High-scoring guard from nearby Madison, Ga., helped Tech to national title game
He was a part of head coach Paul Hewitt’s first recruiting class at Georgia Tech, which would form the core group of the Yellow Jackets’ rise to the national championship game in 2004 and three post-season appearances.
Elder joined the Jackets along with forwards Anthony McHenry, Isma’il Muhammad, Ed Nelson and center Luke Schenscher, who with Marvin Lewis, Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum would crash the 2004 NCAA Tournament, downing Northern Iowa, Boston College, Nevada and Kansas on the way to the Final Four in San Antonio. There, Tech scored a last-second victory over Oklahoma State in the national semifinals before succumbing to Connecticut in the championship game.
It was the signature moment in the career of Elder, who also helped Tech to the quarterfinals of the NIT as a sophomore and another NCAA Tournament berth as a senior.
Elder earned honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press and was a finalist for the Wooden Award in 2004, and made the All-ACC team in 2003 and 2004. A 6-4 guard who could shoot from the outside, and was strong enough to score consistently inside, finished his career with 1,616 points, which ranks 14th in Tech history, and hit 37 percent of his three-point shots.
After a long professional career overseas, Elder returned to Tech to complete his bachelor’s degree and now is a high school head coach in Atlanta.
