Hoosier Basketball Magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary issue this season. The 2019-2020 issue is a 296-page publication that covers all basketball in the state of Indiana. While previewing both men’s and women’s college teams, as well as presenting an analysis of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, Hoosier Basketball Magazine is first and foremost an in-depth probe of Indiana High School Basketball.
Its birth began in the summer of 1970 when Garry Donna purchased the rights to "Hoosier Basketball Preview" from Tom Keating and Harley Bierce who printed just one season of their Indiana high school basketball preview magazine. The first Hoosier Basketball Magazine featured John Garrett of Peru High School on the front cover and Hoosier Basketball continued to highlight top players, both boys and girls statewide, for the next 49 years. Notably, Donna selected a female basketball player, Anne Huber of Indianapolis Attucks, to be pictured on the magazine’s front cover before the IHSAA sanctioned a single girls basketball game for tournament play. Donna went on to publish the magazine annually for 46 years before his death in 2017.
The publication offers a state roundup for both boys and girls high school basketball, including ranking the state’s top teams as well as recognizing all-state individual players. There have been many sportswriters and sportscasters who have contributed to the detailed regional roundups which spotlight over 800 boys and girls teams.
Hoosier Basketball Magazine coordinates three post-season events each spring. The Top 60 Senior Workouts for both boys and girls provides graduating seniors a final chance to meet and compete against top players around the state. The Top 60 Workouts also, give college coaches the opportunity to evaluate the state’s talent in one location against top level competition. Numerous college scholarships have been earned over the 39-year history of the girls event as well as 33 years for the boys. The girls Top 60 Senior Workout will be on Sunday, March 8th at Heritage Christian High School (northeast side of Indianapolis), while the boys Top 60 Workout will be at Marian University on the west side of Indianapolis on Sunday, March 29th. The North/South Indiana All-Star Classic was the first state-wide all-star doubleheader for boys and girls senior players. This year the 32nd annual classic will be played at Heritage Hills High School in Southern Indiana on Sunday, April 5th.
Hoosier Basketball Magazine is available during the basketball season at most newsstands statewide (Kroger, Martin’s Supermarket, Meijer, Walmart, Walgreen and CVS) as well as at more than 100 high schools in Indiana. Follow Hoosier Basketball Magazine on twitter at HoosierBasketball@HBBMagazine or you can learn more about this publication at hoosierbasketballmagazine.com call (317) 925-8200 or e-mail at hoosierbbllmag@att.net.
The commemorative cover for the 50th anniversary issue of Hoosier Basketball Magazine features 63 photos of legendary players across the Hoosier State.
The idea for the design of the commemorative cover came by combining these familiar back issues