Braydon Hobbs, a Class of 2008 graduate of New Albany, has inked a professional deal with the McDonald’s Meteors of Australia’s Queensland Basketball League. Here’s the official media release:

The McDonald’s Meteors are pleased to announce the signing of Hobbs for the 2012 Queensland Basketball League season.

The 23-year old will join the reigning QBL men’s champions after signing a one-year deal, rounding out the teams roster and filling the clubs second restricted player position.

Hobbs joins the Meteors after an outstanding college career at Bellarmine University where he led the team to a national championship in his junior year and was named Division II National Player of the Year in his senior year. A native of New Albany, Ind., Hobbs was the first Bellarmine player to win the prestigious national player of the year award.

A 6-foot-5 guard, Hobbs averaged 12.3 points per game, 3.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists and lead the team in steals throughout his senior campaign. He also ranked third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.05 to 1. Along with being named to the All-American first team, Hobbs also was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2012. In his 4-year career at Bellarmine, Hobbs never missed a game, starting in all 133 contests, helping turn the Bellarmine program into a national collegiate powerhouse.

Mackay Basketball General Manager said the signing of Hobbs was exciting for Mackay Basketball fans.

“Braydon is a very talented and versatile player and had an outstanding college career at Bellarmine University,” Khalu said.

“Being named national player of the year and leading the team to a national championship are both huge accomplishments and we are very eager to see Braydon in action for the McDonald’s Meteors. More importantly, all of the coaches and scouts we talked to about Braydon said how good of a person he is off the floor and that is exactly the kind of positive ambassador we want in our organisation and community,” Khalu added.

Hobbs arrived into Australia on Wednesday and will join Meteors’ teammates for his first practice session Thursday night.

Borden’s Erin Mikel scored 13 points while leading Team Rebound to a 63-58 win over Team Rebuild in A Night of Hoops and Hope for Southern Indiana girls’ all-star game, a fundraising event to assist tornado victims from the March 2 storms.

The weekend of festivities raised over $23,000, with event officials expecting to receive more in the coming week, to be distributed to relief funds aiding the damaged communities on May 21.

Mikel was named Most Outstanding Player while leading Team Rebound with 13 points, and Christian Academy’s Stephanie Combs added 11. Clarksville’s Kierstin Hall had 14 points while Jeffersonville’s Jalynn McClain had 12 and Indiana All-Star Lakin Roland 11 for Team Rebuild.

In the boys’ game, Clarksville’s Billy Edelen (named the MOP), Silver Creek’s Grant Meyer and New Albany’s A.J. Schmidt scored 20 points apiece as Team Rebuild rolled to a 112-89 victory.

Jeffersonville’s Trice Whaley had 21 and Bryce Roland 13 for Team Rebound.

Seniors from Henryville, Eastern Pekin, Borden and New Washington, plus players from high schools in Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Washington counties, participated in the games.

The benefit also featured an auction of basketball memorabilia between games, with autographed basketballs donated by Kentucky’s John Calipari, Indiana’s Tom Crean, Louisville coach Rick Pitino and former Louisville coach Denny Crum.

Box score

Girls’ game

Team Rebuild (58) – Kaira Doherty 2, Kierstin Hall 14, Jenna Harrell 2, Allison Knox 2, Mandi Martin 3, Lindsey Mudd 2, Jalynn McClain 12, Lavada Roberson 8, Lakin Roland 11.

Team Rebound (63) – Stephanie Combs 11, Emily Giles 8, Erin Mikel 13, Jocelyn Mousty 7, Emily Newcomb 4, Tionna Peters 7, Allison Rademacher 4, Kaylyn Rodewig 5, Kayla Smith 4, Leah White 0.

Boys’ game

Team Rebuild (112) – Trey Albertson 4, Jacob Brooks 13, Billy Edelen 20, De’Jon Garner 11, Jake Hartlage 10, Curtis Howard 8, Grant Meyer 20, A.J. Schmidt 20, Caleb Sprigler 7.

Team Rebound (89) – Brad Baker 9, Brandon Beam 8, Brad Everage 8, Bryce Roland 13, Matthew Smith 5, Clayton Sullivan 9, Kendall Thompson 11, Trice Whaley 21, Brandon Willis 3.

