First Coast Media Day: Top Five Observations

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The First Coast Basketball Media Day was held and now the season is "officially" here. After seeing the teams, talking to the players, talking to the coaches, and gathering information, we walked away with many observations. There are a lot of players to talk about and a lot of scenarios to look at: top Districts, top teams in the Districts, top teams in the Gateway. top prospects by class and top prospects by position. In this article, we highlight 5 observations that were surmised from this year's annual Media Day event. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Observation 1</strong>: Bishop Kenny looks to be the number 1 team in the area. They are all of that and a “bag of chips.” Ranking BK as the number 1 team on the First Coast didn't require me to have a degree from FSU. It only required seeing BK's three seniors walk in the room: ([player_tooltip player_id='248345' first='Clare' last='Coyle'], [player_tooltip player_id='217663' first='Sydney' last='Roundtree'], and [player_tooltip player_id='248348' first='Riley' last='Talbert']). These three have gone to Lakeland all of their high school career and have been “this close” to winning it all. These three players have all committed to D1 schools: Roundtree (Air Force Academy); Coyle (Furman); and Talbert (University of Alabama Birmingham). This alone doesn't give BK the nod. There are other factors that support this claim. The Lady Crusaders only lost one starter from last year's team (Sofia Rueppell), and they returned almost everyone else. That equals the top team on the First Coast - again. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Observation 2: </strong> Bolles will be a very good team this season. [player_tooltip player_id='346820' first='Abby' last='Knauff'], one of the top Juniors in the State was at Media Day and she is ready to play some basketball. Knauff was joined by [player_tooltip player_id='248281' first='Hilary' last='Englert'] and [player_tooltip player_id='349274' first='Ella' last='Stakem'], two of the top seniors in the area. The Bulldogs had some pep in their steps and that might be because of the "young dogs" who didn't come to the Media Day event. [player_tooltip player_id='514608' first='Evelyn' last='Freeman'], [player_tooltip player_id='515066' first='Presley' last='Norman'], and their new Freshman Center, [player_tooltip player_id='751625' first='Terrell' last='McCoy'] who could have a major impact on the First Coast. Many feel the Dogs will be the biggest competition for the BK Crusaders.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Observation 3: </strong> The <strong>Battle of the Gateway </strong>will be crazy competitive this year and that makes for its own PGH article. The top contenders, judging by Media Day: Defending Gateway Champions, Mandarin was in the building and is poised to make a run for Gateway title again. In attendance was Senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='349326' first='Nykeria' last='Thomas'], Senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='248287' first='Kiyana' last='Hunter'], and sophomore forward [player_tooltip player_id='633529' first='Mia' last='Chandler']. Chandler is one of the best young forwards in the area and Hunter and Thomas are one of the top Senior duos in the area. The Lady Trojans from Ribault will have a lot to say as they might be the early favorite to win the Gateway tournament this year. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='495957' first='Kayla' last='Massey'] and Junior Forward [player_tooltip player_id='430248' first='Destiny' last='Donaldson'] were in the building representing Ribault. Ribault is loaded with talent and may have the top 2025 class on the First Coast and probably one of the top 5 Junior classes in the State. Ed White looks to be a major player in the Gateway this year and they've got a very talented roster to work with. Two of their talented players were in the building ([player_tooltip player_id='746624' first='Leandrea' last='McCloud'] and guard, [player_tooltip player_id='767590' first='Alaysha' last='Williams'] ), and they left as much talent at school on Media Day. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Observation 4: </strong> The Battle for Supremacy in Clay County is going to be a good one. That will also be another article (Who is Top-Dog in Clay County). My Top 4 teams are ranked as follows: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#1. Orange Park</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> The Lady Raiders have one of the best-underrated point guards in the area in [player_tooltip player_id='349438' first='Piera' last='Alexander'] and one of the top three-point shooters in the area in [player_tooltip player_id='401617' first='Hailey' last='Revak']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='349438' first='Piera' last='Alexander'], [player_tooltip player_id='401617' first='Hailey' last='Revak'], [player_tooltip player_id='426240' first='Autumn' last='Nesmith'], [player_tooltip player_id='349377' first='Mychaela' last='Parker']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> <strong>#2 Ridgeview </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ridgeview has one of the top Front courts in the area in [player_tooltip player_id='331713' first='Nia' last='Blocton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='370059' first='Nacoya' last='Blocton'], but the loss of Paetyn Miller will be felt. It's hard replacing a four-year starter at guard. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key players: [player_tooltip player_id='331713' first='Nia' last='Blocton'], [player_tooltip player_id='370059' first='Nacoya' last='Blocton'], [player_tooltip player_id='514544' first='Narissa' last='Blocton'], [player_tooltip player_id='556581' first='Aniyah' last='Campbell'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> <strong>#3 Oakleaf</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oakleaf returns [player_tooltip player_id='248555' first='Trista' last='Brown'], a talented Junior, but it's almost impossible to replace Fantasia James and Kaylah Turner. <br>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='248555' first='Trista' last='Brown'] and [player_tooltip player_id='470453' first='Ja'nease' last='Bender']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#4 Fleming Island </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fleming Island has one of the most exciting players on their roster in [player_tooltip player_id='426239' first='London' last='Jenkins']. The Eagles will need some muscle down low and the paint holds the key to county supremacy. <br>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='426239' first='London' last='Jenkins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='655704' first='Victoria' last='Noble']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Observation 5: </strong> Who is the top team in St Johns County? My top 5 are ranked as follows: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#1. Ponte Vedra gets the nod because of two things: their experience and their talent. They have made the playoffs for the past two years and should be the favorite to win their tough District again this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='349375' first='Morgan' last='Gavazzi'], [player_tooltip player_id='248291' first='Kennedy' last='Rosendahl'], [player_tooltip player_id='349280' first='Maya' last='Richards']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 Beachside has one of the top young rosters on the First Coast. The key word is young, but they will give Ponte Vedra everything they can handle </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='515102' first='Madilyn' last='Ray'], [player_tooltip player_id='248553' first='Kendall' last='Kane'], [player_tooltip player_id='514522' first='Morgan' last='Cremen'], and [player_tooltip player_id='514527' first='Arianna' last='Walker'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#3 Pedro Menendez is poised to have a special season and comes in at number three in the county. Menendez has some athletic players who are going to put a lot of pressure on their opponents with their athleticism. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='514625' first='Sophia' last='Scibelli'] and [player_tooltip player_id='730160' first='Kali' last='Harris'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#4 Creekside is another talented young team that is poised to make waves on the First Coast. They also have a lot of young talent after losing 5 to 6 players from last year's squad. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='400774' first='Jadynn' last='Spivey'], [player_tooltip player_id='514521' first='Brie' last='McCoy'], [player_tooltip player_id='527277' first='Cami' last='Waters'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#5 Tocoi Creek comes in ranked fourth in the county. They have a lot of young talent and will be an exciting team to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='721484' first='Gabrielle' last='Iturralde'], [player_tooltip player_id='400785' first='Audrey' last='Beyer'], and [player_tooltip player_id='426338' first='Kaitlynn' last='Weaver'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->