Caleb Furst Named Indiana Mr. Basketball

The greatest honor that can be bestowed on a high school player in Indiana is Mr. Basketball. It is the annual award to the top senior, and said players often go on to have extremely successful college careers. Some even go on to have solid NBA careers. For Purdue, we have had not had a lot of recent history with Mr. Basketballs, but 2021 Mr. Basketball Caleb Furst becomes our second such honoree in 7 years:

Furst is officially a two-time state champion at Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, and was denied a third championship due to COVID cancelling the 2020 tournament. It is notable that his 2021 championship came with his team playing up a class due to the IHSAA success factor. His team was 28-3 this season, and in his four years Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian went 105-11 and won 17 consecutive postseason games.

Individually, Caleb finishes in the top 50 all-time with more than 2,000 points. He is also the 12th Mr. Basketball to play at Purdue:

1952 - Joe Sexson - Indianapolis Tech

1955 - Wilson Eison - Gary Roosevelt

1964 - Dennis Brady - Lafayette Jeff

1965 - Billy Keller - Indianapolis Washington

1966 - Rick Mount - Lebanon

1975 - Kyle Macy - Peru (later transferred to Kentucky)

1981 - Dave Palmizio - Michigan City Rogers (later transferred to Ball State)

1984 - Troy Lewis - Anderson - (tied with Delray Brooks of Michigan City Rogers)

1988 - Woody Austin - Richmond

1991 - Glenn Robinson - Gary Roosevelt (No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick)

2015 - Caleb Swanigan - Homestead

2021 - Caleb Furst - Ft. Wayne Blackhawk Christian

For the record, much like in 2015 with Biggie and Ryan Cline, Purdue gets the runner-up as Trey Kaufman-Renn finished second.