Grassroots Introductions: Indiana Elite

The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id="178233" first="Laney" last="Hawkins"] of Charlestown High School and Indiana Elite Lightning 16U-Crowe. Now that we are over a month into the 2021 grassroots season, I wanted to continue introducing several of the state's programs over the next couple of weeks. For a few of the bigger programs in 17U-15U, they will get their own articles, while some of the smaller programs and individual teams will be found later in articles summarizing the remaining teams in each of those age groups, 17U-15U. Below is a look at the Indiana Elite program. They have been around for several years now and are centered out of the South suburbs of Indianapolis. They draw girls from all parts of the state with an emphasis in Central and Southern Indiana, plus they have "adopted" the Havoc program from Eastern Illinois.   17U: To the best of my knowledge, there are currently eight teams in 17U for Indiana Elite, including Indiana Elite Thunder, Indiana Elite Venom, Indiana Elite Team Blaze Select, Central Indiana Elite, two Indiana Elite Phoenix teams, plus the two [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] teams. Indiana Elite Thunder has been the flagship team in 17U for Indiana Elite over the last three years. This year, the team is comprised of most of the top 2022s Indiana has to offer. [player_tooltip player_id="10744" first="Alyssa" last="Crockett"] (2022) of Westfield and [player_tooltip player_id="10743" first="Kate" last="Clarke"] (2022) of Carmel form a tremendous 1-2 offensive punch on the wing with their shooting and playmaking ability. Both have already verbally committed to the University of Michigan. Skillful front-liner [player_tooltip player_id="128115" first="Lilly" last="Stoddard"] (2022) of Crown Point is the lone Northern Indiana prospect on the team, and she has already verbally committed to attend Purdue University. Point guard [player_tooltip player_id="128118" first="Tanyuel" last="Welch"] (2022) of North Central (Indianapolis) and wing [player_tooltip player_id="128119" first="Jaelynne" last="Murray"] (2022) of Pike are two talented, playmaking athletes from Central Indiana who disrupt opponents at both ends of the floor. Point guards [player_tooltip player_id="128116" first="Kynidi" last="Striverson"] (2022) of Silver Creek and [player_tooltip player_id="97261" first="Koryn" last="Greiwe"] (2022) of Columbus East each bring a great feel for the game. Striverson is a smooth playmaker who helped lead the Dragons to the Class 3A state title this year, while Greiwe is as hard-working of a kid as you are going to find in this class, plus she's a knockdown shooter. [player_tooltip player_id="59726" first="Asiah" last="Baxter"] (2023) of Warren Central is the youngster of the group, but she brings strength, toughness, and athleticism, while also possessing good touch around the perimeter. Indiana Elite Venom is a nicely constructed group out of Southern Indiana, not far from the border, with a little Kentucky flavor as well. The North Harrison duo of [player_tooltip player_id="34549" first="Ali" last="Saunders"] (2022) and [player_tooltip player_id="97242" first="Diana" last="Burgher"] (2022) have been attracting college attention for the better part of three years now. Saunders is a versatile guard, a nice shooter, and a solid all-around athlete who can make plays for herself or others. Burgher is a very active and athletic forward who can play just about anywhere on the floor, but is probably most comfortable in the mid-post. Salem High School has three players on this team, starting with wing [player_tooltip player_id="97264" first="Natalie" last="Noel"] (2022). Noel is a long, fluid, smooth point forward type who can score it at all three levels. [player_tooltip player_id="128176" first="Abigail" last="Ratts"] (2022) is an athletic/bouncy kid who plays with a tremendous motor and is always productive. The Venom's lone Sophomore, Sydney Brown (2023), is the third Salem kid, and she's a solid 5-9 wing. