Familiar Face Leads Red Devils Basketball (From Pike High School) Phil Spoljaric returns to lead the Red Devils after a 4 year head coaching stint at Anderson Highland High School. Coach Spoljaric was an assistant on Pike basketball staff from 1997 to 2004. He was an assistant for all 3 State Championship Teams of 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2002 State Runner-Up Team. Coach Spoljaric was the head JV coach at Pike from 2002-2004, in which his teams went a combined 37-1. At Anderson Highland, he took over a program that had 13 consecutive losing seasons. During his four years, he led the Scots to 3 consecutive 10+ win seasons and a Madison County Championship. He graduated 12 seniors, 11 attended college, 6 of which went on to play college basketball. He currently teaches Credit Retrieval at Pike and has a Bachelors degree in Special Education from the University of Evansville. His wife, Angela Spoljaric, is a math teacher at Pike HS. They have two children, Kyler, 6, and Kaida, 4.

Red Devils to play up-tempo style (From IndyStar.com) Phil Spoljaric left Pike in 2004 after eight years as an assistant coach to take over the boys basketball program at Anderson Highland High School. Physically, Spoljaric and his wife, Angela, were in Anderson. Emotionally, Spoljaric was still attached to Indy's Westside. "I never really left, actually," said Spoljaric, who was an assistant on the Pike state championship teams in 1998, 2001 and 2003 and coached the junior varsity to a 37-1 record from 2002-04. "We bought a home in Anderson, but we never sold our home in Brownsburg when I left. I always wanted to (come back to Pike)." Spoljaric returns this season to the Pike sidelines as the Red Devils' new varsity coach. He replaces Billy Wright, who resigned to accept an assistant coaching position at Western Illinois. The Spoljarics, who met while teaching at Pike but left for Anderson Highland, have both returned to teach at Pike. The Red Devils finished with an 11-10 record last year and lost to Brownsburg in a Class 4A sectional semifinal game. "Right now, we're pretty young as far as guys returning," Spoljaric said. "They graduated eight seniors from the team last year, so there are a lot of guys that don't have a ton of varsity experience." A pair of freshmen led the Red Devils last year, in 6-foot-2-inch guard Marquis Teague (12.4 points, 3.8 assists) and 6-5 forward Chandler Thomas (9.4 ppg, 5.9 rebounds). Juniors Khristian Smith and DyJuan Lewis and seniors Phil Hogan and 6-6 Andre Cureton also return. Spoljaric, who guided Anderson Highland to a 38-48 overall record in four years, envisions Pike pushing the tempo more under his direction. "I think we'll really have to utilize our quickness," Spoljaric said. "We're quick and long. We're going to have to make as many games as we can transition games. I think we'll have to play an up-tempo style. " Last year's record and finish: 11-10, lost in sectional semifinals to Brownsburg, 65-48. Coach: Phil Spoljaric (38-48 record overall in four years; first year at Pike). Top returning players: Marquis Teague (12.4 points, 3.8 assists); Chandler Thomas (9.4 ppg, 5.9 rebounds). Schedule Nov. 26 -- North Central, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 -- at Ben Davis, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 -- at Avon, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 -- at Lawrence Central, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 -- Columbus North, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29-30 -- North Central Tournament Jan. 2 -- at Muncie Central, 8 p.m. Jan. 9 -- at Perry Meridian, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13-17 -- Marion County Tournament Jan. 21 -- Carmel, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 -- at Southport, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30 -- Bloomington South, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 -- at Bloomington North, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 -- Manual, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 -- at Hamilton Southeastern, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 -- Franklin Central, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 -- Lawrence North, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 -- at Warren Central, 7:30 p.m.

Teague Headlines Impressive Sophomore Class (From IndyStar.com) Seven NBA draftees out of Indianapolis in three years is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to top. There is, though, a talented group born around the time Calbert Cheaney was raining jumpers as a senior at Indiana University. The Class of 2011 has the potential to make its mark, even if the odds are long that it produces even one NBA player. "The run of NBA talent you had there was ridiculous," said Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout .com. "That just doesn't happen. But the 2011 class is really strong." Much of the sophomore talent starts right here in Indianapolis. Pike's Marquis Teague, a 6-1 dynamo point guard, is the headliner. Teague's 6-5 Red Devils teammate Chandler Thomas is also considered one of the jewels of the sophomore class. Telep said Indiana's talent mirrors the rest of the country. "It's a good cycle, kind of a revival," he said. "You see it in Indiana, where there's always good talent. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that guys like Teague and Chandler are great players, but the impressive thing about the class is its depth. We'll see how they progress. It's like reading chapters of a book. Just because you are impressed with a guy when he's younger doesn't mean the story is over." The younger brother of Jeff Teague, a sophomore at Wake Forest, Marquis Teague is considered one of the top players nationally in his class, ranked No. 8 by rivals.com. Teague already has scholarship offers from Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue and Wake Forest, among others, but said he's still not close to making a decision. He has held his own against the country's top competition in summer tournaments. "It pushes you to be better," said Teague, who averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 assists as a freshman at Pike. There's more than just Teague and Thomas. Lawrence North's 6-10 Michael Chandler, 6-5 Ryan Taylor and 6-1 Rick Thomas are considered top-level recruits despite playing junior varsity as freshmen. Avon's 6-5 Kendall Griffin doesn't have Division I scholarship offers yet, but Butler, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Purdue and Xavier have sent coaches to see him. Then there's P.J. Boutte, Howe's 5-7 point guard, who says he already has a scholarship offer from Butler. Boutte averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds as a freshman. "Being that small, I think people underestimate him sometimes," Howe coach Aaron Sembley said. "But he's played in a lot of big games. . . . He's a leader." Boutte's teammate, 6-5 Kevin Rose, is another potential sophomore standout. Elsewhere in the state, Washington (Daviess) sophomore Cody Zeller, the younger brother of Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketballs Tyler (2008) and Luke (2005), and Evan Blackmon of Fort Wayne Luers are on the radar.