Cathedral coach Jason Delaney said in early December he was a little bit surprised high-major programs had not jumped more seriously into the recruiting picture for Brady Koehler.

“He’s just so versatile at that size,” Delaney said after Cathedral’s 80-49 win over Evansville Bosse in the Sneakers for Santa event at Brownsburg on Dec. 2. “He can hit pullups, he can hit 3s, he can handle the basketball.”

At the time, the 6-9 Koehler had a scholarship offer from Wake Forest, along with mid-major offers from Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Miami (Ohio), Southern Indiana, Toledo and Valparaiso. Those offers were largely based off potential and Koehler’s play last spring and summer. From a high school perspective, his track record was relatively small coming into his junior season: 6.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in 14 games.

But Koehler’s promise has blossomed into production as a junior. With players like Jaron Tibbs, Jake Davis, Xavier Booker, Kamari Slaughter and Sincere Germany gone to graduation, Koehler has emerged as Cathedral’s leading scorer at 17 points per game going into Monday’s City tournament championship against Crispus Attucks. The in-state high major programs have taken notice, too. Koehler was offered by Butler in December and Notre Dame two weeks ago. Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry was in attendance Saturday night to watch Cathedral’s City tournament semifinal against Washington.

“When you look at all the numbers,” Delaney said, “he’s having a really good year. Especially for his first year playing varsity basketball.”

Despite his relative inexperience at the varsity level, Koehler was not exactly an unknown coming into the season. He went head-to-head in practice every day with players like Tibbs, Booker and Davis.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I’m having a lot of success right now,” Koehler said. “Those practices last year and this year were probably harder than the games we played. It’s just so competitive with those guys. They helped me a lot.”

Koehler said his group last year in practice, which includes several current starters like junior guards LeBron Gough and Deric Cannady, along with senior Anthony Fields, got the better of the seniors in practice. Koehler was most often matched up with the 6-11 Booker, who is averaging 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds as a freshman at Michigan State.

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“Last year was great with those guys,” Koehler said. “It was great competition at practice, and we really beat them pretty much every single time in practice. So, it’s really no different for us to go out there and play in games than it is playing those guys in practice.”

Which at least partially explains why there has been little drop off for this Cathedral team, which is 12-1 and ranked No. 6 in 4A going into the City championship despite a relative lack of experience.

“We had a great summer and still nobody was really talking about us at the beginning of the year, which was frustrating,” Koehler said. “But we didn’t let it affect us. We came out and started 10-0.”

One of Koehler’s biggest advantages on the court is his versatility at his size. That came in part due to his seven-inch growth spurt from his freshman to junior year. He played a lot of guard growing up, which has allowed him to be comfortable handing the ball and playing facing the basket. That has some obvious advantages at his current height.

Delaney said his season to date compares with the best he has had in his eight years at Cathedral. Koehler is averaging 17.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocked shots and 1.9 assists and shooting 55% from the field, including 39% from the 3-point line (17-for-44) and 82% from the free-throw line (31-for-38).

“He controls his body so well,” Delaney said. “We were up at Hammond and ran a play where he went backdoor and there was a 6-7 guy coming up to block his shot. Most kids are going to keep going and run the kid over. He stopped on a dime and pulled up and drilled it over him. He’s a guard in a bigger body and that’s what colleges love about him, too. He was kind of like an Anthony Davis situation where he grew all of a sudden, and he still had that coordination.”

Koehler’s offensive skills seem to check all the boxes in the modern college game.

“He just hasn’t been known as much yet,” Delaney said. “I had a mid-major school reach out recently and ask, ‘Should we jump on him?’ I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, I’d say so.’”

Koehler visited the Indiana last week for the Hoosiers’ game against Purdue. He is planning to visit Wake Forest for its game against Duke on Feb. 24. He has also visited Butler for a couple of games and is planning to visit Notre Dame for its game vs. Miami (Fla.) on Wednesday.

It is safe to say his offer list could look quite different by the summer. He said on-ball defense is an area where he needs improve to take the next step.

“That’s something I can definitely improve on,” he said. “I’ve been focused on defense a lot this year and just need to keep improving on it.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Brady Koehler grows, recruiting interest blows up