If Okaro White is considered the most dominant player in the county and the Clearwater Tornadoes are the defending conference champion and Class 5A state finalist, the other county teams' task is only slightly more challenging than moving a mountain range. White was the Times' all-county player of the year as a junior last season, averaging 20.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in leading Clearwater to the 5A state final, where the Tornadoes lost to Gainesville.
A 6-foot-9 forward, White is considered one of the best players in the nation and has signed with Florida State. His size poses a huge matchup problem in a county that is more guard-oriented. White's return is a big reason Clearwater is ranked 91st in the nation by Rivals.com.
But as the season begins tonight, injuries are casting a shadow over the mountain. White turned his left ankle in practice and is expected to miss the next two weeks, including Tuesday's showdown with Boca Ciega and Saturday's matchup with nationally ranked Arlington County Day. He is expected to return for a Dec. 5 game against St. Petersburg.
"The rehab is going well, and the swelling is going down," White said. "We have a few injuries on the team, but once we get over them, we'll be kicking it."
The Tornadoes are the favorite to repeat as conference champions and have a shot at reaching the state championship game again. But the road will not be easy in a county that is more competitive than it has ever been.
"You can't say there's one real dominant team," Clearwater coach Allen Carden said. "Our district and our conference are no pushover. We have to play well every night."
Super seven
1. Clearwater: The Tornadoes return Okaro White and point guard Cory Carden. They picked up a few transfers, such as John Hogan (Indian Rocks Christian) and Matt O'Donnell (St. Petersburg Catholic). Throw in returners such as Joey Nungester and Clearwater has a team capable of making another deep run in the playoffs.
2. St. Petersburg: Things have lined up nicely for the Green Devils, who return nearly everyone from last year's team that finished district runnersup. They are led by guard Gabe Moton, who has an offer from Tennessee Martin. And they no longer have to deal with Sickles and John Henson, who graduated.
3. Lakewood: The Spartans will still rely on their quickness and relentless defense. Dominic Lane is back and will be counted on for the tough, inside points. But Lakewood does not have a lot of size and experience at point guard.
4. Largo: The Packers again will be small and quick, and they'll count on their sharpshooting to stay in games. They are led by Breon Bostick, one of several returners who give Largo as much experience as anyone in the county.
5. Boca Ciega: The Pirates have a nice mix of returners to go along with a solid freshman class, led by D.J. White, son of former Pirate standout and current assistant coach David White. The big question is how quickly the newcomers adapt to high school basketball.
6. Gibbs: One of the deepest and most athletic teams in the county, the Gladiators should push Boca Ciega, Lakewood and St. Petersburg for south county supremacy.
7. Seminole: The Warhawks should be the surprise of the county. They return three starters, including guards Flynn Bluett and Nathan Sowada, from a team that took Boca Ciega and Lakewood each to overtime last season.
Sleeper teams
1. Countryside: The Cougars return Dino Tabakovic and picked up a few transfers to give them depth.
2. Pinellas Park: The Patriots have one of the best guards in the county in Srdjan Jankovic and have more size than most teams.
3. Tarpon Springs: The Spongers showed they can hang with some of the county's top teams during the summer.
4. Palm Harbor University: Though the Hurricanes lose some size, they have quickness with a guard-heavy lineup.
5. Dunedin: The Falcons have struggled but still have one of the county's top shooters in Ben Patrick.
Top private schools
1. Admiral Farragut: The Blue Jackets return a good portion of their lineup and welcome the return of Josh Burch from football this week.
2. Northside Christian: The Mustangs have one of the best players at this level in Kyle Keck, a 6-foot-7 junior and son of sportscaster Al Keck.
3. Canterbury: The Crusaders have the most experience at the Class A level and are led by Dominique Thornton and Bryce Wilson.