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="97311" first="Keegan" last="Kaiser"] (2022) of Floyd Central and forward [player_tooltip player_id="128152" first="DeMaria" last="King"] (2022) of Charlestown are the two other players from North of the Ohio River. Kaiser is a long, fluid, and somewhat smooth combo guard with a balanced skillset, while King is a nice athlete who plays with some toughness and a motor. The two Bluegrass natives are 6-5 post Gracie Merkle (2022) of Bullitt East High School and 5-11 wing Riley Neal (2022) of North Oldham High School. Merkle is ranked #5 overall in the state by PGH Kentucky, while Neal comes in at #8 overall. The Indiana Elite Team Blaze Select entry is in it's first year wearing the green & orange. They have kids mostly from Southern Indiana, around the Bloomington area, plus three additions from Ohio. Headlining this group from Indiana are point guard [player_tooltip player_id="61038" first="Kendall" last="Harmon"] (2022) of Bloomington South and wing [player_tooltip player_id="243574" first="Jordyn" last="Sarver"] (2022) of Mitchell. Harmon is a strong, skilled guard with deep shooting range. Sarver is a long, fluidly athletic kid who plays with a nice motor. Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id="59785" first="Adelyn" last="Walker"] (2023) of Martinsville and [player_tooltip player_id="203651" first="Brooklyn" last="Peterson"] (2023) of Mitchell play like experienced veterans as well against older competition. Walker has really improved her perimeter skill and outside play, while Peterson is just a productive, hard-working kid with a multilevel skillset as well. Central Indiana Elite is a brand new team altogether, assembling a nice group of small college prospects from around the Kokomo area. The Taylor High School duo of [player_tooltip player_id="61055" first="Kelsi" last="Langley"] (2022) and [player_tooltip player_id="128175" first="Emma" last="Good"] (2022) have been Varsity regulars for three years now. Langley is a long, smooth, and athletic wing scorer. Good is a tough-nosed, skillful, efficient point guard who can really shoot it. This group also has another veteran duo from Maconaquah High School in [player_tooltip player_id="61090" first="Lilly" last="Maple"] (2022) and Alexandra Merritt (2022). Maple is an athletic scoring guard who can also run point at times, while Merritt is a hard-working, tough-nosed, mid-post forward who plays much bigger than she is. For the second consecutive year, Indiana Elite has fielded the Indiana Elite Phoenix. This year, there are two Phoenix groups, one called Orange and one called White. While they have distinct individual rosters, they will share players from time to time when they're short-handed. Last weekend in Indianapolis, I really liked what I saw out of Hannah Ruddle (2023) and Kyndell Jochim (2023). Ruddle is long, quick, and shifty point guard who plays for the Indianapolis Homeschool Wildcats. Jochim is a long, fluid wing with good skill to the 3-point line. She is from Franklin Community. [player_tooltip player_id="182150" first="Isabelle" last="Saylor"] (2022) of Tri-West and Amelia Benjamin (2022) of Valparaiso are a pair of nice Junior guards who can do a little of everything on the floor. They are rostered with White, but I didn't have the chance to see them last week. And as for [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] in the 17U age group, they have the Black group and the Gold group. The Gold group includes a pair of Terre Haute North girls in [player_tooltip player_id="128154" first="Zoe" last="Stewart"] (2022) and [player_tooltip player_id="267398" first="Halie" last="Gilbert"] (2022). Stewart is an athletic, scoring combo guard who has already verballed to Murray State University. Gilbert is a nice-size forward/post who can play inside-out. She has a really nice motor as well. The remainder of the Gold roster is from the Land of Lincoln, led by Loyola Chicago commit Mallory Ramage (2022) of Mattoon High School, and UT-Chattanooga commit Anna Blank (2022) of Olney High School. The Black 17U group has four Hoosiers rostered. Post [player_tooltip player_id="182147" first="Hannah" last="O'Brien"] (2022) of Parke Heritage has really nice upside for some of the better small college programs in the area. Hanna Dawson (2022) of Northview is a hard-working forward who makes a lot of hustle plays. A.J. Campbell (2022) of Terre Haute North and Aubrey Cole (2023) of Seeger are the other two Indiana natives with this team.   16U: In the 16U age group, again to the best of my knowledge, there are six teams in the Indiana Elite program. They are Indiana Elite Prime, Indiana Elite Lightning, Indiana Elite Showtime Select, Indiana Elite Eagles, and the two [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] teams. Indiana Elite Prime has several of the top 2023s in Indiana on