Back when the Indiana Mr. Basketball award was first created, Johnson County seemed to have it on lock. Franklin’s George Crowe was the inaugural winner in 1939, and John Bass of Greenwood took home the honor in 1941.
A full 78 years later, the county finally has another Mr. Basketball. Center Grove senior Trayce Jackson-Davis was named the 2019 winner during the IndyStar Sports Awards on Sunday night, the cherry on top of a senior season that also saw him named a McDonald’s All-American while leading the Trojans to their first semistate appearance since 1972.
Jackson-Davis received 179 votes, well ahead of the 73 that went to runner-up Brandon Newman of Valparaiso. Cathedral’s Armaan Franklin (32 votes) and Luke Bumbalough of New Castle were the other finalists.
Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said that he had told Jackson-Davis during his freshman year that he thought Mr. Basketball was a possibility one day. At the time, the young player wasn’t so sure.
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"It was just really unrealistic my freshman year, just starting off," Jackson-Davis said. "But through the hard work me and coach Hahn put in, it became really realistic my junior year. It was tough, but hard work paid off."
Jackson-Davis averaged 22 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots this season for the Trojans, shooting 61.7 percent from the floor while leading the team to a third consecutive Class 4A sectional title and its first regional championship since 1972. He leaves Center Grove as the school’s all-time leader in points (1,802), rebounds (910) and blocks (323).
Despite drawing a heavy amount of defensive attention, Jackson-Davis did most of his best work in the biggest moments. He scored 25 of his team’s 29 points in a slowed-down sectional championship game, leading the Trojans past Franklin in overtime. A week later, he totaled 40 points on 18-of-21 shooting as Center Grove thumped Bloomington South to win the Seymour Regional.
The significance of becoming the first county player to win the honor in more than three generations was not lost on Jackson-Davis.
"I think it’s huge," he said, "not just for the community but for the county in general, because we haven’t had one of those in a while. We haven’t had that stature of player in a while."
His high school career now complete, Jackson-Davis will head down the road to Bloomington, where he’ll suit up for an Indiana University team looking to return to the NCAA tournament after a three-year absence.
He’s looking forward to the challenge of playing at the next level.
"I’m starting from scratch," Jackson-Davis said, "but at the same time I just need to carry over the characteristics that I’ve brought in my high school game and playing against those top guys in AAU.
"I just have to bring that level of intensity every night; that’s going to be the biggest thing, just to bring that intensity and play as hard as I can every possession, and I think I’ll be fine."
Johnson County was well represented throughout the rest of the awards show on Sunday, with several other local athletes among the nominees.
Franklin had a pair of finalists on the night. Football player Cory Richards was one of three candidates for Play of the Year, and Jacob Destrampe was among the final three for Boys Swimmer of the Year.
Also nominated for awards were Brooke Phillips (volleyball) and Carla Gildersleeve (girls swimming) of Franklin and wrestler Brayden Littell of Center Grove. Four other Trojans were listed as players to watch for spring sports awards, which will be announced during the summer: Piper Belden and Abby Herbst (softball), Bryce Eblin (baseball) and Luke DeHaven (boys golf).
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A look at the last 10 Indiana Mr. Basketball winners:
Year;Player;School
2019;Trayce Jackson-Davis;Center Grove
2018;Romeo Langford;New Albany
2017;Kris Wilkes;North Central
2016;Kyle Guy;Lawrence Central
2015;Caleb Swanigan;Homestead
2014;Trey Lyles;Arsenal Tech
2013;Zak Irvin;Hamilton Southeastern
2012;Gary Harris;Hamilton Southeastern
2011;Cody Zeller;Washington
2010;Deshaun Thomas;Fort Wayne Luers
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Trayce Jackson-Davis’ career statistics at Center Grove:
Season;Points;Rebounds;Blocks
2015-16;243;151;30
2016-17;309;226;93
2017-18;590;251;112
2018-19;660;282;88
Totals;1802;910;323
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