IBCA names 40 Indiana seniors to 2026 scholarship awards

Lincoln Garrett of Batesville and Leah Shappell of Leo were among the clearest signs of where Indiana basketball is trying to invest its future, with each senior earning a $500 Steve & Jeanie Witty scholarship for children of active IBCA coaches who are headed toward education, coaching or medicine. The Witty award, one of the state’s most personal basketball honors, also went to two families tied directly to the game’s day-to-day work, not just its box scores.

The IBCA’s 2026 scholarship class included 40 Indiana seniors, with each receiving a $500 grant through the association’s Crawley, Mannies, Aikman and Witty programs. The statewide coaches group said it has about 2,400 members and has awarded roughly $840,000 in scholarships over the years, a number that shows how much weight Indiana basketball gives to service, academics and school involvement alongside production on the floor. That total has continued to climb from about $760,000 in 2022 and about $820,000 in 2024.

The Patrick Aikman award added another layer to that picture, with winners Behny and Guerre chosen for paths that point toward journalism and sports management. Aikman, a Dana native and Dana High School valedictorian in 1953, later directed the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Basketball series for the Indianapolis Star, and the scholarship that carries his name is built for students who can work the game from the press box or the front office as well as the court.

The largest slice of the announcement came through the Marion Crawley Scholarship, which produced 34 honorees: 12 boys players, 16 girls players, four student managers, one cheerleader and one student trainer/statistician. The boys winners were Caleb Ferguson of Columbus North, Landyn Keiser of Centerville, Kash Kendall of Jasper, Damien Maldonado of Gary West, Cecil Newton of Southwestern (Shelby), Lane Pendleton of Brownstown Central, Maddox Rees of Connersville, Ethan Smith of Greensburg, Lance Smith of Evansville North, Tate Smith of Floyd Central, Chance Spencer of Sheridan and Brady Webber of Mt. Vernon (Fortville). The girls winners were Precious Anuka of Indianapolis Cathedral, Bailey Bonde of Trinity Lutheran, Sydney Bonds of Carmel, Lillian Burks of North Harrison, Kenna Conrad of Columbus North, Nya Dame of Princeton, Meredith Deaton of West Washington, Izabel Ford of New Washington, Norah Haverkos of Oldenburg Academy, Addie Maiben of Maconaquah, Mylee McQueary of Madison, Anna Roberson of Knightstown, Addison Smith of Eastern (Pekin), Grace Swank of Central Noble, Ella Welsh of White River Valley and Ella Williams of Washington. Alyssa Clay of Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Kira Ropes of Maconaquah, Lilly Spindler and Maci Spindler of Gibson Southern earned manager awards, Victoria Wadsworth of Edgewood was honored as a cheerleader and Wyatt Wilczynski of LaPorte was recognized as a trainer/statistician.

The Crawley name still carries real historical weight in Indiana, too. Marion Crawley won 644 games and guided four state championship teams, at Washington in 1941 and 1942 and at Lafayette Jefferson in 1948 and 1964. Junior Mannies, whose scholarship has recognized students who have overcome physical challenges since 1983, and Steve and Jeanie Witty, whose service helped shape the IBCA for decades, give these awards a distinctly Indiana feel: achievement matters, but so does the willingness to give back.