Center Grove's Gracyn Gilliard Wins 2026 Indiana Miss Basketball Award

Gracyn Gilliard spent her senior season doing two jobs at once: putting up 25.6 points a night and shutting down the other team's best player. Indiana's voters noticed both.

The Center Grove senior was named the 2026 Indiana Miss Basketball on Friday, capping a season in which she guided the Trojans to an undefeated Class 4A state championship. The 5-11 guard/forward and Davidson commit became one of the most complete players the state has seen in years, finishing the season shooting 53% from the floor, 40% from three and 75% from the free-throw line while also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.9 assists per game.

The clearest statement of her value came at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where Gilliard totaled 155 points across seven state tournament games while drawing the opposing team's top perimeter assignment every night. She closed the run with 23 points, nine rebounds, six steals, three assists and a block in the championship final against Norwell. That performance alone would have anchored most award cases.

The path to that moment stretched back to Munster, where Gilliard spent two seasons averaging 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 2.4 assists before relocating with her family to Greenwood and enrolling at Center Grove. From the moment she arrived, the production never dipped. She finished her tenure as a Trojan with more than 1,000 points on 51% shooting, a career mark that reflects both her volume and her efficiency.

By January, the recognition was already building. Earlier in the season, with Center Grove still undefeated, Gilliard's Miss Basketball candidacy was described as surging, a momentum that only grew as the Trojans ran the table. The sectional run offered one of the season's signature images: Gilliard cutting down a piece of the net after Center Grove beat Franklin Central 55-50 in the IHSAA Class 4A sectional championship game on Feb. 7 at Center Grove High School.

Gilliard's award arrives in a season that produced standout performances across the state. Lawrence Central's Lola Lampley, LSU-bound and nationally ranked, helped the Bears to a 94-6 sectional semifinal win on Feb. 6 at North Central High School in Indianapolis, capping a four-year run in which she contributed to 90 wins, three 20-win campaigns and the program's first-ever state championship in 2023-24. At Valparaiso, Barnes closed her senior year averaging 21.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.9 steals, including a 31-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist, six-steal outing against Norwell, while leading Valpo to 23 wins.

Against that backdrop, Gilliard's case held firm. The combination of scoring efficiency, defensive responsibility and a perfect record made her the standard-bearer for Indiana girls basketball in 2026. She will take those credentials to Davidson next year.