An Indy-area mainstay now moving into Hamilton County, the Chipotle Nationals high school basketball tournament will bring the nation’s top prep teams to Fishers the first week of April.
As the high school basketball season winds down nationwide, the Chipotle Nationals event serves as a nationally televised extension of the season. It puts the top teams and highly-ranked players on the same stage. Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers will host the April 3-5 event. The event brackets, featuring eight nationally-ranked boys teams and six girls teams, will be announced soon.
Several big names are expected to make the field, which the Chipotle Nationals committee determines. Rash Ghazi, President of Chicago-based Paragon Marketing Group, estimates that 6-8 McDonald’s All-American players will compete.
“At this point in the year and at this high of a level, the goal for these teams is to get into and win Chipotle Nationals,” said Ghazi, who has been with Paragon since 1998. “The team who wins Chipotle Nationals would be projected to be ranked number one in the final polls.”
According to Ghazi, nine states allow high school teams to continue playing past their high school tournament. From those nine states, the committee will take the best teams and pit them together for what is called a mythical national championship. Thirteen of the current top 15 teams in the national polls will be eligible to play in Chipotle Nationals. Three of the top five girls teams in the nation will be eligible, and Ghazi says Chipotle Nationals has seen “significant elevation and progress in the girls' game.”
Ghazi and the Paragon team are no strangers to bringing events to Indiana. The company has delivered more than 1,300 events to ESPN platforms over the years, dating back to high-profile games featuring notable stars like Tyler Hansbrough and Greg Oden. Standout high school football teams have also found games on ESPN working with Paragon.
Chipotle Nationals was long held in New York and then Florida. Paragon brought the event to Indiana in recent years after noting how well other made-for-TV events across several sports had performed.
“We felt Indiana has such a great basketball heritage,” Ghazi said. “Many fans asked for this event to be more accessible, and in Indiana, we have found a great fan base with a strong knowledge of the game. And when you look at its location, there are a lot of strong college basketball programs within driving distance.”
Last year, Chipotle Nationals was held in nearby Brownsburg, Indiana, but now will be played in Fishers for at least two years. Students from across the Hamilton Southeastern school district will have opportunities to be involved with the event, bringing an educational element to the community. In the long term, with new arenas in Hamilton County coming online, Ghazi sees the opportunity to make the area the event’s home court.
“There are a lot of great venues to choose from in the area. We have some really good flexibility,” Ghazi said.
