Bloomington's Cross, Combs Named to 2026 Indiana Boys Junior All-Star Roster

Two Bloomington rivals who spent the winter competing against each other will spend this spring playing on the same side. Derrick Cross Jr. of Bloomington North and Duncan Combs of Bloomington South were both named to the 2026 IndyStar Indiana Boys Junior All-Star team, the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association confirmed, earning spots on the Red Group of the 18-player roster.

Cross, a 6-foot-3 junior guard who wears No. 0 for the Cougars, was one of the most productive players in Monroe County this season. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game for a Bloomington North team that finished 14-8, and shot 45.3 percent from three-point range. That kind of perimeter efficiency from a player his size draws attention from college programs, and the Junior All-Star platform will put him in front of more of them.

Combs, a 6-foot-5 power forward at Bloomington South, helped the Panthers claim the outright Conference Indiana title this season. The junior was a consistent force in the post and one of the more physically imposing forwards in Class 5A, and he plays club basketball with Midwest Basketball Club in the offseason, giving him additional exposure ahead of his senior year.

The 18-player Junior All-Star roster, announced April 1 by All-Stars games director Mike Broughton, is divided into three groups. Cross and Combs join Devin Bolden of Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Jake Grissom of Guerin Catholic, Brandon Hunter of Silver Creek and Tyler Renn of Terre Haute North on the Red Group. The six-player Core Group includes Max Vise of Mt. Vernon, Jason Gardner Jr. and Cooper Zachary of Fishers, Harper Baker-Lands of Plainfield and the Pike duo of Isaiah Hill and Jahari Miller.

Selection runs through the IBCA's all-state process: member head coaches nominate players, and a 22-member committee reviews and votes on the final roster. Being chosen means more than a jersey. The Junior All-Stars participate in organized practices, coaching clinics and a marquee game against Kentucky's Junior All-Stars on May 31 at Charlestown High School.

The Indiana squad will be led by Scott McClelland, the current Noblesville head coach who owns 332 career wins over 23 seasons and guided Morristown to the 2018 Class A state championship. For Cross and Combs, still with at least one more year of high school ball ahead of them, the exposure that comes with playing under a coach of McClelland's caliber, alongside 16 of the state's other top underclassmen, arrives at exactly the right moment in their development.