Kansas’ Flory Bidunga returns to Indiana, puts up huge numbers in HS all-star game
Kansas freshman center Flory Bidunga, who scored eight points in an intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday in front of several hundred Bill Self basketball campers, headed back to his high school home of the past three years for an all-star game appearance Wednesday night.
Kokomo (Indiana) High’s Bidunga, the 2024 IndyStar Mr. Basketball Award winner in the Hoosier State, scored 34 points on 15-of-23 shooting and grabbed 22 rebounds in the Indiana high school seniors’ 104-96 victory over the state’s top juniors before 3,407 fans in Kokomo’s Memorial Gym.
Bidunga — he is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo — dished five assists and had three blocked shots.
After receiving what the Indianapolis Star called a “rousing ovation as his name was announced,” Bidunga put up the second-highest point total in the history of the game between the state’s top seniors and juniors that dates to 1996. Trevon Bluiett of Park Tudor at Columbus North High School scored 44 points in the game in 2014.
Bidunga’s 22 rebounds tied the record he shared with former Indiana Hoosier big man Cody Zeller, who like Bidunga grabbed 22 rebounds as a junior at the event.
“I love the people in town,” Bidunga told Kyle Neddenriep of the Indy Star after Wednesday’s game. “It was good to see them again and I appreciate the support they have given to me.”
Bidunga impressed in all facets of the all-star game.
He hit his only 3-point attempt — from the top of the key right before halftime.
“He’s been working hard this spring and summer on extending that range,” John Peckinpaugh, Bidunga’s coach at Kokomo High (and the seniors’ head coach), told the Indy Star.
Exiting the game for good with 1:07 left, Bidunga according to the Indy Star “made his last shot count.”
“With New Palestine’s Julius Gizzi guarding him at the top of the key, Bidunga dribbled to his right, then crossed to his dominant left hand, spun to the middle of the lane and shot a 12-footer over the extended arm of Cathedral’s 6-9 Brady Koehler. Swish,” Neddenriep wrote.
The competitors were impressed.
“I’ve played with Flory for three years now in AAU and when I tell you you can throw that thing anywhere, I can throw it anywhere. I can throw to the moon and he’d probably catch it,” senior all-star Aaron Fine of Noblesville told the Indy Star. “He just makes the game easier.”
The state of Indiana senior all-stars now will play a weekend doubleheader against the Kentucky all-stars. A Friday girls/boys doubleheader will be contested at Lexington (Kentucky) Catholic High School, then there will be a second game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night in Indy.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Indiana leads the boys series over Kentucky 103-45. The series began in 1940. Last year, Kentucky and Indiana split the boys series, with each team winning in its home state. The boys’ win in Owensboro, Kentucky, snapped a seven-game losing streak for Kentucky.
