2021 Florida Prospects Choose to Stay Home and Play In State

A Number of 2021 Florida Prospects Choose to Stay Home and Play In State By Michael Wholey 11/4/20 9:00 AM EST Ask most in state college coaches and the knock on Florida players is most choose to play out of state. Ask most in state high school and travel coaches and the knock on Florida colleges is they don’t recruit in state players. Well the 2021 class is shaping up differently with a number of prospects choosing to stay and play in the sunshine state. D1 VERBAL COMMITS <img class="size-medium wp-image-91611 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2019/09/OMariah-Gordon-300x241.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="241" />[player_tooltip player_id="91479" first="O’Mariah" last="Gordon"] (Braden River / Team Knight) – FLORIDA STATE O’Mariah was the big name in state player that chose Florida State over many suitors. OMG as most call her has been the Gatorade State Player of the Year in her Sophomore and Junior seasons. She was long considered a FSU lean, making it official verbally committing this summer. Having the 2x State Player of the Year choose to stay at home and play in state was big for the Seminoles!   [player_tooltip player_id="91482" first="Jasmyne" last="Roberts"] (Bishop Kenny / FGB CW) – UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI <img class="size-medium wp-image-91622 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2019/09/Jasmyne-Roberts-300x235.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="235" /> Roberts announced her decision to verbally commit to Miami back in March on twitter. The Bishop Kenny star averaged 18.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.2 SPG and has twice led her squad to the FHSAA State Championship game hoping to bring home the championship trophy this season. She is currently ranked as the # 2 player in the 2021 class.       <img class=" wp-image-220673 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/JaLeah-Williams3-2018-NYC-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="303" height="199" />[player_tooltip player_id="91491" first="Ja’Leah" last="Williams"] (Blanche Ely HS / Team Knight) – UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI Williams will be suiting up for the University of Miami alongside Roberts next season as she committed to the U in July via Twitter as well. “They saw something in me before high school,” Williams said. “They were following me since middle schools. What I really like is the camps: how people from the neighborhood just come to the camps and they teach them how they work, how they practice, just to show the kids how college is going to be, how hard they work, what they do and all that.” Williams averaged 18 PPG, 8 APG, 7 RPG, and 5 SPG as a junior helping lead Blanche Ely to a State Championship and later being named Broward County Player of the Year by the Sun Sentinel. [player_tooltip player_id="145092" first="Tatyana" last="Wyche"] and [player_tooltip player_id="91549" first="Taliyah" last="Wyche"] (American Heritage / Team Knight) - UNIV OF FLORIDA<img class="size-medium wp-image-220675 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Wyche-2019-NYC-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /> The Wyche twins had scholarship offers from East Carolina University, Texas Christian University, Seton Hall University and others, and ultimately decided to remain local at the University of Florida. “University of Florida has always been my dream school,” [player_tooltip player_id="145092" first="Tatyana" last="Wyche"] said. “I finally decided to commit when I noticed that I had the best bond with the coaches at UF.” While her twin sister Taliyah added “UF is not too far from home. It’s the number one public college in Florida. Plus, who doesn’t want to be a gator?” The 6’3, mobile, athletic, and active post players will look to win a 4th consecutive state championship with American Heritage (Plantation) and then take their talents to Gainesville and make an impact in the SEC.   [player_tooltip player_id="91487" first="Bella" last="Weary"] (DME Academy / East Coast United) – UNIV OF SOUTH FLORIDA Weary picked up an offer from USF in the spring and didn’t waste any time accepting it, verbally committing to Head Coach Jose Fernandez and the USF Bulls staff just several weeks later. The 5’7 shooting guard had a big Junior year for DME Academy in Daytona Beach averaging 20+ points per game. She was one of the spring/summers biggest stock risers with East Coast United North Florida. USF has mainly recruited internationally but has had some luck recruiting impact in state players recently such as Maria Alvarez (Miami Country Day) and Tamara Henshaw (Flager Palm Coast). Look for Weary to continue that trend as she fits in well with their offensive system. <img class="size-medium wp-image-213361 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/valenzuelaVC-238x300.jpg" alt="" width="238" height="300" /> [player_tooltip player_id="145091" first="Mariana" last="Valenzuela"] (Montverde Academy / FBC Team Mo) – FLORIDA STATE Valenzuela will join Gordon in Tallahassee as she committed to Florida State in August. The 6’2 Forward from Mazatlan, Mexico attends for Montverde Academy in Montverde, FL and has one of the biggest ceilings of any prospect in the country. She is an extremely talented and skilled offensive player who can play inside and out and has international experience averaging 13 PPG and 15 RPG in the 2019 FIBA 16U Americas Championship and 14 PPG and 11 RPG in the 2019 FIBA Centrobasket 17U Championships.       