Lowell’s Richie achieves All-Star goal

Updated: June 9, 2011 7:55PM

When he was a youngster traveling with family to watch high school basketball games across the state, Austin Richie remembers seeing Indiana All-Star jerseys proudly displayed in the trophy cases at schools fortunate enough to have had an all-star.

Now Richie gets to wear one with his name emblazoned on the back of it. And for the first time in school history, Lowell gets to display one in its trophy case.

“It’s definitely something that’s been a goal of mine, not just during my high school career, but also since I was young,” Richie said.

Richie, the state’s second leading scorer (32.7 points per game) this season, joins three other Northwest Indiana players and the squad’s head coach, Munster’s Mike Hackett, to take on Kentucky in the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series. The Indiana All-Stars play Kentucky today in Louisville before playing host to Kentucky on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Lew Wallace’s Branden Dawson, Bishop Noll’s Adonis Filer and Munster’s Joe Crisman round out the region representation. Dawson is one of three McDonald’s All-Americans on the Indiana roster, along with Washington’s Cody Zeller and Pike’s Marquis Teague.

“There’s no doubt it will be the most talented team I ever coach in my life,” Hackett said. “That’s going to be a whole other challenge. It’s going to be a lot different than any team I’ve ever coached.

“I’m just very honored. There are a lot of good coaches that never get to be in this position I’m in. I’m really grateful for the opportunity and excited to go through it.”

What used to be a two-week commitment for players and coaches has been condensed into one week. But it’s a busy week. The All-Stars played exhibition games against the Junior All-Stars on Monday at Washington and Wednesday at Kokomo to prepare for the weekend doubleheader against Kentucky.

“With four games in six days and a lot of traveling, there’s not really going to be a whole lot of coaching going on, other than getting us organized and trying to get kids to play hard,” Hackett said. “It’s a very busy week, but I’m glad it’s one week.”

Crisman is Munster’s second Indiana All-Star in four years. Mike Bizoukas was the first from Munster to be named to the team in 2007.

“I just want to go out and represent the town and my team; that’s the biggest thing for me,” said Crisman, who led the Mustangs to sectional and regional titles before the Mustangs lost to Kokomo in the Class 4A northern semistate. “It’s an unreal thing for me to be the second player in my school to do this.”

Crisman, who will play at Loyola-Chicago next season, is thrilled to have one more go at it with his high school coach.

“It’s in my comfort level,” Crisman said. “I don’t have to get used to a new coach. I know what to expect. With Coach Hackett, I know we’re going to play hard the entire time on the court. I’m looking forward to it.”

Richie, a Western Michigan recruit, was looking forward to spending a week with an uber-talented group of players.

“It’s definitely about the camaraderie that you get to experience with some of the guys and being together for a week before heading off to your summer workouts,” Richie said. “It’s just a great experience.”

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