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High profile: Florida SouthWestern basketball loaded with D-I recruits, some BCS level

Seth Soffian
The News-Press
FSW sophomore point guard Tyler Cheese will help the school build on last year's initial outgoing signing class of three D-I signees.

They come to improve their games, their grades, their visibility or some combination of all three.

It must be working, because in only their second seasons in a reborn junior college athletics program, the nationally ranked Florida SouthWestern State College basketball teams are loaded with Division-I prospects, some at the power conference and even top 25-program level.

For the fifth-ranked men’s team, there are standing offers or interest from Oregon, Oregon State, Xavier, Illinois, DePaul, FGCU, Middle Tennesse State, Mercer and others.

For the No. 18 women, the active list includes Rutgers, New Mexico State, St. Bonaventure, Winthrop and many more schools than the coach wants to mention, recruiting being the uncertain game that it is.

FSW sophomore guard Erna Normil had D-I scholarship offers after her freshman season but chose to return to FSW this season to continue improving her stock.

“There’s so many of them, and they’re all in the recruiting process right now – talking to schools and setting up visits,” Buccaneers women’s coach Kristie Ward said of four-year schools recruiting all eight of her team’s sophomores.

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“That’s our job, to make sure they graduate, they get exposure and they get opportunities to compete at the next level. They all want to go on.”

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All the recruits – as with those from the men’s basketball team as well as FSW baseball and softball squads that have produced players at elite D-I levels – are “good kids and good athletes” who might already be playing at prominent four-year schools if not for a deficiency here or there.

Those include being just a few points shy of a qualifying entrance exam test score. Or being able to break down any defender off the dribble but needing a better jump shot, or defense. Or having low or modest D-I offers but wanting something higher. Or just wanting a gradual transition into college.

“They’re great kids. They’re unbelievable kids. But I’ve got to get them better as players,” said FSW men’s coach Marty Richter, a former assistant coach at FGCU, Bowling Green, South Dakota and others.

“I’m running our program the same way as if I was at (those schools). I’m holding them accountable. They’ve got to go to class and to study hall. They’ve got to meet and greet people after the game. It’s a life skill. My college coaches taught me life skills. I’ve got to teach my guys life skills.”

FSW coach Marty Richter said 11 of 12 scholarship players on his 2017-2018 squad, including six freshmen, are likely going to sign with D-I schools.

After having freshman-dominated rosters in their debut campaigns last year – and still sending three men to D-I and one woman to D-II – the Buccaneers are loaded with even more talent this season.

On the women’s side, 6-foot-1 forward Amanda Oliver has already committed to Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure, which advanced past the NCAA tournament first round in two of the past six seasons.

She plans to sign in April, with several teammates likely to join her.

Those include 5-10 guards LaToya Ashman and Erna Normil, who had offers last summer from the likes of New Mexico State and Winthrop but opted to return to FSW for their sophomore seasons.

“They had some areas they still needed to work on in their games,” Ward said. “They wanted to grow academically and athletically and to finish what they started.”

FSW sophomore forward Amanda Oliver has verbally committed to A-10 member St. Bonaventure.

Among the men, Tremell Murphy, a 6-6 wing from Indiana ranked 21st in the nation among junior college sophomores by JucoRecruiting.com, has coaches from Oregon, Illinois and others visiting FSW.

Tyler Cheese, a 6-4 point guard from Albany, Georgia, ranked 52nd by Juco Recruiting, has 10-15 mid-major offers already and has Oregon State coming to visit, Richter said.

Fellow sophomore wings ShanQuan Hemphill (Loyola Marymount, Evansville, FGCU), and Anthony Murphy (North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Bradley) also will build on last year’s initial signing class, which sent players to Winthrop, Lehigh and Alabama State.

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“Eleven of the 12 guys are probably going to sign D-I,” Richter said of his squad’s scholarship players, which includes three freshmen already drawing strong D-I interest: 6-5 guard Charles Manning Jr., 6-6 wing Maddox Daniels and 6-8 forward Tra’Von Fagan.

“It helps that we’re winning.”

FSW sophomore wing Tremell Murphy has coaches from Oregon, Illinois and elsewhere visiting FSW to get a look at him.

The FSW men, who are 20-1 entering play Saturday, and women, who are 20-4 and winners of six straight, are the beneficiaries of competing in a state with superior scholarship offers and academic support among its 20 junior colleges, Richter said, as well as coveted weather.

FSW also benefits from a premier venue in 1-year-old, $28 million Suncoast Credit Union Arena.