its roster and sort of serves as the feeder team for the future Thunder rosters. Northwestern forward [player_tooltip player_id="59762" first="McKenna" last="Layden"] (2023) has really taken another step in her development, as this season she became the dominant force for the Tigers. She has great length, fluidity, and skill on or off the ball. She already holds at least one BCS offer at this time. Point guards [player_tooltip player_id="2402" first="Olivia" last="Brown"] (2023) of Hamilton Southeastern and [player_tooltip player_id="59746" first="Abby" last="Fleetwood"] (2023) of Brown County take care of ball-handling responsibilities. Brown is a really nice athlete, a playmaker off the bounce, and she can be an elite on-ball defender. Fleetwood is a skilled shooter who can also run offense, plus she has good length and quickness. [player_tooltip player_id="155437" first="Monica" last="Williams"] (2023) is one of those Swiss Army Knife type of kids. She is a long, bouncy, and talented athlete with quickness, she can play on the ball or off, and she can score it at all three levels, plus defend multiple types of perimeter players. [player_tooltip player_id="59784" first="Josie" last="Trabel"] is a strong, athletic forward who can play inside-out. She's probably best in the mid-post, but she has the ability to attack the basket or shoot it facing the basket. Trinity Lutheran's [player_tooltip player_id="59779" first="Bailey" last="Tabeling"] is a high-level shooting threat with some range. She is a nice, long, fluid athlete, and she can handle the ball some as well. [player_tooltip player_id="59729" first="Savanna" last="Bischoff"] of Roncalli has greatly improved over the last 12-18 months. She looks stronger, more assertive, plus she is playing much more efficiently and has some similarities to her sister [player_tooltip player_id="62532" first="Madelyn" last="Bischoff"] (2021). Recent addition [player_tooltip player_id="201884" first="Rachel" last="Wirts"] (2024), another Indianapolis Homeschool Wildcat, moves up from one of the 15U teams to fill a void in the post. At 6-2, she has an athletic frame and moves well, while also showcasing a solid all-around skillset for a "big" her age. The Indiana Elite Lightning group is a skillful, hard-working, tough-nosed group who competes with opponents each time out. I really enjoy watching the backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="127241" first="Tori" last="Thompson"] (2023) of Lafayette Central Catholic and [player_tooltip player_id="178233" first="Laney" last="Hawkins"] (2023) of Charlestown. Thompson is a talented shooter who has transitioned nicely to more of a primary ball-handler the last couple of years. Hawkins is another capable shooter, but she it looking to make plays first for herself or teammates. She's a really nice all-around athlete as well. Up front, the tandem of 6-3 [player_tooltip player_id="127235" first="Brooklyn" last="Smitherman"] (2023) of Noblesville and 6-1 [player_tooltip player_id="241186" first="Campbell" last="Moore"] (2023) of West Lafayette Harrison pose big matchup problems for opponents. Smitherman just continues to improve and gain confidence, plus she runs the floor well and plays hard. Moore has also noticeably improved skillfully, but it's her strength and physicality that stand out about her game. Wings [player_tooltip player_id="59725" first="Teegan" last="Acres"] (2023) of Hamilton Southeastern and [player_tooltip player_id="241196" first="Hannah" last="Stutsman"] (2023) of Scottsburg have given this team great minutes all Spring. Acres is the epitome of "team player", as she always works hard, does the little things, and gets in the gym on her own to improve. Stutsman has shot the ball well each time I've seen her, plus she's a solid all-around athlete with some toughness. [player_tooltip player_id="127229" first="Tatum" last="McFarland"] (2023) of Jeffersonville is another hard-working, versatile guard with skill. Eastern Greene's Kenady Hudson (2023) has really improved and plays with a lot of balance, while Kaho Takeda (2023) of Center Grove flies all over the floor trying to help her team win. The 16U teams in [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] are also labeled Black and Gold. The Black group is all 2023s, and it includes one Indiana prospect in Terre Haute North guard [player_tooltip player_id="59763" first="Preslee" last="Michael"] (2023). She is a tough-nosed, gritty, athletic combo