By Justin Sokeland

Story appeared in May 13, 2012, edition of The Courier-Journal.

Leah White skipped her Providence prom Saturday night to play a basketball game.

That choice might not be shocking in Indiana, where high school basketball is still the social highlight of winter weekends in most towns. And the game she picked over a spring date night — one most high school seniors remember as a life highlight — was not an ordinary playground pickup affair.

White was among 38 high school athletes who competed in the “A Night of Hoops and Hope for Southern Indiana” all-star games at Silver Creek, a fundraising event to assist victims of the March 2 tornadoes. The weekend of festivities raised more than $23,000 — event coordinator Matt Denison expected even more to be coming in — to be distributed May 21 to relief funds aiding the damaged communities.

White had to break a date to play, but she came out a winner as her Team Rebound posted a 63-58 victory over Team Rebuild. That guy just had to understand and find another escort to the dance.

“I think it’s awesome our whole community can get together like this,” White said.

Borden’s Erin Mikel was named Most Outstanding Player after leading Team Rebound with 13 points, and Christian Academy’s Stephanie Combs added 11. Clarksville’s Kierstin Hall had 14, Jeffersonville’s Jalynn McClain 12 and Jeff’s Lakin Roland (an Indiana All-Star) 11 for Team Rebuild.

In the boys’ game, Clarksville’s Billy Edelen (named the MOP), Silver Creek’s Grant Meyer and New Albany’s A.J. Schmidt scored 20 points apiece as Team Rebuild rolled to a 112-89 victory. Jeff’s Trice Whaley had 21 and Bryce Roland 13 for Team Rebound.

Seniors from Henryville, Eastern Pekin, Borden and New Washington, plus players from high schools in Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Washington counties, participated in the games.

The EF-4 tornado ripped through Pekin, Borden, Henryville and Marysville the hardest, leaving destruction and fatalities. Pekin’s Kaylyn Rodewig, a player for Team Rebound, lost her home. It also spawned many stories of survival and selflessness as people reached out to help those in need.

“Everybody has been affected,” said Henryville’s Jenna Harrell, a Team Rebuild member whose father was in the school building when it took a direct hit. “It could be the smallest thing like cracked windows or dinged cars to ‘I don’t have a house.’ So to do something I love, and to raise money for my community and those affected, I don’t know how to put it into words.”

The Rebuild and Rebound team names were appropriate for the work being done in the hard-hit areas. Most of the cleanup has been done, but the scars remain.

“It won’t ever look the same,” Harrell said. “It’s a day I won’t ever forget.”

“Pretty much everyone in our school was hit one way or another,” said Henryville’s Allison Knox, who spent the first hours of the storm aftermath searching for and worrying about a friend in an apartment complex. “This means I could do something so little, but it means so much for our community. Just playing basketball is something we could do any day, but this is bringing everyone together.”

The benefit also featured an auction of basketball memorabilia between games, with autographed balls donated by Kentucky’s John Calipari (which topped the bidding war among the college coaches), Indiana’s Tom Crean and former Louisville coach Denny Crum.

Jeffersonville won the championship game of the alumni Southern Indiana Legacy Tournament 69-61 over Providence. Former Jeff star and U of L player B.J. Flynn had 20 points, while Justin Benedetti had 13 for the former Pioneers.

By Rick Bozich

Column appeared in May 12, 2012, edition of The Courier-Journal.

When the 175 mph winds began turning Henryville High School upside down, both Mitchell Speedy and Matt Denison had the same concern:

The safety of their friends, Perry and Kristi Hunter.

Hunter coached the boys’ basketball team at Henryville. He and his wife taught at the school. The storm whipped through Henryville around 3 p.m. Friday, March 2. Speedy and Denison knew the Hunters were at the school.

“I started calling his phone but didn’t get a response,” said Speedy, a former Silver Creek basketball star. “I called his mother’s house, and she hadn’t heard from him. Then I started texting him. I figured service was out, but it was pretty nerve-wracking when you knew what was happening in Henryville.”

It remained nerve-wracking until Hunter eventually found a spot where he could start answering the 45 or so text messages on his phone. No calls, just texts. Kristi was fine. So was he, other than a cough created by debris he’d inhaled from a safe spot he found in a school office about 150 feet from walls that imploded around the gym.

