Columbus North senior Kooper Glick has a busy schedule these days as he tries to decide his college destination while also making room for his all-star game appearances.
A star player for the Bull Dogs, Glick will appear at the 28th annual Top 60 Senior Boys Workout on Sunday at Marian University in Indianapolis. He also has a berth in the Hoosier Basketball Coaches Association All Star Classic on April 26 at Bloomington North High School.
Add a recruiting trip to Florida Southern later this month and he has a full plate.
Even so, when he was approached last week about playing in tonight’s first South Central All-Area All-Star Game at Columbus Christian School, he had no trouble clearing his schedule.
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All proceeds from the game go toward medical costs associated with Columbus North senior Josh Speidel’s serious auto accident Feb. 1.
The all-star event, which includes a girls game at 7 p.m. tonight and a boys game to follow at 8:30 p.m., was the idea of Columbus Christian girls basketball coach Ron Bridgewater, who started the ball rolling only last week.
Bridgewater, who used The Republic’s All-Area Basketball Team to form his roster, knew he would meet some obstacles because some of the athletes have commitments with their spring sports teams.
He also knew that athletes such as Glick would have a lot of commitments.
But Glick wasn’t about to miss the game.
“Anything to support Josh, we should do it,” Glick said. “Josh and I have had each other’s back since we met, which probably was when we were 6.”
Other area athletes, even those who weren’t teammates with Speidel, felt the same way.
“I’ve been to camps with Josh,” said Columbus East senior forward Connor Umphress. “And we both would go over to Evan Henry’s house and hang out. We had a lot of mutual friends and we would play a lot of basketball together.”
Henry graduated from North last May and now plays for Saint Francis, where Umphress is headed in the fall.
Following Speidel’s accident, Umphress switched his uniform number to Speidel’s No. 32 for the remainder of the season.
“I am glad I did that,” Umphress said. “It was the right thing to do. I wanted Josh to know that I am here for him.”
Like Glick, Umphress is headed for both the Top 60 Workout and the Hoosier Basketball Coaches Association All Star Classic.
Umphress will be joined by East teammates Parker Chitty, Zach Sanders and Kevin Williams on the squad, although Chitty and Sanders will play on the Gold Team while Umphress will be on the Gold team with Williams.
Also on the Green Team will be Nick Bridgewater, who just finished his senior season at Columbus Christian.
“I think this will be fun, playing with the guys from the bigger schools, who are sometimes better players.
“But I definitely think I can hang with them.”
Although the event was put together last minute, Nick Bridgewater said it makes sense to help Speidel’s family any way possible.
“This is really cool,” he said. “All these surrounding teams are coming together for a common cause.
“I would like to see this event grow.”
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Shining stars
South Central All-Area All-Star Game boys rosters
GOLD TEAM
Kooper Glick, Columbus North
Parker Chitty, Columbus East
Zach Sanders, Columbus East
Matt Heagy, Edinburgh
Kyle Pendleton, Edinburgh
Toriek Miller, Seymour
Isaiah Thomas, Seymour
Nick Benge, Trinity Lutheran
Daniel Horton, Trinity Lutheran
Toby VanLiew, Trinity Lutheran
GREEN TEAM
Connor Umphress, Columbus East
Kevin Williams, Columbus East
Nick Bridgewater, Columbus Christian
Josh Miracle, Columbus Christian
Quindon Shipley, Hauser
Rory Thayer, Hauser
Zach Johnson, Hauser
Dan Leach, Jennings County
Chace Wilson, Jennings County
Collin Hoskins, Brown County
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