4. Keswick Christian: The Crusaders return guard Tanner Wozniak, who turned heads at showcase events this summer.
5. Calvary Christian: The Warriors have a solid nucleus coming back and should shoot well from long range.
News
i can't believe this is all you guys write, about Pinellas County basketball. How many state champions have there been in the last five years in basketball? How many football state champions in the last 50 years? But yet you write a page on each team for football and only a page for the whole county. What a disgrace and a slap in the face to the teams of Pinellas County basketball. I think P. C. basketball has earned respect throughout the state. I know football has not. Give the kids more coverage, they have earned it!!
i agree joejoe
This is absolutely pathetic. Pinellas has some of the best basketball in the state and this is it?????
Now, Pinellas football has NEVER won a state championship but they get an entire section for a preview. Seminole Warhawk Football had as much of a preview as all of Pinellas County basketball. That is just terrible. If the Times are going to worship football, they shoudl promote other sports as well. Basketball (boys AND girls), volleyball baseball and softball all deserve more attention than they recieve. C'mon ST PEte Times, this is terrible we know you can do better
i couldnt agree more.... come on pinellas county basketball is the real deal now give these guys some coverage alot of people want more info on their team then this!!!
It would be great to get some coverage for the boy's basketball. I have been told that the boy's season starts tonight and I am unable to find a schedule. No problem finding a football schedule for Friday's games.
The rankings appear to be pretty solid. Not sure that Boca Ciega will be able to hold on to the # 5 spot early but expect them to get better as the season goes on. Do not see Dunedin, Palm Harbor or Countryside as sleepers (unless you have to actually watch one of their games). I would expect Tarpon or PPark to move up. Finally, Calvary should be just behind Admiral Farragut in the private schools.
Would like to see more coverage also. Don't sleep on Countryside...they beat Bogie in the Tip Off last week...pretty handily too.
Tabakovic is as good an offensive player as their is in the County. Good core of seniors too.
i agree Tabakovic is one of the best scorers in the county. He can carry Cside to some wins by himself
I'm interested to see how good Largo is. they were tough last year, and they return most of their team. Not much size but they can shoot
well i agree with everyone here... this is really pathetic... you guys write about one person like okaro just to cover up the page.. Seminole should never be in top 7 come on now. if u guys did a little of scouting this summer you would see that seminole is bo bo. ppark should be in there and they will prove it. coach carden says that his distric is not a push over. haha yea dunedin will beat you. NOT.
Well all of us will agree with every comment here. This is so Pathetic and you guys talk about Okaro and clearwater so much just to cover the page and show like you guys do something. Also if you guys did some scouting this offseason you would have seen the teams that are suppose to be in the top 7. Seminole no way.. Ppark should def be in that. They got a very good team and also Tarpon is pretty good. SO WHO DO YOU THINK ARE THE BEST OR TOP PLAYERS IN THE COUNTY... NAME ABOUT 8 TO 10 PLAYERS?????????
I think people need to read a bit more closely here, because I read the names of no less than SEVENTEEN different players written about in the course of this article..Is it as long as the FB preview articles? no, it isn't, but if you honestly think basketball is more popular than football in pinellas county, you're delusional.
In some places football may be more popular, but I know in Clearwater, basketball is 100x more popular than football. No one cares about football, people only go becuase its a social gathering. Basketball fills up its gym when they play anyone even Dunedin or Cside. I would bet there's some other schools where football isn;t as popular. HS football unless the team is fantastic is BORING. Basketball is much better, even volleyball is more fun to watch
ok i see that you mention tarpon springs can hang with teams during summer. however east lake was one of the top teams throughout the summer, they played more games throughout spring and summer than almost everyone and won some very quality games..and beat tarpon on more than one occasion...so new sleeper east lake?
I'm suprised Oldsmar Christian was not mentioned since they beat several of the teams listed above in spring and summer leagues.