“The programs in Florida do it the right way, and they’ve got the resources to do it the right way,” Richter said. “Some states are not as good.”

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The resources and talent, while unknown to many fans, make the state and other top junior college programs around the country fertile recruiting grounds for most regulars in March Madness.

“The big blues don’t recruit (junior colleges),” Richter said of Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas. “They normally don’t deal with it. But everybody else does. College coaches know that there’s really good players at the junior college level.”

FSW sophomore guard LaToya Ashman had some D-I interest coming out of high school but has improved her stock while with the Buccaneers.

The array of talent also gives Florida an exceptionally tough regional tournament to advance through in order to reach the national tournament – done thus far only by FSW’s softball squad, twice.

In their debut campaigns last year, the Buccaneers men’s and women’s basketball teams went 26-7 and 20-11, respectively, before losing in the first round of the Region 8 tournament.

“Any team that makes the regional tournament has a chance to win the national title,” Richter said of the eight-team state tournament, which last year sent its champion and two at-large squads to the 24-team national tournament, where two Florida squads reached the Final Four.

“Florida is like the ACC of junior college basketball.”

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Undefeated Northwest Florida State, which FSW hasn’t played this season, is ranked No. 1 in the nation and the state. Eastern Florida State, which beat FSW 86-82 on Dec. 9, is No. 7 in the nation.

The FSW women trail four state schools in the national poll: No. 3 Northwest Florida State, No. 4 and reigning national champion Gulf Coast State, No. 6 Tallahassee and No. 13 Pensacola State.

Given all the talent, the state tournaments March 7-10 in Ocala again will be prime recruiting territory.

FSW coach Kristie Ward said all eight sophomores on this year's roster are being recruited by four-year schools, from the major conference level down to NAIA and D-III.

“Even our (incoming) recruiting class for next year we’re super excited,” said Ward, who has own her trio of coveted freshmen in 6-2 forward Tina Stephens, 5-8 guard Kiara Felder and 5-9 guard Kezia Holmes, who is coming back from a broken hand. 

“We’ve already signed a high-major D-I kid who was two points away on her ACT. We’re recruiting some mid-major kids and they’re (academically qualified for four-year schools).”

Last week, Ward had a guard recruit on campus who can dunk a small ball.

“When you have a great program, from the community to the academics, that’s an easy sell for us. People want to be a part of that," she said. “This is just the beginning of where this program is going to go. You’ve got kids across the country wanting to come here, even if they’ve got their scores.”

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Ready for prime time

A list of FSW athletes to go on to four-year schools since it relaunched its junior college athletic programs starting with the 2016 baseball and softball seasons.

Men's basketball

2017

  • Nych Smith, Winthrop (D1)
  • Ed Porter, Lehigh (D1)
  • Marice Wright, Alabama State (D1)


Women's basketball

2017

  • Makayla Liles, Auburn-Montgomery (D2)

Baseball

2018

  • Santino Miozzi, Florida (D1)
  • Vince Vannelle, Arizona (D1)

2017

  • Davie Inman, Coastal Carolina (D1)
  • Enrique Ferrer, Georgia State (D1)
  • JD Dutka, South Florida (D1)
  • John O'Connor, Liberty (D1)
  • Thomas Pipolo, Massachusetts (D1)
  • Walfrank Pineiro, North Carolina A&T (D1)
  • Jordan Pinto, Bethune-Cookman (D1)
  • Kyle Arjona, New Orleans (D1)
  • Ian Kimbrell, North Georgia (D2)
  • Jonathan Cosme, Mount Olive (D2)
  • Thomas Reddin, Augusta (D2)
  • Brandon Presley, Nova Southeastern (D2)
  • Jesus Palacios, Reinhardt (NAIA)
  • Jett Swetland, Southeastern (NAIA)

2016

  • Willie Rios, Miami (D1)
  • Hayden Platt, Elon (D1)
  • Jack Piekos, Eastern Kentucky (D1)
  • Max Ford, Eastern Kentucky (D1)

Softball

2017

  • Criza Bulanadi, George Washington (D1)
  • Marta Fuentes, George Washington (D1)
  • Courtney Gettins, Alabama (D1)
  • Graysen Gladden, Lipscomb (D1)
  • Molly Roark, Fordham (D1)
  • Mikayla Werahiko, Maryland (D1)
  • Raina Gorman, Mercy College (D2)
  • Savannah Retallick, Ave Maria (NAIA)