Elijah Ray is a 6’5” small forward from Bowman Academy in Gary, Indiana. Ray is one of four Division I prospect in the class of 2012 for Bowman. The other three prospects are DeJuan Marrero, Stephan Hawkins and Mike Ford.

Ray has the strength and athleticism to play inside while also being a threat on the perimeter with his explosion. We recently talked to Elijah and here what he had to say about his game and his recruitment.

IBS: Do you have any offers right now?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, I have one from Valpo and one from Indiana State.”

IBS: Who else has shown interest in you?

Elijah Ray: “Some of the programs showing interest in me are Iowa, Harvard, Tennessee, Iowa State, California-Irvine, Boston College, Marquette and Illinois.”

IBS: With Harvard showing interest, does that mean that you have a high grade point average?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, it’s a 3.9.”

IBS: Have you had a chance to visit any of those places?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, I’ve been to the University of Illinois and Marquette.”

IBS: What are your strengths as a player?

Elijah Ray: “My strengths are using my body, jumping (ability) and my various ways of scoring.”

IBS: What areas of your game are you trying to improve this spring/summer?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, multiple areas such as my ball handling, explosion and my foot quickness.”

IBS: What position do you believe you will play in college?

Elijah Ray: “I’ll be playing the small forward area or the two-guard.”

IBS: What team camps will your Bowman team be participating in during June?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, we are going to be at multiple schools such as Purdue, Illinois, DePaul, Chicago State, Indiana State and Ball State. We will play around 40 games in June.”

IBS: Are you looking forward to your senior year and contending for a state title again?

Elijah Ray: “Yeah, we are going to work hard. That will be our goal. We have to work one step at a time. That was our issue this year. We thought we would blow by these teams with the amount of talent we had. We were working hard, but not smart.”