Prep Hoops notebook spotlights five prospects from Indiana State Tournament

The 2026 Prep Hoops Indiana State Tournament, staged May 29-31 across Indianapolis and Lebanon-area venues, gave college coaches and Prep Hoops scouts the kind of live evaluation window that can tilt a prospect’s stock before summer fully opens. This notebook’s value is not the box score; it is the reveal. Marqua Curtis, Luke Schelle, Elias Hart, Mason Longest, and Nikolas Reed each offered a different kind of proof that the eye test still matters when the pressure rises and the competition tightens.

Marqua Curtis: size that changes the conversation

Marqua Curtis is the kind of prospect who forces everyone in the gym to recalibrate first, then evaluate. Listed by Prep Hoops at 6-foot-9 as a power forward-center in the 2027 class from Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, he already carries the sort of frame that draws attention at any spring event. His profile, created on April 20, 2026, makes him one of the younger names in this notebook, but the tournament setting put his size in a sharper context: it was not just that he was big, but that he looked like a player whose size can become a skill.

That matters because a 6-foot-9 interior prospect in a live tournament is never evaluated only for height. The question becomes whether he moves well enough to stay on the floor, whether he can process the game fast enough when teams are playing for bracket success, and whether his interior presence translates beyond standing near the rim. Curtis’s inclusion here suggests the live view offered more than a measurement. It hinted at a player whose long-term upside may be tied to how quickly his mobility and feel catch up to his natural size.

Luke Schelle: a smaller guard with a bigger read on the game

Luke Schelle gives this group a different lens entirely. Prep Hoops lists the Noblesville guard at 5-foot-10 in the 2027 class with Refined Indiana, and Noblesville High School’s 2024-25 junior varsity roster shows him as a junior, which adds useful context to how long he has been visible in the system. In a tournament packed with taller, more obvious prospects, Schelle stood out because his value is less about profile and more about how he handles the game in real time.

Smaller guards at events like this often earn their next look with pace, decision-making, and toughness against size. That is where Schelle’s presence becomes meaningful for Indiana watchers: if he can manage possessions cleanly and keep the offense organized under pressure, he becomes the kind of prospect who can outplay the number next to his height. In a state event built to put players in front of college coaches and scouts, that kind of guard play travels well because it tells evaluators something the roster listing cannot.

Elias Hart: the clean perimeter-forward look that pops live

Elias Hart is listed by Prep Hoops as a 6-foot-2 player from Yorktown in the 2028 class, and that combination of size and youth makes him one of the most interesting long-view names in the notebook. A player in that build can blend guard skills with forward instincts, and live tournament settings are where those hybrid tools often become easier to spot than they are on a page. Hart belongs to the group that benefits from the event’s intensity, because bracket games usually reveal whether a young prospect can stay composed when everything speeds up.

What stands out in a live setting is not just whether Hart scores, but whether he looks comfortable with contact, spacing, and multiple defensive responsibilities. A 2028 player already getting this kind of run in a major Indiana event suggests the staff saw something worth tracking beyond a simple projection. That is exactly why these notebook pieces matter: they catch the moment when a player’s long-term label starts to look a little too small for the performance he is putting on display.

Mason Longest: forward skills that can separate in a crowded field

Mason Longest is listed at 6-foot-2 as a forward from Jeffersonville in the 2028 class, playing with Indiana Elite Team Crossroads. That profile alone tells you he is part of the wave of younger prospects being monitored for growth rather than finished-product polish. In a tournament with college coaches watching and Prep Hoops scouts moving from court to court, Longest’s value lies in whether he can look like more than a standard wing-forward body type.

The live notebook format suggests that Longest did something noticeable enough to break through the noise of the weekend. For a 2028 forward, that could mean any number of encouraging signs, from footwork to defensive versatility to the way he handled pressure possessions against quality opponents. The bigger point is that players like Longest often become the ones whose spring stock rises quietly, because their development is measured not by one dazzling sequence but by the repeated ability to fit into winning basketball at a high event level.

Nikolas Reed: a 6-foot-5 power forward who fits the modern tournament eye test

Nikolas Reed is the most obvious blend of size and role flexibility in this group. Prep Hoops lists him as a 6-foot-5 power forward with Indiana Elite Team Tradition in the 2028 class, and that combination makes him especially relevant in today’s evaluation climate. He is tall enough to matter inside, but in live tournament basketball, prospects in that mold are increasingly judged by how well they can stretch, switch, and move through space rather than by traditional frontcourt labels alone.

That is why Reed’s appearance in this notebook feels important beyond one weekend. A 6-foot-5 power forward who can show real presence in a state tournament setting can quickly enter the next round of Indiana prospect conversation, especially when the notes come from a staff that was on site all weekend. Reed’s profile reinforces the larger theme of the package: the best spring stock-watch pieces are not only about who scored, but about who looked different in person and showed a tool set that could change how evaluators talk about the class going into summer.