Elite 1 is a Charlotte program that just finished its eighth season of travel basketball. What started as a local team has sent a steady line of North Carolina kids on to college. This is their story.

OTR Hoops: Featured Program — Elite 1

Justin Harris is one of the founders of Elite 1, a travel program based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Queen City. He grew up in the city, played baseball and basketball there, and still runs his teams there.

It is common in travel basketball to see kids from other states and even other regions on the same roster. That model works for some kids and for certain programs. Elite 1 has found that staying rooted in one place helps the kid and the program stay grounded. In year two Elite 1 had nine teams and was close to losing the ability to impact each kid in a meaningful way. Harris and the men who built the program with him pulled it back. Today they keep three high school teams — 15U, 16U, and 17U — and they stay in that lane. They know who they are. And they are flourishing in that role.

How it started

Harris, Dan Boylan, and Anthanee Doyle created the program in the same living room in early 2019. After college, Harris went to work with Life Sports, a nonprofit that partnered with Title I schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system. The work was mentorship, tutoring, and meals. Harris said, “Basketball was the carrot to get kids to show up.”

Using basketball in that way has remained at the core of how Elite 1 operates. Basketball is the vehicle that can deliver kids to a better place.

In 2018 Harris took his first coaching job at Harding High School and worked under Coach LJ Johnson. Johnson taught him the ropes. A year later the nonprofit had a chance to put a travel team on the floor. Boylan’s son was one of the players Harris had been training. They built a roster with Boylan’s son and kids from the nonprofit group. Elite 1 paid for everything out of pocket. They were a fully funded program that ensured each kid got the opportunity to play travel basketball.

The pandemic unfortunately ended Life Sports in 2020, but Elite 1 somehow kept going. They put a schedule together and played tournaments through November of 2020. Three players from the nonprofit finished the path and went on to compete in college athletics.

That did not change when Life Sports ended.

How they work

The nine-team year taught Elite 1 what not to do. From this point forward they would only have three teams in the high school age groups. Since then, the coaches can stay close enough to the players to build a meaningful relationship.

They mix the rosters on purpose. Kids from households that have more and kids from households that have less learn how to work with each other. Harris says that combination is part of the mission. The staff are not trying to be everything to every family in the city. But they are trying to stay true to who they are. And the diversity of backgrounds helps prepare everyone on the roster.

Harris made it a point to say that honesty with parents in the first conversation is critical. Elite 1’s niche is helping the D2-bound player get seen. Harris says, “We keep our credibility by telling both parents and college coaches the truth about the players we work with.”

Elite 1 has helped players go on to D1 schools such as Howard and UNC Greensboro. But many of their contacts exist at the D2, D3, NAIA, and junior college levels. They are careful not to sell dreams, but to help players become the most that they can be.

The motto is One Team, One Family, One Goal. Under that is a simpler charge: leave the program better than they found it.

The 2024 group

They got competitive faster than most new programs do. In year one they took wins against established teams at higher-profile events, including a result over the Greensboro Warriors at a Big Shots event. Their name started to get recognized quickly.

2024 is the year Harris references as the moment in which Elite 1 introduced themselves as a legitimate program in North Carolina. Six players from that class went on to play college basketball. He says, “We still feel indebted to that group.”

Quay Watson, who plays at UNC Pembroke, is a recognizable name from the 2024 class.

This season

According to Harris, the weekend that set the tone for this season was the On the Radar event in Greensboro. Elite 1 played CP3 tough and lost by eight. Harris called it one of his favorite events of the year. He said, “The chance to play against a shoe circuit team and show what we could do built the momentum for the rest of the year.”

This year’s roster featured the most individual talent that Elite 1 has had to date.

In July Elite 1 competed at the On the Radar Hoops Power 24 event at LakePoint in Emerson, Georgia. D1 coaches filled the sidelines, which is rare for an independent event in July. Elite 1 showed up short-handed with six players out with injuries but still went toe-to-toe with Team Gold Coast and beat Team Person.

Harris says that he likes the team that competes when the deck is stacked against them.

Ayo Awosanya is a 2029 sophomore who should have been on a 15U roster, but starred for the Elite 1 17U team. He is a D1-caliber wing who sought out Elite 1. He wanted development and a role, not the glamor of a shoe circuit jersey. Harris said that it was refreshing to work with a kid like Awosanya who is doing it the right way.

The rest of the roster continues to receive recruiting attention heading into the high school season. Guard Marshall Nicholson, a 2027, is the shooting specialist who earned praise from evaluators at the Power 24. D2 and D3 programs are showing interest in Nicholson’s game. Austin Bradway, also 2027, holds an offer from Mount Olive and is drawing interest from Tampa and Wofford. He is a unique player with good size and lead guard abilities.

Jaden Hardnett is a strong scorer with D2, D3, and JUCO interest. Forward Wyatt Sweet is a centerpiece for the program. He holds offers from Pfeiffer and Johnson & Wales and has drawn some D2 interest.

What is next

The 16U team is the next wave for the guys from the Queen City. Donovan Jones is a name to remember. Major Cross, a 2028 who played up with the 17s this year, also projects as a key contributor next spring.

The mission for Elite 1 remains the same as how it started in the beginning. Find the kids who fit and point them in the direction of success. Harris is also clear that communication is the glue that keeps the program together. When things get tough or uneven, the program has a culture of being honest with one another.

They are not trying to become nine teams again. They are not trying to be everything to everyone. They are trying to be Elite 1.

Alumni

Class of 2024

Jordan Appling — Johnson & Wales University
Jordan Patton — Belmont Abbey University
Quay Watson — UNC Pembroke
Sincere Rasul — Johnson & Wales University
Dylan Deluca — Taylor University
Peter Moye — Hampden-Sydney College
Braylhan Thomas — Winthrop University
AJ Parsley — Montreat College

Class of 2025

Anderson Lee — Cape Fear Community College
Jayden Ross — Forsyth Tech
Julian Johnson — Howard University
Braylen Bowman — UNC Greensboro
James Carswell — Randolph-Macon College
Amari Hicks — Milligan University
Levon Jacobs — University of Charleston (WV)
Nas Berry — Wingate University
Miles Leaks — Johnson & Wales University
Jerome Lowrey — Marymount University

Class of 2026

Terrance Badio — Gaston Community College
Brylee Austin — UNC Pembroke
Christian Wilson — North Carolina Wesleyan
Eian Bailey — Sandhills Community College
Zion Williams — Dickinson College

Written, edited, and formatted for web by the author

Jonathan Hemingway is a senior writer for On the Radar Hoops. He has covered basketball for the site since 2013 and has been involved in the game since 1995 as a coach, camp director, and evaluator. Reach him at CoachHemi@gmail.com or follow @CoachHemi on X and @Coach_Hemi on Instagram.