Purdue Well Represented on Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 2021 Silver Anniversary Team

I am old.

I have reached the point where the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is starting to honor players that I went to high school with on their Silver Anniversary teams. That was the case today when the 2021 team was released and it included Lee Coomler and Brian McCauley (both really good guys), the stars from my Kokomo team in 1996 that went 24-2, started the year 19-0, achieved the state’s top ranking and a #12 national ranking, and reached the Sweet 16 before getting upset by Ft. Wayne Dwenger and Purdue walk-on BJ Carretta.

There were several Purdue players named to that Silver Anniversary team as well:

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 2021 Men’s Silver Anniversary Team

Ben Anderson - Benton Central

Kevin Ault - Warsaw

Duane Clemens - Muncie South

Lee Coomler - Kokomo

Jaraan Cornell - South Bend Clay

Carson Cunningham - Andrean

Andrew Graves - White River Valley

Chris Hahn - Alexandria

Mickey Hosier - Alexandria

Michael Lewis - Jasper

Brian McCauley - Kokomo

Gary McQuay - Gary West

Greg McQuay - Gary West

Jeff Poisel - Ben Davis

Yon Price - Ben Davis

LaMont Roland - New Albany

Carl Sykes - Franklin Central

B.J. Watts - Scottsburg

Cunningham, Cornell, and Greg McQuay were all major contributors on Purdue’s 1999-2000 team that reached the Elite Eight before losing to Wisconsin. McQuay’s twin brother Gary played at Purdue for three seasons and averaged six points per game as a sophomore during the 1997-98 team when Purdue was a No. 2 seed and reached the Sweet 16. He unfortunately died of leukemia in 2002 at age 24.