D2 VERBAL COMMITS [player_tooltip player_id="91530" first="Triniti" last="Youngblood"] (Brooks Collegiate / East Coast United Murray 2021) – SAINT LEO The strong, skilled guard is an excellent pickup for Saint Leo. She has excellent basketball IQ and plays hard on both ends. Based on the structure and style of play at Brooks Collegiate, she should have a smooth transition to Saint Leo and potentially have an opportunity to make an impact early on as a Freshman. [player_tooltip player_id="215660" first="Chynna" last="Mattair"] (Dillard HS / South Florida Spartans) – SAINT LEO The athletic guard will join Youngblood at Saint Leo next season. The 5’7 guard has been part of a winning tradition at Dillard competing in arguably the toughest region in the state alongside Blanche Ely, Nova, and St Thomas Aquinas. She brings her competitive nature to the Lions next season with her fearless attacking of the rim off the dribble alongside her aggressive man to man defense.   [player_tooltip player_id="151264" first="Courtni" last="Demorest"] (Santa Fe Catholic) – PALM BEACH ATLANTIC Demorest verbally committed to the PBA Sailfish in September. The 5’10 guard is a knock down perimeter shooter who averaged 13.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG per game last year for Sante Fe Catholic. She has great size for a perimeter player, good passing skills and deep range. The skilled offensive player should be an impact player for Palm Beach Atlantic. [player_tooltip player_id="215662" first="Sharale" last="McCormick"] (Cardinal Gibbons) – FLAGLER<img class=" wp-image-220677 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/EU2or-xXsAQKeWZ-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="227" /> McCormick was Cardinal Gibbons second leading scorer last season average 11.8 PPG and 5.1 RPG helping lead her squad to a 25-4 record making it all the way to the FHSAA 4A Final 4 losing to eventual State Champion Lake Highland Prep. As a Junior, she was named Sun Sentinel First Team All-County. McCormick brings great size and athleticism to the perimeter. She can play multiple positions and brings scoring ability to Flagler next season.     [player_tooltip player_id="220358" first="Kyra" last="Stauble"] (St. Augustine / East Coast United N. Florida) - UNIV OF WEST FLORIDA Stauble is a skilled guard who led her St. Augustine squad deep into a playoff run last season before being knocked off by Pine Forest. The high academic perimeter player plays hard on both ends of the floor and is a selfless teammate. She led St. Johns County in assists per game and for a single season and had 11 double-doubles during the season to win the St. Augustine Player of the Year award.   NAIA VERBAL COMMITS [player_tooltip player_id="151166" first="Jordyn" last="Robinson"] (Gulf Coast / Tampa Thunder) – WARNER UNIVERSITY Robinson committed to play for local in state Warner University in June. The 5’7 combo guard was a active contributor for Gulf Coast last season averaging 7.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG helping them to a 20-8 record before losing to eventual state champion Miami Senior High School in the regional finals. Jordyn is a tough minded athletic guard that competes every play. She is knock down shooter and is a dynamic scorer in transition. A 2-way player that contributes to the game in so many ways. Excellent teammate. Very unselfish and is team first. Head Coach Nikki Jessee has been committed to recruiting in state and local players since taking over the program as 100% of her 2020-21 roster is made up of in state players.   It is great to see so many of these talented players stay at home and play in the sunshine state. We hope to see this trend continue with members of the 2021 class and into the 2022 and 2023 classes chose to play in Florida where friends and family can see them play multiple times a year and cheer them on. If there are any other members of the 2021 class that have committed to a college in the state of Florida and will continue playing basketball collegiately that we left out of this article, please feel free to email me directly at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM me on Twitter at <a href="http://www.x.com/WholeyPrpeHoops">@WholeyPrepHoops</a>.