Indiana Elite has been one of the better programs in the country the last

couple years and it does not look like that is going to change. Last week

we caught up with their 17 & Under team head coach Mike Fox and he gave us the

quick skinny on how things are shaping up for spring action.

"Our star player is probably Eric Gordon," said Fox. "He played with us

in a couple events last year. We have a nice sized team but our strength

is really our guards. Dairese Gary, a verbal commitment to Iowa, will be a

guard. Jake Kelly, who played with us last year, he moved into Carmel and

was a Junior All-Star, he will be with us as well."

But the perimeter help doesn't end there thanks to a surprise add to this

squad.

"The new addition for us is a player I really like, someone that could really

be a super player, is a kid named Deandre Liggins out of Chicago (Washington

HS)," said Fox. "He is really a great passer which is a great complement

to our team. We have lots of scorers and he can change the game by passing the

ball."

State AAU rules do allow teams to have some players from adjacent states.

The coach told us how a talented Illinois player managed to find his way to the

Bloomington, Indiana based program.

"He wanted to play with E.J. (Eric Gordon)," said Fox. "I can't blame a

kid for that. I am not going to go around the streets of Chicago looking

for kids, he called us and asked to play. He is really a nice kid and I

think it is a win-win for both of us.

Liggins is from Washington High School in Chicago and is just a sophomore

(Class of 2008). He is very intriguing since he is a 6-foot-6 point guard

prospects.

While maybe not as heralded as the guards, the forwards and big men for

Indiana Elite are a solid group as well.

"My forwards are Bryan Bouchie from Washington, Indiana, and I really like

Bryan...Kyle Pressley from Fort Wayne Concordia...they are both 6-9 type kids

that can play three or four," said Fox. "On the inside we have Clint Hopf

from Forest Park. Beas Hamga, who has residency in Bloomington but played

at San Antonio Christian. He is a seven-footer and only a sophomore

eligibility wise as well. He is a high major prospect.."

Hamga is not the only other big tree that this team can go to inside.

"Our other seven-footer is a kid named Nick Evans who will really surprise

people," said Fox. "He was home schooled until this past year. He is

from Bridgeport, Illinois (Red Hill HS)."

Fox talked about combinations.

"Beas will probably start for us and Clint will play some four and five for

us. Nick will be a backup five. We'll probably go with three guards

at times with Dairese, E.J. and Deandre. Or we could go big and play Bryan

and Kyle together for match-up issues."

While Gordon played mostly with the well known Spiece Indy Heat program the

last couple years, he is pretty familiar with this team and its coach.

"I have been coaching E.J. off and on since he was in third or fourth grade,"

said Fox. "He used to play up on my seventh grade North Central team when

he was a fifth grader."

Fox told us that Indiana Elite will open tournament play this weekend at the

Real Deal on the Hill event in

Fayetteville, Arkansas. After that he thought they may head to the

Kingwood even in Houston the next weekend but at the time he was not 100% sure.

In May the team will be at the adidas May Classic in Bloomington (5/12-14) and

the Bob Gibbons Memorial Day tournament. June is a an off month for most

programs as that is a time when many players get to work with their high school

coaches and programs. In July Indiana Elite will participate in the Golden

Dome tourney in South Bend then head west for the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas

and the Best of Summer event to end things out in Los Angeles.

Stay tuned for more features this week on the best Indiana based traveling

teams.