American Heritage 86 , Oldsmar Christian 69 - Kenny Boynton goes for 42 and 8 in the opener

American Heritage Basketball opened its regular season with the annual Thanksgiving Classic with a home game against Oldsmar Christian School. Over the last 3 years we have started a nice tradition at school for this game - on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, American Heritage School has an early release day and ends at 12:00 noon. Our basketball team played at 12:30 yesterday (for the 3rd straight year) to give the students at Heritage a chance to get into the usually sold-out gym. We played a very good Oldsmar Christian team - in fact, Oldsmar played - and beat - one of the best teams in the state in Berkley Prep the night before. Coming into the game we had an excellent week of practice, and I knew we would play well. To be honest - I was 75% correct with that prediction. We played great basketball for 3 of the 4 quarters. Honestly - we were bad during the 2nd quarter, but good enough during the other 3 to make up for it. Our team is coming together, and we have continued to get better, and, we have Superman on our team. Kenny Boynton finished with 42 points and 8 rebounds and played a great all-round game to lead our squad. Raymond Taylor finished with 8 assists and chipped in 20 points, and our contributions from Juan Ferrales, Everton Chin, Bill Slade, Marcus Blake, Daiquan Walker and Jake Wheeler were terrific.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone - enjoy the turkey and the football.

American Heritage beats Cypress Bay and Cooper City

What a great week! The GoodBasketball.com Tip-Off Classic just concluded after seeing 4 great games. On Wednesday night we saw Cypress Bay and Clewiston open things up with a terrific game that saw many lead changes and many highlight type plays. Cypress Bay ended up winning the game, and the tone was set. In the night cap, American Heritage used a very strong defensive effort to catapult themselves to a 37-11 halftime lead. Heritage ended up winning a good game that saw Cooper City compete until the end. The crowd was good, the energy was great, and it was awesome to finally get the 2008 - 2009 basketball season underway. Night 2 saw Cooper City take on Clewiston in the opening game, and while Cooper City built an early lead, Clewiston fought back to make the game a 2 point affair with a minute to play in the game. Cooper City held on, and won the game by 4. The 2nd game of the night saw American Heritage go at it with a very, very good Cypress Bay team. Cypress Bay came out hot and held a 2 point lead after the 1st quarter, but Heritage roared back to take a 15 point lead at the half with a 38 - 23 lead. The 2nd half was exciting, as Cypress Bay fought hard until the end, but American Heritage prevailed with the 80 - 65 victory.
Thanks to all of the students, parents, fans, and coaches of all 4 teams that came to play at American Heritage this week. Everybody enjoyed themselves, and were witness to some pretty good basketball. I can't wait for the regular season to start - this Wednesday at 12:30 in our gym against a top team in Oldsmar Christian School.

Early Signing Day @ American Heritage

WOW - what a day Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 was. This day saw 6 of our athletes sign division scholarships - 4 in the sport of basketball alone. 

There are a lot of students who participate in high school sports. There are a lot of good athletes, and there are a lot of good students that participate in high school sports. But trust me - on signing day - a lot of these good athletes are sitting at home, and a lot of these good students are sitting at home. It is a true HONOR for student athletes to receive a scholarship to play a sport at any level of college, much less division 1. I am proud of these six student athletes.

Congratulations go out to the following athletes and families:

Kenny Boynton - Florida

Lindy Duncan - Duke (golf)

Sandra Garcia - Wake Forest

Bianca Lutley  - LSU

Raymond Taylor - FAU

T.J. Vogel - USC (golf)

This day is the culmination of years and years of hard work by the athletes, as well as years and years of sacrifice by their families. What a great, great day.

Patriot Madness 2008 -Kimbo Slice comes to American Heritage!

Thanks to all who helped make Patriot Madness 2008 such a success! Last night the boys and girls varsity basketball teams welcomed the crowd as well celebrity guest judges Kimbo Slice, Eric Hosmer, and D.A. from WQAM as we had so much fun. The night was a success for all - the sold out crowd was witness to a great performance by the cheerleaders, a 3 point contest by the varsity girls (which was won by Bianca Lutley and Sandra Garcia), a scrimmage by the varsity boys team, a ceremony to honor our 4 division 1 players (Kenny Boynton to Florida, Raymond Taylor to FAU, Sandra Garcia to Wake Forest, and Bianca Lutley to LSU). We concluded the night with a 3 point contest by the boys (which was won by Juan Ferrales and Remi Barry) and a dunk contest (which saw Remi Barry defeat Kenny Boynton in the finals). After the ceremony the boys team held a meet and greet session with Kimbo Slice.

