Elijah Ingram may stand just under 6-0 tall, but his impact on Jimmy Salmon's T5T Playaz's program is colossal.

Without Ingram in the game, the Playaz just are not the same team. Witness the Rumble in the Bronx, less than two weeks ago, where a talented Playaz team failed to defend its crown for the third straight year.

In fact, while Ingram was out in Colorado Springs at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, the Playaz qualified for the Silver medal division playoffs, signifying a second place pool finish. They were later eliminated from the event by the Newark Rams.

"We would have had a much better chance of defending our championship if he had been there," Salmon said. "We lost two games by a combined six points, and I do believe that he would have made a big difference."

Then this past weekend at the D.C. Pro Am Summer Basketball Tournament, Ingram sprained his ankle in the second quarter of a semifinal round clash with Sean Dockery's Illinois Fire program.

With Ingram out of the contest, the Fire built a comfortable double digit lead on the Playaz. Ingram gave it a go in the second half and scored 26 of his game high 32 points in the final 16 minutes to lead the Playaz to a come from behind victory and a berth in Sunday's title clash against the Michigan Hurricanes.

"We've only got three rising seniors on our team -- Elijah, John [Winchester] and Lee Melchionni. So we are very young, and when he went down, we did not know if he was coming back our not. I think we were all sick in the head for a minute, wondering where do we go from here. He's a very reassuring presence for our team."

And against the Hurricanes the next day, it was Ingram's leadership and scoring (21 points) that led the Playaz to an 83-76 victory over the Anthony Roberson led Michigan squad.

So in the span of 24 hours, Ingram had led the Playaz to a pair of impressive victories over two of the best point guards in the Class of 2002. All of that on a bum ankle, no less.

"Even though he is ranked in the top twenty, I still think he is one of the most under-recruited and underrated players in America," Salmon said. "I don't know what else he has to do to prove that he is one of the top three or four point guards in the country."

In three games at the Pro Am, Ingram poured in 23 points per game. He drove to the basket and scored. He pulled up from the top of the key and swished threes. He ran around and past defenders as if they were stationary dummies.

"What's happening more and more is that Elijah is starting to like to take big shots," Salmon said. "Obviously, we want the ball in his hands at crunch time. I don't know who else has had the spring that he has on the basketball circuit. We have five championships, and he's a big reason for all of them."

Thus far, the Playaz have claimed titles at the Sam Rines Hoop Fest I, the T5T Playaz Spring Fling, the Howard Pulley Invitational, the adidas Connecticut Select Hoop Challenge and the D.C. Pro-Am Summer Basketball Tournament.

Asked if he felt that the past weekend might help him vault in the national rankings, Ingram paused for a moment.

"I really don't care about the rankings," he quipped. "All I care about is winning."

And with Ingram at the controls, the Playaz are always a good bet to do that.