Pioneer’s McKaig named first team Academic All-State

Valley’s Egolf, Petersen, Caston’s Finke, Winamac’s Bennett, Smith make honorable mention

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association named Pioneer senior Drew McKaig first-team Academic All-State Tuesday.

McKaig was the only player of either gender in the RTC area to earn the honor.

“The IBCA Academic All-State program is one where academic prowess and athletic prowess both are considered in the selections,” the IBCA said in a statement. “Items such as grade-point average, academic class rank and SAT or ACT scores are considered along with athletic performance in areas such as points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game.”

To be eligible, a player must be a senior, have a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have a class rank in the upper 25% of one’s class and either an SAT score of 1100 on the reading and math sections or an ACT composite score of 24.

Also, the player’s coach must be an IBCA member.

Once nominations were received, an IBCA committee reviewed the information and determined awards for first team and honorable mention.

McKaig was one of 38 boys players statewide to be honored. The IBCA also selected 218 boys players for honorable mention recognition, though none were from the RTC area,

The IBCA also recognized 38 girls for first-team Academic All-State and 204 more girls for honorable mention.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Ava Egolf and Macy Petersen, Caston’s Alexa Finke and Winamac’s Lily Bennett and Maggie Smith all made the honorable mention list.