Forty-eight of 68 NCAA Tournament squads have Florida flavor
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High school basketball in the Sunshine State continues to be on the rise.
Forty-eight of the 68 programs that earned berths into the NCAA Tournament in 2019 have Florida connections on their respective rosters.
Only Colgate, Fairleigh Dickinson, Georgia State, Houston, Iona, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Montana, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Oregon, Prairie View, St. Louis, Utah State, Vermont, Villanova and Virginia do not have a player with Florida ties.
Tuesday night in the First Four, Belmont senior guard Kevin McClain — out of Hamilton County in Florida — went off for 29 points during an 81-70 victory over Temple. Other Sunshine State connections that will be playing in the NCAAs include:
Abilene Christian
Jaren Lewis (Sr.), Orlando Lake Highland Prep
Arizona State
Luguentz Dort (Fr.), Jacksonville Arlington Country Day; Kyle Feit (Fr.), IMG Academy
Auburn
Chase Maasdorp (Fr.), The Out-of-Door Academy; Austin Wiley (Jr.), Calusa Prep
Baylor
Darius Allen (Jr.), Chaminade-Madonna/Palm Beach State
Belmont
Kevin McClain (Sr.), Hamilton County
Bradley
Koch Bar (Jr.), West Oaks Academy/Jacksonville Arlington Country Day; Jayden Hodgson (Jr.), Arlington Country Day
Buffalo
Jeremy Harris (Sr.), Gulf Coast State; Davonta Jordan (Jr.), Cocoa/Montverde Academy; Ronaldo Segu (Fr.), Orlando Christian Prep; Tra’Von Fagan (So.), Florida Southwestern State; Antwain Johnson (Grad), Malone
Cincinnati
Rashawn Fredericks (Jr.), Tampa Chamberlain
Duke
R.J. Barrett (Fr.), Montverde Academy; Antonio Vrankovic (Sr.), Pine Crest
Florida
Andrew Nembhard (Fr.), Montverde Academy; Gorjok Gak (Jr.), Bradenton Victory Rock Prep; Kevarrius Hayes (Sr.), Live Oak Suwannee; Isaiah Stokes (Fr.), IMG Academy; Dontay Bassett (So.), Oldsmar Christian; Keith Stone (Jr.), Deerfield Zion Lutheran
Florida State
RaiQuan Gray (R-Fr.), Fort Lauderdale Dillard; Trent Forrest (Jr.), Chipley; Ty Hands (Fr.), Palm Beach Lakes; Anthony Polite (R-Fr.), Boca St. Andrew’s; Travis Light (R-So.), Montverde Academy; Christ Koumadje (Sr.), Montverde Academy; Wyatt Wilkes (So.), Winter Park; Will Miles (R-So.), Orlando Trinity Park;
Gardner-Webb
D.J. Laster (Sr.), Pensacola Catholic; Brandon Miller (Grad), Orlando Christian Prep; David Efianayi (R-Sr.), Ocoee High; Nate Johnson (R-So.) Hollywood McArthur
Gonzaga
Filip Petrusev (Fr.), Montverde Academy
Kansas
Udoka Azubuike (Jr.), Potter’s House Christian; Silvio de Sousa (So.), IMG Academy
Kansas State
Barry Brown (Sr.), St. Pete Gibbs; James Love (R-So.), American Heritage
Kentucky
E.J. Montgomery (Fr.), Fort Pierce native/Montverde Academy
Liberty
Scottie James (R-Jr.), Tarpon Springs
Louisville
Ryan McMahon (R-Jr.), Sarasota Cardinal Mooney
LSU
Daryl Edwards (Sr.), Northwest Florida State; Darius Days (Fr.), Gainesville Rock School/IMG; Emmitt Williams (Fr.), IMG Academy/Orlando Oak Ridge
Maryland
Eric Ayala (Fr.), IMG Academy; Serrel Smith Jr. (Fr.), St. Pete High; Bruno Fernando (So.), IMG Academy
Michigan
Colin Castleton (Fr.), Daytona Father Lopez
Minnesota
Marcus Carr (So.), Montverde Academy
Murray State
Brion Whitley (Soph.), Sarasota Riverview; Brion Sanchious (Sr.), Oakland Park Northeast
Nevada
Jordan Caroline (Sr.), Montverde Academy
New Mexico State
Berrick Jean-Louis (Fr.), Canterbury School
North Carolina
Nassir Little (Fr.), Orlando Christian Prep; K.J. Smith (So.), IMG Academy; Ryan McAdoo (So.), Boca St. Andrew’s
North Carolina Central
Larry McKnight Jr. (R-Sr.) Miami Norland/Palm Beach State
North Dakota State
Tyson Ward (Jr.), Tampa Prep
Northeastern
Shawn Occeus (Jr.) Park Vista/Grandview Prep; Jason Strong (R-Fr.) Cardinal Gibbons/Westminster Academy
Northern Kentucky
Silas Adheke (R-Soph.), Eastern Florida State transfer
Ohio State
C.J. Jackson (Sr.), Eastern Florida State; C.J. Walker (Jr.), Florida State
Ole Miss
Blake Hinson (Fr.), Deltona High
Purdue
Emmanuel Dowuona (Fr.), Westwood Christian
St. John’s
Josh Roberts (Fr.), Montverde Academy; L.J. Figueroa (So.), West Oaks
St. Mary’s
Malik Fitts (R-Soph.) University of South Florida transfer
Seton Hall
Ike Obiagu (So.), Florida State; Sandro Mamukelashvili (So.), Montverde Academy; Darnell Brodie (Fr.), Montverde Academy
Syracuse
Howard Washington (So.) Montverde Academy
Temple
Jasen West (Fr.), Orlando Lake Highland Prep
Tennessee
Lamonte Turner (R-Jr.), IMG Academy
Texas Tech
Brandone Francis (R-Sr.), Jacksonville Arlington Country Day/Florida; Norense Odiase (R-Sr.), Delray Beach Elev8 Sports Institute
UCF
Yuat Alok (Jr.) Impact Academy/Chipola CC; B.J. Taylor (R-Sr.) Orlando Boone; Dre Fuller (Fr.) Admiral Farragut; Dayon Griffin (R-Sr.) St. Pete; Xavier Grant (Fr.) American Heritage; Levy Renaud (Fr.) Davie University School; Ibrahim Doumbia (So.) Miami Country Day; Chad Brown (Sr.), Deltona; Chance McSpadden (R-Jr.), Winter Haven; Tacko Fall (Sr.), Liberty Christian Prep; Ryan Anders (Fr.), Tampa Wharton; Anthony Catotti (R-Sr.), Seminole; Collin Smith (R-So.), Jacksonville Bolles
UC-Irvine
Spencer Rivers (Sr.), Winter Park
VCU
Corey Douglas (R-So.), Tallahassee CC; Sean Mobley (So.), Cocoa Beach/Montverde Academy; KeShawn Curry (Fr.) Jacksonville Andrew Jackson; Michael Gilmore (R-Sr.), Jacksonville native/FGCU
Virginia Tech
Kerry Blackshear Jr. (R-Jr.) Orlando Evans
Washington
Noah Dickerson (Sr.), Montverde Academy
Wisconsin
Tai Strickland (Fr.), Tampa Catholic/St. Pete High
Wofford
Fletcher Magee (Sr.), Orlando First Academy
Yale
Paul Atkinson (So.), Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy; Austin Williams (Jr.) Jacksonville Bolles
If you have high school basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer via text at 954-661-9671.