Florida's vaunted SIAA conference has an issue every other high school conference in America would love to one day be confronted with. It's hard to decide who will be selected as Pre-season Player of the Year. With several significant recruiting coups this summer, the SIAA has restored credibility as one of the country's traditional breeding grounds for high major talent.
Playing on The Grind Session, which will host a slew of highly anticipated events featuring a "who's who" of Division-I prospects, the talent-rich conference will stack up similar to an old school BIg East.
Never before has the SIAA been this evenly matched. Known for routinely churning out guards, never before has the conference possessed this many sky-rising and multi-dimensional forwards with upside. Never before has there been a youth movement dripping with this caliber of potential, with a gaggle of callow freshmen and sophomores already inundated with a drawer load of high major offers.
The SIAA's involvement with The Grind Session is instantly traced back to the Corey Sanders-led West Oaks Academy team from four years ago. A hyper athletic and flashy guard who perhaps brought as much entertainment value as any guard in the country in the last five years, Sanders had a real wow factor to him.
In piloting West Oaks to a 32-5 record, the Lakeland, Fla.-bred Sanders' potent handle and wowing above the rim finishing ability circulated throughout the internet. As he developed a reliable outside shot and added new facets to his game, Sanders grew in stature and national name recognition. This memorable team had significant guard depth with bullish point guard Andres Feliz (now at Illinois) and Richardson Maitre (Florida Atlantic).
Fitting, as West Oaks once again has the firepower and backcourt depth. Tyrell Jones, with his bullish and hard attacking style along with the elevation on his shot and ambidextrous finishing ability, is one of the first names which surfaces in the Player of the Year conversation. A two way threat who thrives with the manipulative one on one game capable of dissecting defenses, Jones has pulled in 35+ offers. Auburn, Louisville, Florida, TCU, Iowa State, and countless others have been in heavy pursuit of Jones.
He creates a unique backcourt tandem with catch-and-stick threat A.J. Neal, a poised and seasoned guard who holds offers from Florida State, UCF, Florida Atlantic, UMass, and others.
Over at The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla., Class of 2021 stretch four/five Lynn Kidd tipped the high major scales this summer, garnering offers from Florida, Georgia Tech and Xavier. He's shown scoring and rebounding capabilities in the post, incorporating a reliable mid range and outside shot this summer. With the way he blocks and influences shots as a rim protector, he's got an the instinctive style that's transferable to the next level.
This off-season, The Rock stabilized its lineup by acquiring Florida State-commit Zimife Nwokeji. Nwokeji will form a radiant inside-outside threat with deftly skilled and muscle-bound Class of 2019 point guard Bryan Greenlee (15.7 PPG, 5.7 APG en route to All SIAA first team honors in 2017-18).
"He has great athletic ability and can attack from the perimeter," said the reigning state champions head coach Justin Hardin of Nwojeki.
"He has a skill set that allows him to be successful regardless of who he plays with."
Over in Daytona Beach, Fla., DME Academy bolstered its lineup with Florida Prep transfer Moussa Diabate. The 6-foot-9 forward is lethal for his versatility.
DME head coach Dan Mondragon tried to shy away from going into a hyperbole when assessing the Class of 2021 prospect’s game. He did say, however, that he envisions the freakishly athletic 6-foot-9 behemoth as a potential draft pick.
“I think he’s going to blossom for us,” said Mondragon, who had a menacing frontcourt of 6-foot-9 and 7-foot-1 bigs en route to the SIAA Final Four berth last season.
“We will use him as a point forward and give him a lot of freedom to push the break. Our biggest focus is developing his perimeter and faceup game and not limiting his potential. He’s very comfortable down low and has already established tremendous footwork. In the half court, we will have an inside/outside threat who will operate out of the high post as a playmaker for our other guards and as a scoring mismatch to slower bigs or smaller wings.”
Following a topsy turvy year that featured a nauseating rate of transfers and uncertainty, Oldsmar Christian has the integral pieces to return to prominence. They feature a dazzlingly athletic 6-foot-6 forward in Jadrian Tracey, who has opened up a 3-point shot and refined the skill components of his game. After averaging 19.6 points, 6.6 boards, and 3.3 assists at Riverdale, the Class of 2020 prospect transferred to Oldsmar in effort to appease his insatiable thirst for competition with a national schedule. Tracey recently earned an offer from Michael Fly and Florida Gulf Coast University.
Potter's House has the potential to ascend the national mountaintops with a core of reputable, highly-lauded guards. They've ramped up the roster with Taelon Martin, a tough two-way threat from Massachusetts. They've also bolstered the backcourt with one of the conference's most well rounded prospects in Keano Calderon and the athletically gifted Mayoum Mayoum, both transfers via DME Academy. With his high scoring aptitude and knack for taking over games, Class of 2019 guard Marsei Caston returns as the focal point.
New to the Grind Session South is Downey Christian, known for a veritable scoring machine in wunderkind Class of 2020 guard Julian Newman. Having played meaningful varsity minutes since he was a fifth grader, the state's all time leading scorer will gauge his grit against a number of college ready prospects. Newman averaged 31.4 PPG last season and added considerable range on his 3-point shot, firing in from NBA territory.
The team also added upfront depth and recruited several surrounding pieces to supplement the electrifying Newman. Inspire brings a high-scoring point guard in Khalyl Simmons, who has evolved into a real game changer with his production rate this off-season. Victory Rock continues to boast plenty of Division-I and international talent.
New programs such as Superior Collegiate Academy will add to the numerous freak athletes and high major caliber prospects in the conference. The program has under the radar talent such as 6-foot-7 sharpshooter Jacob Crews and crafty 6-foot-3 point guard Khalil Shaheed.
Over in Port St. Lucie, a torrent of talent at the multi-team program, The Nation Christian Academy, will play in both the SIAA and The Grind Session in its second year. As he prepares a number of unheralded recruits for their first ever Grind Session experience, coach Mike Woodbury is cognizant of just how unforgiving the schedule is in the SIAA.
"Every night is going to be a battle in this conference," Woodbury explained. "The SIAA is loaded with talent. The kids have to understand it cannot be a faucet plug. You can't just turn it off and turn it on. You have to bring it every night in this conference or you get exposed."