Purdue Basketball Recruiting: 2018 Targets Shine at Indiana All-Stars

It is Indiana All-Stars week! This is the week every year where the best from the state of Indiana prepares to play Kentucky in its annual doubleheader. Because of summer basketball and players wanting to get to campus sooner and sooner the series is much more condensed than in years past, but it is still a great honor to be named an Indiana All-Star, as the teams have been named since 1939.

Friday and Saturday the Senior All-Star team will continue their annual series with Kentucky, but as a warm-up the Class of 2017 will play against the class of 2018 twice: Tonight in New Albany and Thursday night in Plainfield. Tonight the Seniors played the “Core Six” and “South Six” juniors.

Girls Game

Sharon Versyp had three recruits involved in this game. Karissa McLaughlin, the 2017 Indiana Miss Basketball, played for the seniors, while Kayana Traylor and Cassidy Hardin played for the juniors. Hardin, a 5’10” guard from Center Grove, is part of the South squad and only played tonight, while Traylor, a 5’9” guard from Martinsville, will play Thursday as well.

The seniors cruised to an easy 112-76 victory. McLaughlin had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 17 minutes and was 5 of 11 from the field. She was 3 of 7 from three, leading her team in both makes and attempts. Chyna Anthony led the seniors with 22 points, and she is headed to Northern Kentucky.

For the juniors, Traylor finished with 10 points and 4 assists in 28 minutes on 3 of 12 shooting. Hardin had 11 points in 23 minutes on 4 of 9 shooting. She was also 3 of 11 from three.

Boys Game

Sasha Stefanovic was unable to play for the seniors tonight, but Purdue definitely had an eye on the junior team with its loaded 2018 class. The juniors won 122-110 and Matt Painter had his eye on five different players he is recruiting. This doesn’t even count all-everything Romeo Langford, who did not play for the juniors. Here is how Purdue’s junior targets did.

Musa Jallow – The forward from Bloomington has a decent chance of ending up in West Lafayette and, as a member of the “South Six”, this was his only game for the juniors. He is the only one of the five targets that won’t play Thursday at Plainfield. He ended up starting and playing 25 minutes, scoring 15 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. He was 6 of 9 from the floor and 2 of 4 from long range.

Eric Hunter – The high priority junior from Indianapolis Tindley was also a starter and had a solid game of 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was 5 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from three in 21 minutes.

Robert Phinisee – The junior from McCutcheon also started and played 27 minutes. He finished with 14 points and 5 assists on 6 of 9 shooting. He was also 2 of 3 from three.

Aaron Henry – Henry’s profile has really risen after he led Ben Davis to a surprise Class 4A state title in March. He continued to show his value tonight with 13 points and 11 rebounds as a starter in 27 minutes. He was 6 of 12 from the field. He is a 6’5” athletic small forward who is really seeing his stock rise. He could easily be a top 150 player before all is said and done.

Damezi Anderson – The forward from South Bend did not start, but he finished as the leading scorer for the juniors with 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting. He was also 4 of 8 from three, showing his versatility as a 6’6” wing that is just outside the Rivals top 100 at 103.