Chesterton boys basketball coach Marc Urban’s rising star soars to another level with appointment as head coach of Indiana All-Stars

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Ninth-year Chesterton boys basketball Coach Marc Urban’s snowballing reputation as one of the best in the state has expanded again with his appointment as head coach of the Indiana All-Stars.
Ranking at the top of Urban’s responsibilities that go with the prestigious appointment is coaching the top 12 or 13 seniors in Indiana against the top seniors from Kentucky in a pair of All-Star games in June, one in Lexington, one in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Indiana All-Stars were first formed in 1939 and the series with Kentucky dates back to 1940. They have squared off in all but three years since then, missing 1943 and 1944 because of World War II and 2020 because of the COVD-19 shutdown.
Urban will be assisted by Chris Hawkins of Indianapolis Crispus Attucks and Jason Speer of Bloomington North.
The senior All-Stars will be together for five consecutive days, practicing, playing against the Indiana Junior All-Stars in an exhibition and then two games against the Kentucky All-Stars.
The senior All-Star rosters have not yet been chosen, but Greenfield-Central’s Braylon Mullins, Indiana’s Gatorade Player of the year and the leading candidate for Mr. Basketball honors, surely will be one. Mullins, the No. 13 prospect in the Class of 2025 in 247 Sports’ rankings, will play for UConn next season. Malachi Morena, a 6-11 center who has committed to Kentucky, is the commonwealth’s highest-ranked player nationally at No. 28.
“All of it is challenging in a good way,” Urban said of the assignment, “from developing those relationships and trying to get as good as we can in a short amount of time, trying to keep it simple, trying to mesh everything together and trying to figure out a way to win, too.”
Urban has a 175-56 record at Chesterton, a .758 winning percentage that ranks eighth in the state among active Indiana boys high school basketball coaches. Before taking the job at Chesterton, Urban went 80-17, an .825 winning percentage, in four seasons as head coach of the Lake Central girls.
Urban won two sectional titles at Lake Central and has three sectional titles so far at Chesterton. His 29-1 record and state runner-up finish in 2021-22 with a roster that did not have a single player who went on to play Division I basketball heightened his state profile, which already was high enough for him to be appointed assistant coach of the 2020 Junior All-Stars, which never played because of the COVID shutdown. He was head coach of the 2022 Junior All-Stars.
One of the challenges for any coach of an All-Star team is to figure out how to get players accustomed to dominating the ball to adjust and play together well enough to take the sort of high-percentage shots Urban’s teams are noted for taking.
“The key is going to be trying to get to know them and make sure they understand that ‘Hey, you get one opportunity in your life to represent the state of Indiana. You’ll all go to your colleges and have great careers, but for one week you’ll be representing your state.’ When you’re playing in these, when the ball moves and everybody’s guarding, that’s when you tend to do well,” Urban said. “It’ll be fun.”
Urban’s duties begin Sunday at Marian University in Indianapolis for the Hoosier Basketball Magazine Top 60 Senior Workout.
Chesterton played against nine of the 46 players expected to participate in the Top 60 workout (14 either are injured or won’t be able to attend, per the Indianapolis Star).
The Top 60 Workout seniors Chesterton faced during a 15-9 season played against a tough schedule, listed in alphabetical order: Marcus Browder, Hammond Central; Nathan Baker, JonAnthony Hall and Justin Kirby from Fishers; Chase Konieczny, South Bend St. Joseph; Anthony Murphy, Michigan City; Dominique Murphy, East Chicago Central; Jesiah Sloss, Brownsburg; three games against Michael Wellman, Portage.
Two workouts will take place, the first from 1 to 3 p.m., the second from 3:30 to 5:30. Both sessions are open to the public. Tickets are $9.