In November, Hunter, Speedy and Denison had strengthened their friendship through a Sunday night Bible study. In the aftermath of the tragedy, they discussed this idea:

What could they do to assist the communities recovering from the trauma created by the ferocious EF-4 tornado?

The answer is the celebration of basketball that started in Southern Indiana on Friday evening and will continue through tonight. They named it “A Night of Hoops and Hope for Southern Indiana.”

“It’s really very cool,” said B.J. Flynn, the former University of Louisville player who is competing for a team representing Jeffersonville High, where he won the 1993 state championship. “It’s great to go back, put on the old high school uniform and relive the good times from those days. To do it for a good cause makes it even better.”

Flynn, 37, said he still tries to play basketball twice a week. He’ll be the oldest player on a Jeff High legacy team that will compete in a 16-team double-elimination tournament that began at 6 p.m. Friday at Charlestown. The tournament matches former Southern Indiana high school players from 16 schools from Austin to Crawford County.

The team of former Red Devils also includes Bellarmine University standout Jeremy Kendle. Jeff is in the opposite bracket from its New Albany rivals. The team of former Bulldogs features Lamont Roland, who played for the 1996 state runner-up team before a college career at Ball State and Louisiana State.

“It would be fun to go against New Albany again,” Flynn said.

That meeting could develop in the championship game of the legacy tournament at 4:30 p.m. today at Silver Creek in Sellersburg. That will be followed a girls’ all-star game featuring players from Southern Indiana schools at 6, then a boys’ all-star game at 8:15.

Admission is a minimum $5 donation. There will be live and silent auctions featuring four premium tickets to a concert by the Dave Matthews Band in Indianapolis as well as a pair of autographed sneakers donated by former University of Kentucky star Terrence Jones. John Calipari of UK, Rick Pitino of Louisville and Tom Crean of Indiana sent autographed basketballs. Graduates of Henryville High have provided boutique gift baskets.

The beneficiaries will be the communities that suffered from the storm. Denison, the event director, said the goal is to generate at least $20,000.

“When the storm hit, we wondered what we could do,” he said. “People from across the community have really stepped forward.”

To help the victims of the March 2 tornado disaster in Clark and Washington counties, an all-star basketball event -– A Night of Hoops and Hope for Southern Indiana, presented by Your Community Bank –- will take place at Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg, Ind., on Saturday, May 12.

The girls’ all-star game will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the boys’ contest at about 8:30. Admission will be a $5 minimum donation per person at the door. The event will also feature a live and silent auctions of basketball memorabilia and other items.

All proceeds –- meaning 100 percent of the funds collected –- will be donated to the Southern Indiana communities affected by the series of tornadoes that devastated those areas on March 2.

The event is being organized by Hoosier Hills Hoops in conjunction with the boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball coaches from Borden, Eastern Pekin, Henryville and New Washington — all high schools located within the communities affected by the tornadoes.

GIRLS’ ROSTERS

Team Rebuild: Kaira Doherty (New Washington); Kasie Doherty (New Washington); Kierstin Hall (Clarksville); Jenna Harrell (Henryville); Allison Knox (Henryville); Mandi Martin (Silver Creek); Lindsey Mudd (New Washington); Jalynn McClain (Jeffersonville); Lavada Roberson (Jeffersonville); Lakin Roland (Jeffersonville); Scott Schoen (Silver Creek), head coach.

Team Rebound: Stephanie Combs (Christian Academy); Emily Giles (North Harrison); Erin Mikel (Borden); Jocelyn Mousty (Eastern Pekin); Emily Newcomb (Eastern Pekin); Tionna Peters (New Albany); Allison Rademacher (Borden); Kaylyn Rodewig (Eastern Pekin); Kayla Smith (Lanesville); Leah White (Providence); Brad Burden (Providence), head coach.

BOYS’ ROSTERS

Team Rebuild: Troy Albertson (Eastern Pekin); Jacob Brooks (Silver Creek); Billy Edelen (Clarksville); De’Jon Garner (Rock Creek); Jake Hartlage (Clarksville); Curtis Howard (Eastern Pekin); Grant Meyer (Silver Creek); A.J. Schmidt (New Albany); Caleb Sprigler (Silver Creek); Jason Connell (Clarksville), head coach.