guard who can score the ball at all three levels. Of the Illinois prospects with this group, I really like Alycia Triplett's (2023) athleticism and ability to block shots as a power forward, and I think Kendra Young's (2023) skill and versatility on the wing are a benefit to this roster. Triplett is at Charleston High School, while Young attends Paris High School. As for the Gold group, there are a couple of 2023 prospects, but it's mostly talented 2024s playing "up". The lone Hoosier on this roster is wing Katelyn Fennell (2023) of West Vigo. Last weekend was my first time seeing her play, and she's a solid athlete with a nice motor and some versatility. I was also really impressed with the play of point guard Grace Nelson (2024) of Altamont High School in Illinois. She is a smooth shooter/scorer with a natural feel for the game. At this time, I do not have rosters for Indiana Elite Showtime Select or the Indiana Elite Eagles.   15U: As for the 15U division, I am aware of five Indiana Teams. They are Indiana Elite Platinum, Indiana Elite Xcel, Indiana Elite Evolution, Indiana Elite-Babcock, and [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] Gray. Indiana Elite Platinum is a very talented group, but it's a mixture of a couple of 2024s and several 2025s. The two Freshmen of note are [player_tooltip player_id="201885" first="Faith" last="Wiseman"] (2024) of Indian Creek and [player_tooltip player_id="177316" first="Kennedy" last="Coleman"] (2024) of Charlestown. Wiseman is a very intriguing talent, because she's so long, fluid, and skilled at all three levels. She has really nice upside because of her inside-out ability, plus she's likely still growing. Coleman is a long, active, and somewhat bouncy and athletic forward who plays with versatility. She can play in the mid-post or around the perimeter, and she has really worked on developing her skillset. Two 8th Graders of note are younger sisters. Lilly Bischoff (2025) of Roncalli comes from a long line of Bischoff girls who have made their mark in Indianapolis over the last decade. She is a skillful and high IQ point guard prospect. The other little sister is Aubrey Crockett (2025) of Westfield. She too is a skillful guard, she has a nice feel for the game, and she can play on or off the ball. Indiana Elite Xcel is a more traditional 15U group, with a roster full of 2024 prospects. There are a lot of guards and wings on this roster, and I like the backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="264116" first="Julia" last="Munkholm"] (2024) of Fishers, [player_tooltip player_id="177348" first="Maddie" last="Nipper"] (2024) of Charlestown, and [player_tooltip player_id="177322" first="Kenzie" last="Fulks"] (2024) of Bethesda Christian. Munkholm is such a long, intriguing guard who moves effortlessly and can play on or off the ball. Nipper is a crafty, traditional point guard with some quickness and a nice feel for the game. Fulks is another point guard, but she can really shoot/score the ball with range well-outside of the 3-point line. [player_tooltip player_id="239352" first="Olivia" last="Oman"] (2024) of NorthWood and Ashlyn Moore (2024) of Charlestown offer this group at least a little size, though Oman is more of a wing than an interior player. Both play with nice motors and some physicality. Indiana Elite Evolution is one of the hardest working, scrappiest groups you will find. Hannah Yeskie (2024) of North Central (Indianapolis) and Lauren Bradley (2024) of Western are a pair of skilled, tough-nosed guards who always play hard and compete. Morgan Blake (2024) of Hamilton Southeastern has grown a couple of inches since last Summer and is a really nice athlete on the perimeter, while the addition of [player_tooltip player_id="201883" first="Skylar" last="Thompson"] (2024) of Jeffersonville gives them some size and strength in the pivot. I am unfortunately not terribly familiar with the Indiana Elite-Babcock group yet, though I do know that Rosemary Likens (2024) of Lapel is a nice little guard who can shoot the ball to the volleyball line, and Jillian Bond (2024) of South Dearborn is a physical forward with a motor who also has some skill facing the basket. I have yet to see [program_tooltip program_id='715952' first='Indiana' last='Elite Havoc'] Gray at this point in time. They are another mostly Illinois group, but they have one Indiana prospect in Becca Gore (2024) of Terre Haute North. I look forward to seeing them at some point in May.