Luke Ertel caps storybook career by becoming top vote-getter on Associated Press all-state team

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Luke Ertel's storybook prep career ended with a flourish.

The 6-foot-2 guard from Mt. Vernon (Fortville) led the Marauders to a 28-3 record, the school's first semistate title and the program's first Class 4A state championship in 2025-26 — one year after he helped the Marauders capture their first regional crown.

Ertel was named the Gatorade and MaxPreps Indiana Player of the Year then won the prestigious IndyStar Indiana Mr. Basketball Award in a landslide. On Thursday, the Purdue recruit added one more honor to his growing list — top vote-getter on this year's Associated Press all-state basketball team. Ertel easily earned outdistanced the field in balloting by a panel of sports writers, broadcasters and coaches from around the state.

Voters select three five-player teams regardless of grade level or the class in which their schools compete. The next 26 players earn high honorable mention accolades, and an additional 90 players receive honorable mention status.

Ertel was the catalyst for the Marauders’ incredible season, averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals. The second-team selection in 2024-25 was the only returnee from last year's 15 all-state honorees.

He was joined on the first team by four other seniors — 6-7 forward Dikembe Shaw of Class 4A runner-up Crown Point, 6-8 forward Noah Smith of Plainfield, 6-6 forward Brady Scholl of Northridge and 6-9 forward Dane Caldwell of Silver Creek.

Shaw plans to play college basketball at Illinois-Chicago while Smith is headed to DePaul. Caldwell plans to play at Richmond and Scholl has committed to Indiana Wesleyan. Scholl’s sister Lily, a junior at Northridge, was a third-team all-state pick on the girls team that was released last week.

Two Fishers players, senior Kai McGrew and junior Cooper Zachary, lead the all-state boys second team after leading their school to a perfect regular season. They're joined by Indianapolis Cathedral senior Keaton Aldridge, Gary 21st Century senior Terrence Hayes Jr. and Lawrence North senior Brennan Miller.

Aldridge led Cathedral to the Class 3A state title and has signed with Detroit Mercy. Hayes is bound for Missouri State and Miller intends to play at SIU Edwardsville.

The state’s top two scorers — Bloomfield senior Blake Neill (28.2 points) and Indianapolis Crispus Attucks senior DeZhon Hall (27.7) — highlight the third team. They were joined by Homestead junior Mack Welker, South Bend St. Joseph senior Nick Shrewsberry and Penn sophomore Caleb Coolman.

Shrewsberry has signed to play for his father, Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry.