Fallen local high school star makes Silver Anniversary hoops team

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame honors player who died during game

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (WISH) — A local basketball star whose death shocked the state is getting one of Indiana’s highest hoops honors.

The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame has named John Stewart as a member of its 2024 Silver Anniversary team, representing the best players from 25 years ago.

Stewart was among the best of 1999. He was a towering center who starred at Lawrence North and had committed to play at a college basketball powerhouse, the University of Kentucky. He was on a path for a storybook ending to a real-life tale that started when his family says Stewart uttered his first word as a baby: “Ball.”

His dreams and his life ended suddenly, though, while playing the game he loved. Stewart collapsed during a state playoff game in Columbus against Bloomington South.

Tests later revealed that Stewart died of a congenital form of Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, a heart condition where the walls of the left ventricle become thicker than normal. The thickened walls can become stiff and reduce the amount of blood taken in and pumped out to the body with each heartbeat.

Family members say regular checkups with doctors never detected a problem.

In a News 8 report in the days after the tragedy, his family shared with WISH-TV the plans Stewart had beyond basketball. They told us his early size made him the target of teasing, and as a result, he had an overwhelming need to help others. They said he wanted to be a special education teacher and hoped that an NBA career would give him the resources to start a foundation for disadvantaged children.

An important part of that dream still became reality. A foundation aimed at helping disadvantaged children indeed bears John Stewart’s name. Fitting for Stewart’s long-ago vision, the next big event for the foundation is an annual outreach and toy collection event in Virginia to benefit Toys For Tots, the same organization that partners with WISH-TV in central Indiana for the WISH Tree campaign.

Here are the members of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team:

  • Darnell Archey – New Castle
  • Brad Borgman – Jac-Cen-Del
  • Bryan Bullington – Madison
  • Jermaine Dearman – Warren Central
  • Jason Gardner – North Central
  • Alan Goff – Terre Haute North
  • Gavin Groninger – Plainfield
  • Vernard Hollins – Fort Wayne North Side
  • Jon Holmes – Bloomington South
  • Bruce Johnson – Austin
  • Darmetreis Kilgore – South Bend Washington
  • Kenneth Lowe – Gary West Side
  • Faruk Mujezinovic – Jasper
  • Rob Robbins – Delta
  • Cory Ryan – Northeastern
  • James Scott – Elkhart Central
  • Brett Snodgrass – East Central
  • John Stewart III – Lawrence North