Fans of Indiana high school basketball came to New Albany on Thursday night planning to see the best from Indiana’s 2009 and 2010 classes face off.

And if the results from Tuesday’s exhibition at Benton Central and Thursday’s showdown are any indication, the debate on which class is stronger is settled. It’s the class of 2009, which rolled to a 109-94 victory. Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls had 17 points and Derek Elston added eight points and seven rebounds.

What fans were not expecting was the absence of Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson, who was not listed in the game’s program just days after committing six turnovers in Tuesday’s exhibition. The official explanation: Ferguson hyper-extended his knee.

But the chatter around the gym suggested otherwise. If you are a member of a team and you’re unable to play, you show up and support your teammates, right? Ferguson didn’t do that.

Some suggested he decided not to show up on his own accord and not because of an injury. There was even buzz that Ferguson is on his way out at Lawrence North and headed to Oak Hill Academy. Call me crazy, but normally an injury doesn’t get you removed from the program, does it? (To be clear, a reader tells us Ferguson wasn’t in the program distributed at Tuesday’s game, either.)

Whatever the story is, it’s obvious that something doesn’t smell right. Which leads me to this point: On the surface, this isn’t the type of kid you build a program around. Indiana needs hard working kids who can bring stability. And at this time, talent aside, Dominique Ferguson doesn’t seem to fit that description.