Team Rebound: Brad Baker (New Washington); Brandon Beam (Borden); Brad Everage (Henryville); Bryce Roland (Jeffersonville); Matthew Smith (Borden); Clayton Sullivan (West Washington); Kendall Thompson (Charlestown); Trice Whaley (Jeffersonville); Brandon Wills (New Washington); Doc Nash (Borden), head coach.

An opportunity to relive the glory days of Southern Indiana high school basketball, the Southern Indiana Legacy Basketball Tournament — a portion the A Night of Hoops and Hope for Southern Indiana tornado relief benefit — is a double-elimination tournament comprised of local high schools being represented by their top basketball alumni.

Charlestown High School’s new athletic facilities will host the event, which is slated to begin Friday, May 11, at 6 p.m., and continue through Saturday afternoon. The tournament championship will move to Silver Creek, the site of the Hoops and Hope high school all-star games, and be played at approximately 4:30 p.m.

LEGACY ROSTERS

+ Austin: Anthony Winchester, Ben Raichel, Jeremy Holland, Zach Edwards, Ty Winchester, Jeffery Winchester, Brad Deaton.

+ Brownstown: Marty Young, Clint Parker, Eric Parker, Pat McClintock, Spencer Allman, Taylor Wischmeier, Michael Leitzman, Brandon Allman, Tyler Fleetwood, Dave Benter.

+ Charlestown: Jordan Copeland, Zach Merschbrock, Clayton Mershbrock, Bowman Thrasher, Kyle Hayes, Steven Coyne, Joe Wilson, Tim Hall, Eric Vaughn, Mike Frazier.

+ Corydon: Ryan Coffman, Dylan Harl, Quentin Combs, Casey Saulman, Brian Baker, Brandon Dunaway, Chad Backherms, Nevin Dunaway, Garrett Ross, Seth Rennirt.

+ Crawford County: Alex Baker, Ryan Griffith, Jordan Newkirk, Parker Hudson, Rodger Curl, Andrew Curl, Daniel Allen.

+ Eastern Pekin: Sean Smith, Seth Bottomley, Clayton Starrett, Michial Gilliam, Charlie Lewis, Kellen Marshall.

+ Graceland/Christian Academy: David Scott, Scott Williams, Reuben Nesmith, Jesse Nesmith, Chris Carruthers, Steve Kerberg, Chris Crawford, Robert Wesley, Seth Hollander, J.T. Taylor.

+ Henryville: Shane Meadows, Eric Schlechty, Steven Mayfield, Cory Munk, Brandon McGloshin, J.R. Moore, Chuck Frazier.

+ Jeffersonville: Matt Pait, Bryant Northern, B.J. Flynn, T.J. Kiesler, Josh Lowery, Kegan Clark, Daniel Farmer, Josh Nall, Jeremy Kendle, Antonio Ballard.

+ Madison: Ryan Laswell, Logan Jones, Luke Jones, Danny Gibson, Gary Joe Mouser, Derek Wynn, Norman Wells, Corey Povaleri.

+ New Albany: Ryan Wheeler, Chris Smiley, Lamont Roland, Derick Hobbs, Craig Bryant, Mitchell Meyer, William Barber, Chris Whitehead, Shannon Wilkerson.

+ Providence: Justin Benedetti, Luke Fitzgerald, Ryan Neal, Keevan Miller, Johnelle Hardin, Jeffrey Lovan, Jeremy Royer, Nick Koetter, Patrick Sweets.

+ Salem: Dwayne Guenther, Travis Trueblood, Chad Nelson, Mike House, Brian Taylor, Robert Baker, Zach Richards.

+ Scottsburg: Dustin Marshall, Evan Hutchinson, Brian Roberts, James Colwell, Jared Comer, Jacob Johanningsmeier, Brad Bowling, Tyler Patton.

+ Silver Creek: Mitchell Speedy, Brandon Hoffman, Josh Renn, Matt McCarty, Neil Losey, Cody Jackson, Andrew Clayton, Mike Losey.

+ South Central: Scott Schoen, Craig Schoen, Chad Schoen, Brittany Schoen, Brad Stith, Chad Schweitzer.