IndyStar Names Early Favorites in the 2027 Mr. Basketball Race

The ink on Luke Ertel's 2026 Mr. Basketball plaque was barely dry when IndyStar turned the page. One day after Ertel's award was announced, the publication released a data-backed look-ahead identifying the strongest early candidates for the 2027 prize, and two names command immediate attention: Jason Gardner Jr. of Fishers and Isaiah Hill of Indianapolis Pike.

Gardner carries the kind of legacy that makes the story easy to understand but hard to replicate. His father, Jason Gardner Sr., won Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1999 out of North Central High School before becoming a consensus All-American at Arizona. The younger Gardner, a 6-foot-1 point guard entering his junior season, is carving his own path. As a freshman in 2023-24, he averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game at 46 percent from the field, helping Fishers capture the Class 4A state title. On the Adidas 3SSB summer circuit with Indiana Elite, he averaged 18.8 points per game, a production leap that signals he is ready for a larger role. He is ranked 25th nationally in the 2027 class by 247Sports, with scholarship offers from Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame and Cincinnati.

Hill is the contrarian pick, and a compelling one. At 7 feet and 205 pounds, he is the top-ranked prospect in Indiana and No. 16 nationally in the 2027 class. As a Pike sophomore, he posted 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 67 percent from the field. On the Nike EYBL circuit with the Indy Heat, he leads the 16U division in blocked shots at 3.9 per game, helping the Indy Heat to an 8-0 record. The obstacle is historical: Mr. Basketball voters have long favored perimeter guards and multi-positional wings, meaning Hill would need dominant postseason production alongside his per-game numbers to shift that calculus. If Pike makes a deep sectional run in 2026-27 and Hill continues to anchor the EYBL in blocks and efficiency, he becomes the kind of once-in-a-generation size exception that forces voters to reconsider their defaults.

The IndyStar framework for evaluating the 2027 race centers on five measurable dimensions: raw production against schedule strength, positional size and role, efficiency metrics including three-point percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio, winning impact in the postseason, and performance on the spring and summer AAU circuit. Historically, the award has tilted toward players whose teams reach sectional and regional title games; voting panels weigh both raw output and team success. That calculus adds particular weight to Gardner's trajectory at a Fishers program that already knows what state-championship basketball looks like.

The pattern is well-documented. Players who rack up points on losing teams rarely crack the final ballot, while a slightly-less-prolific scorer who carries his squad deep into March consistently draws votes. For Gardner, the benchmark heading into 2026-27 is sustaining his summer scoring production against a legitimate 4A schedule while Fishers contends into the regional rounds. For Hill, a deep postseason run at Pike paired with continued EYBL dominance could make him the first true interior prospect in years to seriously pressure the award.

The 2027 race has twelve months to develop. Based on what both players showed before their junior seasons even began, Indiana's most prestigious individual honor already has its first credible watch list.