Charlie Hughes Preview – Way Too Early 4A Preseason Favorites

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Welcome to Charlie Hughes Showcase week! The best scholastic live period event in the country comes to the best high school basketball state in the country this weekend. Games will tip-off at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time between Carmel High School and Westfield High School and run through Sunday evening. This year over half of the IHSAA-member schools in the state will be participating in the Charlie Hughes Showcase including all four of the reigning State Champions. Our staff will have boots on the ground all weekend long and have already started posting preview content here on the website. Let's take a look at some of the preseason favorites at the Class 4A level heading into the 2026-2027 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>***Listed Alphabetically***</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fishers Tigers</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As long as [player_tooltip player_id='2267046' first='Jason' last='Gardner Jr.'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2140345' first='Cooper' last='Zachary'] are walking through that door the Fishers Tigers will be a favorite in Class 4A. The two dominant guards are now rising seniors with a combined 83-3 record including one state championship in their three years. Gardner Jr. missed most of his junior season due to injury, but will be back and ready to lead the Tigers to Gainbridge Fieldhouse as a senior. Fellow rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='2470635' first='Levi' last='Walker'] has had a great spring and should be ready to step into a larger role for the Tigers. There is no shortage of talent to go around at Fishers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Homestead Spartans</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Homestead has won back-to-back Regional titles before falling to Crown Point and Northridge respectively. This could be their year to punch up another level or two in the state tournament. Not only do they return rising seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2054869' first='Jake' last='Coolman'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2932419' first='Mack' last='Welker'], but they also added rising junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2539827' first='Bryce' last='LaCross'] from Blackhawk Christian. Welker, a 6'7" forward with multiple Division I offers, averaged 21.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game on his way to earning Indiana Junior All-Star honors. Coolman, a Taylor University commit, added 12.0 points per game and is a very good shooter. LaCross averaged 19.4 points per game as a sophomore at Blackhawk Christian.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Albany Bulldogs</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New Albany returns the vast majority of their production from a team that reached the Class 4A Final Four before falling to eventual State Champion Mt. Vernon (Fortville). Rising junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2382148' first='Noah' last='Washington'] and rising sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='2888227' first='Karson' last='Stoudemire'] are the two big names to know. They are among the top prospects in the Class of 2028 and Class of 2029 respectively. However, [player_tooltip player_id='2125697' first='Reece' last='McKee'], Ashton McKee, [player_tooltip player_id='2873152' first='Greyson' last='Grubbs'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2831119' first='Seth' last='Winslow II'] are talented rising seniors who will make big impacts this season as well. There are a couple of transfer additions, including [player_tooltip player_id='2622021' first='Jacob' last='Wilkerson'] from Jeffersonville, who could factor into the equation too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Pike Red Devils</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is an obvious elephant in the room with Pike and it revolves around who will actually be on the roster when it comes time to play high school basketball games. [player_tooltip player_id='2266896' first='Isaiah' last='Hill'], the Red Devils' 6'11" Purdue commit, has been with them all summer. His presence alone, along with the other pieces that have been playing, makes them a contender. However, if [player_tooltip player_id='2538892' first='Landon' last='Lampley'], [player_tooltip player_id='2266897' first='Kenneth' last='Lampley'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2194328' first='Jahari' last='Miller'] are all there they will likely be the most purely talented team in the state. [player_tooltip player_id='2444554' first='Vanden' last='Garner'] and [player_tooltip player_id='3219509' first='Bles'sed' last='Thomas'] are two incoming transfers that will make big impacts for Pike this season regardless of who else is on the roster.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other Teams to Consider</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carmel, Chesterton, Fort Wayne Snider, Lawrence North, Penn, South Bend St. Joseph, Whiteland</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->