Monday notebook: Jackson-Davis wins Mr. Basketball, Quinones down to two

  • 05/06/2019 7:59 am in

For the second straight year, Indiana’s Mr. Basketball is an IU signee.

On Sunday night, Center Grove senior Trayce Jackson-Davis was named Mr. Basketball at the Indiana Sports Awards, which were held on the campus of Butler University.

The 6-foot-9 Jackson-Davis, who was also named a McDonald’s All-American and a Jordan Brand All-Star, was the runaway winner for the Mr. Basketball award.

According to The Indy Star, he was named 179 of the ballots cast by the state’s coaches and media. Runner-up Brandon Newman (Valparaiso) was named on 73 ballots.

As a senior, Jackson-Davis averaged 22 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.6 assists as Center Grove finished 21-9 and advanced to the Class 4A semi-state.

The signing of Romeo Langford and Jackson-Davis in consecutive years marks the first time that the Hoosiers have landed Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in back-to-back years since 1997 (Luke Recker) and 1998 (Tom Coverdale).

Jackson-Davis is the 31st McDonald’s All-American to sign with Indiana.

Indiana signee Armaan Franklin, a Cathedral product, finished third in the Indiana Mr. Basketball voting and New Castle’s Luke Bumbalough was fourth.

Quinones trims list to two ahead of announcement

Class of 2019 IMG Academy (Fla.) guard Lester Quinones is down to two schools.

As first reported by Adam Zagoria, the 6-foot-5 Quinones has dropped LSU, Maryland and Michigan from consideration and is down to Indiana and Memphis.

According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball, Memphis is the heavy favorite to land the No. 62 player in the country.

Quinones will announce his decision on Friday, May 10 in his home state of New York and also sign his National Letter of Intent the same day.

Indiana has attempted to make a late run at Quinones and has made up considerable ground in recent weeks as he came to Bloomington for an official visit and the coaching staff also visited him at IMG Academy last Thursday.

In a recent interview with Inside the Hall, Quinones broke down the major factors in his upcoming decision:

And he’s already got a clear vision of what factors will weigh heavily in his final verdict.

“My main goal is just to get to the NBA right now,” Quinones told Inside the Hall. “Whatever school school gives me the best opportunity to reach my goals and aspirations of becoming a pro and has the most tools.

“I need a head coach that, even when I’m not hitting shots, he’s not just going to go to the next guy on the bench. Someone that is going to have faith in me. The relationship with the coach is important and someone that is going to help me get to the next level.”

EYBL in Westfield this weekend

Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) will make its annual stop in Westfield this weekend for its second session.

College coaches will not be able to attend this year’s EYBL at the Pacers Athletic Center as it does not fall on an evaluation period weekend.

Games will tip off on Friday night beginning at 6:15 p.m. ET and will run through Sunday.

More information is available on the EYBL website.

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