This week the top high school basketball players in Indiana will be on exhibit in a series of games that begin Tuesday.

As part of the annual Indiana All-Star series, in which the top senior boys and girls from this state play their counterparts from Kentucky, the senior team will play a pair of games against a squad of the top juniors in the state.

Fort Wayne will be represented in both the boys and girls exhibitions, with seven players and a coach participating. Named to Indiana All-Star squads earlier this spring were North Side's Justin Jordan, Elmhurst's Lecretia Smith and South Side's Sydney Weinert.

Jordan will play for Saint Louis University in the fall, while Smith, who led the Trojans to the IHSAA 3A championship this winter, is headed for Toledo. Weinert will play at IPFW.

Playing on the junior boys All-Star team are Bishop Luers' Deshaun Thomas and Blackhawk Christian's Russell Byrd. On the girls team are Canterbury's Tabitha Gerardot and Concordia's Andrea Newbauer. The girls junior team will be coached by Elmhurst's Mark Redding.

Thomas, the favorite for the 2010 Indiana Mr. Basketball award, has verbally committed to play at Ohio State, while Byrd will head to Michigan State in about 14 months.

Gerardot still hasn't committed to a school, but has Division I offers on the table, while Newbauer will attend Indiana University.

The first game between the two classes will be Tuesday at Benton Central High School. The girls' tip-off is at 6 p.m., followed by the boys at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 and are available at the door.

The second game will be played Thursday at New Albany High School, with the same game times and cost.

Neither Byrd, nor Newbauer were named to the “core” teams, so they will not participate in the New Albany contests.

The Hoosier seniors will face the Kentucky All-Stars on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The girls game begins at 3 p.m., followed by the boys at 5 p.m.