About Hooptown Elite

Our STory

Formerly known as Eastern Washington Elite, Hooptown Elite was founded in 1998 by Jim Psomas, Ron Benzel, and Glenn Williams who shared a passion for working with the top players in the area to compete nationally.

It is the longest-running and most successful elite basketball program in the Inland Northwest. We have over 100 Division I athletes, and over 300 Division II and Division III athletes that have come through our program over our 30+ year history. Hooptown Elite has helped 60 players earn Division 1 scholarships to date. It was the only local grassroots program slated to play in the Under Armour Rise circuit in 2020 & 2021. Then, in 2022, the 17UA Red Team won the Under Armour Tournament Championship in Chicago, Illinois. We expect this success to continue to grow as Spokane doubles down on its Hooptown identity.

All our Hooptown Elite coaches share our founder’s passion for growing the talent of Spokane’s best players. Although they all have robust coaching experience, all player costs go toward player's’ expenses, tournaments, and skills development—not toward coaching salaries.

Hooptown Elite is affiliated with the Spokane Hoopfest Association, the organization that runs the largest 3-on-3 tournament on Earth and one of the nation’s largest youth AAU leagues.