Neddenriep releases early Central Indiana Fab 15 for boys basketball season
Neddenriep’s early Fab 15 frames Central Indiana’s preseason power race, where returning stars and class depth will shape the pecking order.
Kyle Neddenriep’s early Central Indiana Fab 15 is less a snapshot than a map of power for the season ahead. The first rankings point to the programs best positioned to own the region before the first ball is tipped, with returners, roster continuity and class strength doing the heavy lifting in a state where hierarchy tends to settle only after months of pressure.
That is why Neddenriep’s lists carry so much weight. He has covered high school sports for IndyStar since 2008 and earned Indiana sportswriter of the year honors from the National Sports Media Association in 2020 and 2023. IndyStar has turned that expertise into a familiar boys basketball framework, with weekly Central Indiana Fab 15 rankings during the season and a statewide Super 25 poll that track how quickly the order can shift once injuries, development and new lineups start to matter.
The early timing matters, too. The 2025-26 Indiana high school boys basketball season will begin Nov. 24, giving teams a long runway before sectional week March 3-7, regionals on March 14, semistates after that and the state finals March 28 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. In a sport that values defense and discipline as much as talent, a preseason list like this is really a first guess at who can keep its shape when the calendar gets demanding.
The most debatable part of any early Fab 15 is how much trust to place in a team that brings back proven stars versus one that simply has the best class on paper. That tension is already shaping the statewide conversation. IndyStar’s April 29, 2025 look at the 2026 Indiana Mr. Basketball race put Purdue recruit Luke Ertel in the opening mix, but also made clear there will be plenty of other players with a say. The boys Futures Game rosters, set April 5 for the June 1 game at New Palestine, added another marker for the next wave of talent.
That wider talent pipeline is part of why this preseason ranking feels bigger than one list. Chipotle Nationals will return to Central Indiana for its third year in 2026, bringing 16 of the nation’s top-ranked boys and girls teams back to the region and reminding everyone how much basketball business now runs through Indianapolis and its suburbs. Against that backdrop, the early Fab 15 is really an opening statement about control, and the teams that stay in the picture will be the ones that turn continuity into leverage long before March arrives.
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