Run N Slam notebook finale spotlights size, guards, and 2027 prospects

Run N Slam's final notebook says more about roles than hype

The final Run N Slam notebook lands with a clean read on the weekend: Indiana talent is being sorted by job, not just by upside. Prep Hoops called the Bill Hensley Memorial Run N Slam the “premier non-live evaluation period event of the year,” and Part 5 closed the loop on a five-part evaluation of a tournament that drew Division II, Division III, NAIA, and junior college coaches to Fort Wayne. That matters because the event has long been more than a local showcase. It sits inside a bigger recruiting ecosystem tied to Gym Rats Basketball, the Bill Hensley name, and a weekend that has grown from 32 teams in 1994 to 272 teams in 2015, then to more than 300 AAU teams in 2024.

The coach traffic told the same story. Schools such as Anderson, DePauw, Indiana Tech, Purdue Northwest, Rose-Hulman, Taylor, Trine, and the University of Indianapolis were all represented on the college-coaches registration list, which means the right kind of player could get in front of the right kind of evaluator without the event needing a live period label to matter. Bill Hensley, who founded the Gym Rats Basketball Association, died in March 2007, but the event that bears his name still behaves like a recruiting magnet, especially for players whose appeal is tied to fit, size, and decision-making.

Bigs with mobility kept the frontcourt conversation alive

If you wanted the simplest explanation for why this notebook matters, start with the size. Tomislav Kostelac, a 6-foot-10 power forward in the class of 2027, gives the event the kind of frontcourt marker recruiters always circle, because bigs who can stay on the floor are never hard to market. Devin Bolden, listed at 6-foot-7 and also a power forward, adds another layer to that same discussion, showing that the weekend was not just about one towering outlier but about frontcourt pieces with real frame and positional utility.

That is where Run N Slam becomes useful in a way box scores never can. A 6-10 player in spring basketball does not only draw eyes because of height, but because coaches want to know whether he can defend space, rebound through traffic, and make the game easier for guards. Kostelac and Bolden gave the notebook its clearest size signal, and in a spring setting that can decide whether a prospect looks like a regional curiosity or a recruit worth tracking into the next cycle.

Wings with two-way value kept their appeal broad

Brody McLaughlin sits in the middle of the class-position spread that makes this notebook work. At 6-foot-4 and listed as a wing, he fits the kind of player who can move up recruiting boards by looking playable in multiple settings, and his background adds weight to that impression. He attends Silver Creek and plays club basketball for Indiana Elite Team Indiana, and Prep Hoops created his player profile on June 24, 2024, which suggests he was already on the radar before Fort Wayne widened the conversation.

That matters because wings are often the easiest players to project from event to event. They can guard, they can cut, and they can survive possessions without needing the offense run through them on every trip. In a weekend full of evaluation, a wing like McLaughlin benefits from the same thing recruiters always chase: a clear chance to plug into winning without forcing the issue, and that kind of use-case tends to travel well beyond one spring event.

Guards who can set pace still control the room

The backcourt half of the notebook is just as important, because guards are often the players who make a camp or tournament feel orderly under pressure. Harper Baker-Lands, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Plainfield who plays for Indy Heat, and Rylon Gore, a 6-foot point guard, give the final installment the balance that every evaluator wants to see. Baker-Lands also has a longer paper trail, with Prep Hoops creating his profile on November 6, 2023, which means his name had already been in circulation before this weekend brought fresh eyes.

That is where the positional spread becomes more than a list. A pair of lead guards changes the feel of a notebook because it tells you the event was not only about depth up front, but about who can manage tempo, make clean reads, and handle pressure without the possession unraveling. When a 6-foot-2 point guard and a 6-foot point guard are both drawing attention alongside a 6-10 forward, the message is that the class is being judged on real basketball balance, not just raw tools.

Tomislav Kostelac made the strongest move toward must-follow status

The best case for the weekend’s biggest stock-up belongs to Kostelac. That is not because size alone solves recruiting, but because a 6-foot-10 class of 2027 power forward has the rarest job in the room: he can change the way a roster is built if the skill comes along with the frame. The final notebook was valuable precisely because it showed how Indiana observers are beginning to sort the next wave of names, and Kostelac sits at the front of that sorting line.

His value is also tied to the nature of the event itself. Run N Slam is built to reveal who can travel, who can defend, and who can function in strong company, and a young interior player who survives that kind of setting usually leaves with more than curiosity attached to his name. The weekend did not invent the conversation around Kostelac, but it likely sharpened it, turning him from an intriguing 2027 body into the kind of prospect college staffs have to keep in the file when they talk about frontcourt priorities.

By the time Part 5 closes the notebook, the bigger verdict is hard to miss: Indiana’s spring conversation is being driven by players who solve problems. The bigs bring length, the wings bring flexibility, and the guards bring pace, but the names that rise fastest are the ones who make a roster easier to imagine.