Ready for the Next Challenge
Photography / Justin Sicking
While playing under Coach Tom Crean as a member of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team, Derek Elston gained an important piece of advice.
“You introduce yourself to anybody because you never know what’s going to happen,” Derek says.
These words of wisdom led Derek to his current role as Community Development Officer at United Fidelity Bank in Carmel. It was while coaching at a basketball camp held by former teammate Victor Oladipo that Derek met United Fidelity Bank President and CEO Don Neel, and the rest was history.
“As a coach of one of the teams, I was able to draft my players, and one of the guys I drafted ended up being the President and CEO of the bank,” Derek says. “He was a big Hoosier fan. He said if I was ever looking to get out of basketball, he had a perfect position for me.”
Prior to his position at United Fidelity Bank, Derek worked under IU coaches Tom Crean and Archie Miller from 2015 to 2019 as Director of Player Development, where his responsibilities included recruiting, player mentoring and more. In his role at United Fidelity Bank, he now uses some of the same skill sets he developed as a part of the Hoosier basketball program.
“I was recruiting players and talking to families — getting to know players and what makes them tick,” Derek says. “That’s pretty much how Don explained this job at United Fidelity Bank to me. I’m the Community Development Officer and really what that entails is building relationships and getting the name known to the public.”
Born in Tipton, Derek grew up around the game of basketball, as his father Darrel played collegiately under Coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina in the early ‘70s.
“My older brother and I spent so much time together watching basketball and reading old articles about my dad,” Derek says. “In a nutshell, that was my upbringing. Everything was based around sports.”
While it was always his dream to follow in his father’s footsteps, Derek chose to play basketball at Indiana University, as then Coach Tom Crean ensured him he’d play a role in resurrecting the program.
“At that time, there was just so much going on at IU with Coach Sampson getting fired,” Derek says. “Their record was terrible. So I was going to come there to change the program around — myself and my class. I really liked that I was going to be there and I was going to play right away. Plus, I was only an hour and 40 minutes from home.”
In his first two seasons at IU, the team struggled mightily, failing to make the NCAA tournament both years. In his junior and senior campaigns, however, IU found great success, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 2012 and winning a Big Ten Championship in 2013. After going through so much together, Derek says he still keeps in touch with the players from those IU squads.
“Guys are off doing their own thing now, but we all like to just check in and see how everybody’s doing because it was a family,” Derek says. “Guys on campus, regular students, they’re in their fraternities. Girls have their sororities. But we had our own fraternity of brotherhood, with that being basketball.”
Following his years at IU, Derek spent some time playing basketball professionally overseas. It was prior to a season with the Plymouth Raiders in England that he met his now-wife, Caroline, while grabbing coffee at the Starbucks in Clay Terrace.
“She was there, sitting in the corner working on her laptop, and I honestly just asked her if it was okay if I bought her a coffee,” Derek says. “We sat and talked and ended up going to dinner that night.”
The day after their first date, Derek unfortunately had to fly over to England to begin his season with the Plymouth Raiders. Through the magic of FaceTime, however, the two were able to stay in touch and picked things right back up when Derek returned home.
Since getting married in 2018, Derek and Caroline have discussed where would be best to start a family. When the opportunity arose for Derek to work at United Fidelity Bank, the couple jumped at the opportunity to move back to Central Indiana.
“My wife is a Butler grad and has a lot of friends in the area,” Derek says. “We ended up finding a place in Zionsville, and to be 20 minutes from friends has just been amazing. We absolutely love the house we have and the community we’re in.”
Derek and Caroline are now expecting their first child, Parker Jeneva, in December. In addition to being in a great community near friends and family, the couple are also excited to raise their daughter in a good school system.
“One of the big things we’ve talked about is schools, and the school systems around this area are just incredible,” Derek says. “We’re just ready to start a family and can’t wait.”
Derek sums up the Elston Family Plan; “In 5 years, I see myself flourishing in my role as the Community Development Officer at United Fidelity Bank, and really trying to make a difference for Carmel and the surrounding areas. I want to continue to have a positive impact and be known as a difference-maker. Caroline has just launched a new cheese and charcuterie venture “Platterful” and she is very excited about getting this business built up in the local area and Nationally! Ultimately, I see Caroline and myself getting more involved in other aspects of the community as our roots and family grow here – we are expecting our first child in late December. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for us!”
