Dana Hunsinger Benbow Indianapolis Star
NOBLESVILLE — The old VHS tapes would play on Saturday mornings inside the Ault house. The tapes of Kevin Ault, a basketball star at Warsaw High, averaging 30.1 points his senior season, scoring a single-game high of 47.
Palmer Ault sat and watched. Those tapes told the story of his dad, a 6-3 shooting guard who had to work hard for his accomplishments on the court. Palmer watched his dad, a self-admitted "not very athletic" type, lead his team to the state final four — single-handedly, according to media at the time.
"Mr. Basketball candidate Kevin Ault is the main reason why Warsaw is a candidate for the state championship," the announcers said inside the RCA dome at the Final Four in 1996. "His 39 points against Fort Wayne Dwenger led the Tigers to the semistate title. If a so-called one-man team can win it all, that one man could be Kevin Ault."
Palmer watched and listened as the tapes replayed that day inside the RCA Dome with Ault ready to take the court against New Albany.
"A key when talking about Warsaw is Kevin Ault. He's just a super player," said New Albany coach Don Unruh. "He can shoot the ball, but we've been talking to our kids about the other things that he can do. He's the second-leading rebounder, one of their leaders in assists and steals...."
"You know, Kevin Ault is probably the best basketball player in the state of Indiana," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said. "I feel like, you know, anybody that doesn't vote for him for Mr. Basketball hasn't taken a look at where he's brought his team."
In the end, Ault did win Mr. Basketball in 1996, beating out Jasper's Michael Lewis.
What Palmer Ault sees in his father
A young Palmer soaked in what his dad had done, what it took to be an elite athlete, how hard work and devotion could pay off.
"From a young age, hearing what he had to say about it since he had success, I always heard in order to be successful you have to put a lot of time and effort into it," Palmer said. "He really showed me what it was like to achieve that and that helped me into what accolades I've earned."
What Palmer achieved was to follow in his dad's footsteps, not in basketball but in soccer. This year Palmer not only led his team to a state title but was named Indiana Mr. Soccer.
The Aults are believed to be the first father-son duo to achieve an Indiana Mr. Basketball-Mr. Soccer feat. And the way it all happened, the paths that took them to be the best in their sports, started in a very similar way.
Honing in on their sports
Both Ault and Palmer began as two-sport athletes. Ault played basketball and baseball. Basketball wasn't his first love, though. He had a dream to be a major league pitcher.
But in eighth grade, a basketball injury sidelined Ault, who had to sit out the last half of the season and into spring with a broken ankle. When he recovered and was ready to start his freshman year, he decided it was time to focus on one sport.
"I chose basketball and I stuck with it," Ault said. "And the rest is kind of history as that goes."
Palmer, too, was injured, playing basketball in eighth grade when he broke his collar bone. His two sports were soccer and basketball. After recovering and beginning his freshman year at Noblesville, Palmer wanted to focus on one sport. He chose soccer.
Palmer, 17, was a four-year starter for Noblesville as a forward. He helped lead his team to its first state championship win against Carmel in October.
When he found out he had been named Mr. Soccer, everything came full circle with his dad.
"It meant a lot to me," Palmer said, "especially with my dad winning that award in a different sport."
Palmer's prowess
Leading up to his freshmen season, Palmer was chosen to train for a week with the Dutch club Ajax in Amsterdam, a huge honor for elite players.
The training was about the time Noblesville was having high school soccer tryouts in August.
"I had heard rumors of how good this freshman was coming in but I hadn't seen it for myself," said Ken Dollaske, Noblesville soccer coach. "Was he going to make varsity as a freshman or was that too much of a leap considering Noblesville was already a pretty good program?"
After Palmer came back from his week abroad, he was given a tryout with the varsity team.
With Palmer's very first touch, Dollaske remembers leaning over to his assistant coach and saying, "This kid is going places."
"Not only did he make varsity but he established himself as a leader and one of the best players in the program," Dollaske said. "Since then, he has continued to get better, get faster, get stronger and, ultimately, became the best player that Noblesville has witnessed."