What about Corey Edwards from PPark? He is just as good as Srdjan especially for his size and he's only a sophmore
Yea Corey Edwards is a ball player for sure but you really cant say he is as good as Srdjan. Srdjan is probably the only 3 point shooter on their team and one of the top scorers in the county. Corey has a lot of basketball left to play and he is going to be unstoppable by his senior year but if they want to win and do good Srdjan has to play good for them each and every game.
oh by the way st pete times
basketball SHOULD have a longer preview
Just look at the amount of comments this blog has.
the football preview probably had maybe 6.
I'd say Pinellas is a basketball county
Edwards is a nice player but let's not forget the kid is going to be a 17 year old 10th grader. So ease up on how great he is for a sophmore. Heck, a lot of Sr.s are his age (except maybe Srjan who is a 19 year old Sr). These guys are starting to look a lot like Oldsmar Christian.
Where do you get that Srdjan is 19 Years old???
Dont say things that you dont know.. It is not right and puts these kids in a bad spot. The kid is not 19. People just have to hate on players that are good. Not right at all
Good point, what I should have said was I understand he will be 19 during his Sr. year in high school. No shame in his case. The point was, a year or two makes a huge difference in high school kids. Not really a level playing field, but that is not often the player's fault.
Well thats true but its really not a year. Maybe a few months or so but i cant see how that can affect anything with their game. You can be 20 and still suck vs the high school kids.. But besides that i want to know from you guys who do you think the top 5 or 6 players are in the county???? Name some???
Okaro White easy #1
after that
Breon Bostick
Dominic Lane
Dino Tabakovic
Ben Patrick
Cory Carden
Srdjan Jankovic
Jon Hogan
Yes, those are the no brainers (not sure I am sold 100% on Carden and Srdjan being in this group yet but it is nice start. Seminole has a nice core -Bluett, Sowada and Whiting as does Countryside-Low, Kinnear and Tabakovic. I would put St. Pete's Moton and Wilson in as probably the best back court in county. Another nice guard combo could be at Largo-McKeller(when he plays within himself) and Kerney. Kerney is ready to become a top level player in the county. Also, Jahar of Gibbs can dominate a game on both ends of the court when he decides to. He is the most physically talented guard in the county. The big center from Cal Christian is probably the 2nd best big in Pinellas behind Mr. White. I have also heard that Patrick is out for the year but not sure.
Yes, those are the no brainers (not sure I am sold 100% on Carden and Srdjan being in this group yet, but it is nice start. Seminole has a nice core -Bluett, Sowada and Whiting as does Countryside-Low, Kinnear and Tabakovic. I would put St. Pete's Moton and Wilson in as probably the best back court in county. Another nice guard combo could be at Largo-McKeller(when he plays within himself) and Kerney. Kerney could be ready to become a top level player in the county. Also, Jahar of Gibbs can dominate a game on both ends of the court when he decides to. He is the most physically talented guard in the county. The big center from Cal Christian is probably the 2nd best big in Pinellas behind Mr. White but it is hard to get a good gage on him as he plays a fairly weak schedule and will not be challenged most nights. I have also heard that Patrick is out for the year but not sure.
Haha WTF are you guys serious with this top players in the area? If Gabriel Moton's not in the top 2 at least then yall are bizzare...this kid can flat out play and hes a 6'2 guard...how many other kids other then okaro in the tampabay have D1 scholarship offers and thats not even including the other D1 colleges programs that havnt offered yet? nobody on that list has D1 colleges even looking at them excluding okaro...Maybe yall havnt seen him play or something or yall just have no clue of good basketball players...Im pretty sure hes going to double digits against clearwater saturday
I would like to say Indian Rocks Christian is definitely in the top 5 for private schools in the county.
They beat Keswick Christian 54-34
They beat Northside Christian 48-40
And they lost to Admiral Farragut by four points.
That's Disrespect
OKARO WHITE
GABE MOTON
BREON BOSTICK
DOMINIC LANE
KENNY SMITH
KEOWEN WALKER
LADARIOUS BARNES
ALLEN WILSON
SRJDAN YANKOVIC
ANDRES SANCHEZ