Bringing the Lunchpail

There was a time when most basketball-loving kids in Bloomington wanted to “be like Mike” – Michael Jordan, that is.

Now it is another Jordan many in town are looking up to: Bloomington High School South point guard Jordan Hulls.

“He’s a very, very good kid, never gets in trouble, never is out partying on the weekends, never is out messing around doing bad things,” said Spencer Turner, a sophomore teammate and friend. “He leads by example, and everybody at school wants to be like him. He’s a very important role model for kids.”

Hulls’ high school coach, J.R. Holmes, said similar things, calling him “a solid Christian kid that works hard, plays hard and does the right things.” He also referred to him as a “gym rat.”

Though Hulls said that school is important – he has about a 3.91 cumulative GPA – and though Turner said he often sees Hulls working with younger kids, the 18-year-old senior will always be known as a basketball player.

Hulls grew up in Bloomington and like his father, J.C., is a stand-out player for the Panthers. After an impressive showing at an Amateur Athletic Union event in Pittsburgh last spring, many major programs quickly showed interest.

Schools such as Duke and Stanford were checking him out, and both IU and Purdue offered him scholarships within a 24-hour period in early May.

On May 20, Hulls announced he was going to play for IU. He signed his national letter of intent in November, becoming the first South player to do so since Chris Lawson in 1989.

Today, the 6-foot, 170-pound guard is a regular behind the bench or north basket at IU home games.

Though he admits it is frustrating seeing his future teammates struggle despite their hard work, it’s only because he is used to winning.

Hulls has played on successful Indiana Elite AAU teams as he also helped South reach the Indiana Class 4A semi-state game during his freshman and sophomore years.

Heading into Friday’s game at Perry Meridian, South is 17-0 and ranked first in the state and No. 15 nationally, according to USA Today.

Nine of the team’s wins have come by 30 or more points, and not one has come by fewer than 15.

For the senior guard, who shares point guard duties with sophomore Darwin “Dee” Davis, it is state title or bust.

“I hate to lose,” he said. “That’s all I can really think about. I won’t settle for anything less than winning state.”

While his scoring numbers are down from last year, he is still filling up the stat sheet.
“His game speaks for itself,” Turner said. “He goes out and plays, keeps his mouth shut and does a heck of a job passing, scoring, dribbling, rebounding – plays defense well. He does it all, and without him we wouldn’t be nearly as high as what we are (ranked) right now.”

Early last week, Hulls said he was averaging about 15 points, four or five rebounds, four or five assists and two or three steals a game.

That was before he exploded for 30 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists against Warren Central last Saturday.

But the numbers don’t matter to him or to his teammates.

“When we play good together, we don’t really care who gets all the credit as long as we win,” Hulls said. “When we’re playing hard, we’re hard to beat.”

But so is another upcoming foe for South. Should the Panthers win Friday, they will improve to 18-0, setting the stage for their toughest challenge to date.

On Saturday, No. 4 Detroit Country Day will make the trip from Michigan to Southern Indiana, where two of the nation’s top five teams will square off in front of a sold-out crowd.

The visiting Yellowjackets are 18-0 and will bring a wealth of future Division I talent, including highly touted junior Ray McCallum Jr., the son of former IU assistant coach Ray McCallum, Sr.

Hulls said he is looking forward to proving that he can play against top talent.
“I really can’t wait for that game, and I like the challenge,” he said. “It’s always a good thing to play against better competition to really see how good you can be.”

Personal stats aside, Hulls, as always, just wants to win. Though he knows he can’t take down Detroit Country Day without his teammates, they also know they can’t do it without him.

“I know he’s going to make his presence felt, whether it’s getting on the floor for a loose ball or hitting a shot or taking someone off the dribble or making a nice pass to somebody,” Turner said. “It’s not going to take one guy; it’s going to take all of us. That’s what he does, he gets all five players involved in the game, and he does a great job of it. His presence will be felt.”

Bragging rights on the line for two top-5 teams

Friday’s game between Bloomington High School South and Perry Meridian is a classic trap game for the Panthers, with Detroit Country Day on deck. South (17-0), ranked No. 5 nationally according to USA Today, will take on the No. 4 Yellowjackets (18-0) at 4:30 p.m Saturday at South.

“We’re all excited. We’re all pumped up for that game,” South sophomore Spencer Turner said. “It should be awesome.”

South starts seniors Jordan Hulls and Chaz Cooper, junior Erik Fromm and sophomores Turner and Dee Davis.

The Yellowjackets, meanwhile, have a star-studded lineup that includes at least five future Division I athletes.

The backcourt consists of point guard Ray McCallum Jr. the No. 10 junior according to ESPN.com, as well as future Michigan State wide receiver Bennie
Fowler.

Yellowjacket small forward Jordan Dumars, son of NBA legend Joe Dumars, will play basketball at the University of South Florida next year, while 6-foot-7 forward Donnovan Kirk will be down Interstate-75 at the University of Miami (Fla.). DaShonte Riley, a 6-foot-10 center, is still open after decommitting from Georgetown in November.

Hulls said there are very few public schools ranked nationally, so he hopes he and his teammates can prove how good they are.

“It’s just a time for us to show how good we can be and it’s going to be a good challenge for us,” he said. “And playing against Ray will be fun because we play on the same AAU team and, obviously, he went to North last year. That will be exciting to play against him because we’re good buddies.”