Among Palmer's strengths are his speed. Dollaske said Palmer is the fastest player on the pitch, but it doesn't look like it. He makes it look effortless and his deceptive speed often fools defenders.
Palmer has an uncanny awareness and vision, too, Dollaske said. He knows where and when his teammates will be making runs and has the ability to pick them out with pinpoint accuracy.
The Noblesville team was loaded with talent; several players are going on to play college soccer.
"We don't win a 3A state title without having a plethora of talent. But Palmer was the best of the best," Dollaske said. "He factored into two out of the three goals in our state title game (one goal and one assist). He is such a dominant force."
Palmer will graduate from high school this month and recently joined the Indiana Fire, a pro academy for youth players affiliated with the Indy Eleven. He will focus on training with the academy before heading to play soccer at Butler in the fall.
He has already practiced with Indy Eleven's first team. His goal is to sign an amateur contract, which would mean practicing with them and possibly getting to dress and play in a game.
Palmer's high school success, a state title and being named one of 60 high school All-Americans made his chances of being named Mr. Soccer, seemingly, a given. But that didn't stop Ault from being nervous as he sat at the banquet that would name Indiana's Mr. Soccer in November.
"I turned to my wife and asked, 'Is he going to win this?'" Ault said. "It's got to be him. It's got to be right? But still until it's named..."
And when Palmer was named Mr. Soccer. "It was pretty cool to see," Ault said. "Seeing him earn that and just remembering how I felt."
'It was just surreal'
Ault remembers sitting and waiting on his Mr. Basketball title in 1996. It was the days before social media, emails and texts.
The Mr. Basketball candidates had been told that by 10 p.m., the winner would get a phone call of congratulations. No phone call, no Mr. Basketball.
On that night, 10 p.m. came and went.
"And I'm like, 'Well, there you go. I haven't won,'" Ault said. Then at 10:30, the phone rang and his dad answered. It was a phone call for Ault. He was 1996 Mr. Basketball.
"It was just surreal," Ault said. "That wasn't a goal of mine per se. I've always told these guys the individual awards will take care of themselves if you are doing the things you are supposed to do and your team has success."
Ault's coach Rhodes said no player was more deserving in 1996 of Mr. Basketball than Ault.
"First of all, Kevin did a great job in all four years of high school," Rhodes said. "His leadership took us to the Final Four in 1996. He just hit big shot after big shot and really had an absolutely great senior season."
Warsaw didn't win against New Albany to go to the state title game. But that didn't take away from what Ault had accomplished.
Ault became the 28th player in state history to break the 2,000-point milestone when he scored 31 points against New Albany in the state semifinals. He finished his career with 2,028 points in 92 games, 24th on the state career list.
Ault was recruited to (Southwest) Missouri State by Steve Alford, where he became a four-year starting guard. As a junior in 1999, he led the team to an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearance. He also set program records for games played (132), steals (243) and ranked 10th in career points with 1,508.
Playing for Alford, also an Indiana Mr. Basketball, was an amazing experience, Ault said. And 25 years later, it's still amazing to think about being named Mr. Basketball himself.
"The Steve Alfords and the Oscar Robertsons and all the guys that came before, that's what is most humbling to me, to have your name associated with them," he said. "It is just crazy and humbling."
While Palmer's accomplishments could quickly be attributed to his dad, Ault credits his wife, Sherry, for Palmer's athletic success, too.
Sherry, Ault's high school sweetheart at Warsaw, was a 12-varsity letter-winner playing three sports all four years, basketball, volleyball and tennis.
"His mother is the athlete of the family," Ault said.
And Palmer's two younger sisters have inherited the gene. Lily is a freshman at Noblesville and plays soccer. Sophia is in third grade and is a black belt in karate.
"So we will see where they go," said Ault. "Who knows?"
Maybe, just maybe, an Indiana Miss (insert sport) is in the Ault family future.
