Built by people
from the culture.
Not about it.
Elite32 wasn't designed in a boardroom. It was built by two people from Queens, New York who understood from lived experience what premium really means, and who it should be built for.
"The elite aren't always the most talented. They're the most visible. Elite32 exists to change who gets seen."- Thomas Teel, Co-Founder, Elite32
Haron "H2O" Hargrave
South Jamaica, Queens, New YorkHaron Hargrave's credibility in this space isn't a background section. It's a career.
A standout guard at Campus Magnet High School in Queens, Haron went the long way up: junior college, then a Division I scholarship to Sacramento State University, where he led the Hornets in scoring at 13.8 points per game. He went on to play professionally in Romania, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, then came home and kept playing on the blacktop. He scored 57 points at Orchard Beach and earned the nickname H2O, pure like water, from an announcer who couldn't find another way to describe the shot. High school, juco, Division I, pro, and streetball: he's run the full ladder of the game.
In 2008, Haron founded Ballin' 4 Peace after losing a close friend to gun violence in Queens. He is the sole founder of that organization. What started as a neighborhood charity game is now nine years and counting, covered by Sports Illustrated, supported by celebrities, athletes, and community leaders who showed up because the mission was real.
He founded H2O Basketball in 2014. Over 3,000 youth athletes trained. New York City educator. Junior Knicks camps. The Basketball Tournament.
Haron brings to Elite32 what can't be manufactured: legitimacy earned on the court, in the community, and in the schools of New York City.
Featured in Sports Illustrated · SLAM Magazine · ESPN New York
Thomas Teel
South Jamaica, Queens, New YorkThomas William Teel is a founder, operator, and creative strategist working at the intersection of youth sports, media, and experience. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, one of the country's most respected HBCUs, Thomas came up through an environment that understood excellence, access, and what it means to build something with purpose. He played basketball through high school and had a brief run in college basketball before the game gave way to the next chapter.
That next chapter started early. Thomas has worked professionally in technology since 2007 — before most founders in this space had a LinkedIn profile. At 42, he's spent more years building inside tech than outside it. His professional career spans enterprise technology, digital media, and brand strategy: senior roles at BrightEdge and SEMrush, digital strategy at TEN35, enterprise development at Statista Global. Earlier, he worked at NewMe Accelerator, the first accelerator in the country built specifically for underrepresented founders.
What Thomas brings to Elite32 is not common in this space. He knows how enterprise brands think. He knows how to build digital experiences that convert. He knows how to design operations that hold up and how to make something feel professional at every step. He also knows the culture, not as an observer, but as someone who grew up in it, was shaped by it, and is now building something real for the next generation inside it.
His conviction is simple: young athletes deserve environments that reflect their value. Premium does not have to mean exclusion. Access and excellence are not opposites. Visibility should be built in from day one, not added later.