianapolis Star. “I know they got the last shot right â??? it’s in Bobby Plump’s book ([i/Last of the Small Town Heroes).”
Previous Indiana Mr. Basketball winners
The list of players who have won the coveted Mr. Basketball moniker awarded by The Indianapolis Star:
1939: George Crowe, Franklin
1940: Ed Schienbein, Southport
1941: John Bass, Greenwood
1942: Bud Brown, Muncie Burris
1943 & â??44: No award due to World War II
1945: Tom Schwartz, Kokomo
1946: Johnny Wilson, Anderson
1947: Bill Garrett, Shelbyville
1948: Bob Masters, Lafayette Jefferson
1949: Dee Monroe, Madison
1950: Pat Klein, Marion
1951: Tom Harrold, Muncie Central
1952: Joe Sexson, Indianapolis Tech
1953: Hallie Bryant, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks
1954: Bobby Plump, Milan
1955: Wilson Eison, Gary Roosevelt
1956: Oscar Robertson, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks
1957: John Coalmon, South Bend Central
1958: Mike McCoy, Fort Wayne South
1959: Jimmy Rayl, Kokomo
1960: Ron Bonham, Muncie Central
1961: Tom VanArsdale & **** VanArsdale, Indianapolis Manual
1962: Larry Humes, Madison
1963: Rick Jones, Muncie Central
1964: Dennis Brady, Lafayette Jefferson
1965: Billy Keller, Indianapolis Washington
1966: Rick Mount, Lebanon
1967: Willie Long, Fort Wayne South
1968: Billy Shepherd, Carmel
1969: George McGinnis, Indianapolis Washington
1970: Dave Shepherd, Carmel
1971: Mike Flynn, Jeffersonville
1972: Phil Cox, Connersville
1973: Kent Benson, New Castle
1974: Steve Collier, Southwestern (Hanover) & Roy Taylor, Anderson
1975: Kyle Macy, Peru
1976: Dave Colescott, Marion
1977: Ray Tolbert, Anderson Madison Heights
1978: David Magley, South Bend LaSalle
1979: Steve Bouchie, Washington
1980: Jim Master, Harding
1981: Dan Palombizio, Michigan City Rogers
1982: Roger Harden, Valparaiso
1983: Steve Alford, New Castle
1984: Troy Lewis, Anderson, & Delray Brooks, Michigan City Rogers
1985: Jeff Grose, Warsaw
1986: Mark Jewell, Lafayette Jefferson
1987: Jay Edwards & Lyndon Jones, Marion
1988: Woody Austin, Richmond
1989: Pat Graham, Floyd Central
1990: Damon Bailey, Bedford North Lawrence
1991: Glenn Robinson, Gary Roosevelt
1992: Charles Macon, Michigan City Elston
1993: Maurice “Kojak” Fuller, Anderson
1994: Bryce Drew, Valparaiso
1995: Damon Frierson, Ben Davis
1996: Kevin Ault, Warsaw
1997: Luke Recker, DeKalb
1998: Tom Coverdale, Noblesville
1999: Jason Gardner, North Central (Indianapolis)
2000: Jared Jeffries, Bloomington North
2001: Chris Thomas, Pike
2002: Sean May, Bloomington North
2003: Justin Cage, Pike
2004: A.J. Ratliff, North Central (Indianapolis)
2005: Luke Zeller, Washington
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