Preseason Workout Report: Carmel, Lawrence Central, Zionsville

<p>Covering Indiana High School Basketball has become a nearly 365 day a year job. The season obviously starts up around Thanksgiving and runs until the beginning of spring. Then, the grassroots schedule picks up almost immediately and runs through the end of July. August is a bit of a quieter month, but once school gets back in session there will be fall leagues and preseason workouts all across the state. Getting out and spending time with our state's great coaching staffs and getting a more intimate, behind-the-scenes look at specific programs is one of our favorite parts of the coverage calendar. Our travels across the state started as the calendar turned to September. Here are some notes on a few schools we hit recently.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Carmel Greyhounds</h2>   <p>There are definitely reasons to be excited if you are a fan of the Carmel Greyhounds this season. Coach Ryan Osborne bounced back from an uncharacteristic below .500 season in 2024 to cut down the Sectional 8 nets with an upset win over Fishers last year. Now, in his 10th season at the helm, the Greyhounds should be a preseason Top 5 team in the state once again.</p>   <p>Indiana Junior All-Star [player_tooltip player_id='2140341' first='Cash' last='Daniels'] headlines a strong senior class for the Greyhounds. The dynamic point guard gives Carmel an explosive playmaker who can set the pace of the game on both ends of the floor. Meanwhile, the addition of [player_tooltip player_id='2887162' first='Joshua' last='Henderson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2140369' first='Griffyn' last='Robisch'] on the wing will help lift the ceiling of this team. Henderson is coming off of an excellent junior season at University while Robisch comes from Park Tudor. Both are versatile 6'6" wings with a wide range of college interest. Returning guard [player_tooltip player_id='2560647' first='Vincent' last='Nover'] is poised to step into a larger role as well. Additionally, [player_tooltip player_id='2140313' first='Aiden' last='Dickerson'], [player_tooltip player_id='2622023' first='Delacy' last='Fant'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2622190' first='Adler' last='Cole'] round out a very good senior class.</p>   <p>Carmel will lean heavily on their seniors, but 6'11" junior center [player_tooltip player_id='2560400' first='Mark' last='Shostak'] is ready for a breakout year as well. The big man just keeps getting better and better and should be a real two-way force in the paint this season. He and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2957877' first='Ty'Eir' last='Petty'] will round out the Greyhounds rotation.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lawrence Central Bears</h2>   <p>This Lawrence Central team will feature a lot of new faces in new, and bigger roles, in 2026-2027. Only two players return from last year's rotation, but there are a couple of new names ready to step up for Coach Phil Washington who led a surprise run to the Sectional 10 title last season.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140390' first='Jeremiah' last='Bellamy'], who has committed to Division II McKendree University, is the primary returning player for Lawerence Central. He averaged 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a junior. The 6'3" left-handed wing is a very physical presence that creates tough matchups for opponents. Meanwhile, senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2882683' first='Ty' last='Ferguson'] is the only other returning player who got any sort of consistent minutes a year ago. He is an under-the-radar shooter who should have a good year.</p>   <p>The primary newcomer to watch out for is 5'6" senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='2622052' first='AJ' last='Jones']. He has been a major contributor each of the last two seasons at Crispus Attucks. Jones may be small, but he is a dynamic playmaker and will be a key player for the Bears this year. Look for senior wing [player_tooltip player_id='2470655' first='Elijah' last='Anderson'], junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='3728822' first='Chayse' last='Hunter'], junior wing [player_tooltip player_id='3766240' first='Karter' last='Keys'], and sophomore guard Zy Berryhill to all step into primary roles this season as well.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Zionsville Eagles</h2>   <p>Veteran head coach Andy Weaver has made the move from Plainfield to Zionsville and will look to lead an Eagles team that is very capable of sneaking up on some people this season. There are several returning seniors and a couple of talented juniors that give them several weapons who can each step up on a given night.</p>   <p>Zionsville returns their three leading scorers from last season with Notre Dame baseball commit [player_tooltip player_id='2140338' first='Camden' last='Moore'] and senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2140435' first='Rylon' last='Gore'] bringing back 13.5 points and 12.3 points per game respectively. 6'5" senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='2807774' first='Nick' last='Snively'] returns 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Junior guards [player_tooltip player_id='2859673' first='Zack' last='Green'], Zeke Marshall, [player_tooltip player_id='2553895' first='Elijah' last='Berger'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2560405' first='Nick' last='Petrocelli'] are all ready to step into larger roles as well.</p>   <p>The Eagles lost an X-Factor in 6'5" forward [player_tooltip player_id='2141011' first='Preston' last='Johnson'] who is a highly sought after Division III prospect. He was injured in football and will miss a good chunk, if not all, of the basketball season. However, there are still a lot of talented pieces that will help make this Zionsville team tough to beat.</p>

Covering Indiana High School Basketball has become a nearly 365 day a year job. The season obviously starts up around Thanksgiving and runs until the beginning of spring. Then, the grassroots schedule picks up almost immediately and runs through the end of July. August is a bit of a quieter month, but once school gets back in session there will be fall leagues and preseason workouts all across the state. Getting out and spending time with our state's great coaching staffs and getting a more intimate, behind-the-scenes look at specific programs is one of our favorite parts of the coverage calendar. Our travels across the state started as the calendar turned to September. Here are some notes on a few schools we hit recently.