Kenny Boynton will go from American Heritage to the University of Florida

Congratulations go out to American Heritage Senior Kenny Boynton as he announced his college choice last night to a nationwide audience that was watching on ESPNU. Kenny becomes the second Heritage player to commit to a Division 1 basketball program in the last four days, joining teammate Raymond Taylor, who committed to FAU earlier in the week. The decision by Kenny ends months and months of speculation as to where he will be attending school, and Kenny became one of the most sought after recruits in the country. Kenny - and his family - handled this decision well and were able to prioritize what he was looking for in a college, and decided that Coach Billy Donovan and the Gators were the best fit for him. Kenny also becomes the second Heritage player in two years to commit to the Gators, following Eloy Vargas up I-75 to Gainesville. I am happy for KB and his family, and look forward to a great senior season for him. He is a special young man. Well done, Junior.

American Heritage's Raymond Taylor commits to FAU

Congratulations to American Heritage School's senior point guard Raymond Taylor, as he has accepted a scholarship offer from Florida Atlantic University. Raymond - who is the quickest guard in the state of Florida - is excited to bring his skill set to the Boca Raton campus as the next PG for Coach Mike Jarvis.
I would like to personally congratulate Raymond and his mom on a terrific accomplishment. Any time a student athlete is offered a scholarship it is a rarity (less than 2% of all varsity basketball players get that opportunity), and Raymond is living proof that "it is not the size of the dog in the fight, but it is the size of the fight in the dog" that matters. Congrats, Raymond - I am proud of you.

Thoughts about Football: Florida 26, Miami 3

I spent the weekend in Gainesville at the University of Florida - my former home and of course my alma mater. I had a terrific weekend for a variety of reasons, including getting a chance to see Eloy Vargas and of course the Gator football team. I was able watch the individual workouts with the Gators, and I was really encouraged with where Coach Donovan has his team going. I was impressed with the freshmen, and it was really good to spend some time with Eloy. I always enjoy laughing with him, and the time we spent reminded me of the great sense of humor that Eloy has. Eloy is in good spirits following his ankle surgery, and he is showing once again just how tough a person he is by rehabbing hard and getting ready to be cleared for full contact work soon. I continue to believe in Eloy, and I know the UF coaching staff will bring the best out of him.
Following the basketball workouts we went over to the swamp and prepared for the football game of the day, as the Gators were playing rival Miami. The Hurricanes came in and played very conservatively - almost playing not to lose and keep it close until the end. The strategy kept the game tight - it was 9-3 UF heading into the 4th quarter, until the Gators opened up the lead a little bit. At the end of the game with UF leading 23-3, UF faced a fourth down deep in Miami territory. Coach Urban Meyer had a tough choice: Kick a field goal, go for the first down, or take a knee and give possession back to the opponent. Coach Meyer elected to kick the field goal, and that made the final score 26-3. At this point, UM got the ball back. And get this: The Miami coach told his team to TAKE A KNEE - down 23 points. He told them to quit.
Almost immediately Coach Shannon of UM was talking to the media and saying how his recruits were happy with the performance, and it shows how close they are to becoming the Miami of old. COACH SHANNON: Miami of old would not whine about a field goal, and Miami of old WOULD NOT TAKE A KNEE AND QUIT.
I went to high school in South Florida in the early 1990's. I watched the University of Miami dominate their opponents. I rooted for them. So while I am a Gator, and at the game I rooted for UF, I still like Miami. But come on - how can UM whine and complain about a field goal - and then take a knee?

American Heritage Summer College Tour

What a great 17 days we just had together on the road for the annual Heritage Hoops Summer Tour! I absolutely LOVED our tour this year, which was 17 days long - that's right - June 12 - June 29th, 2008. We started at the University of South Florida, went to 5 star instructional camp, went to Florida State, went to Georgia Tech, went to Duke, went to University of North Carolina, went to Clemson University, went to Furman University, went to University of Georgia, went to University of Florida, and went to Stetson University. These visits included stops with the coaching staff and usually a campus tour and informational session. I was fortunate in that every member of our team attended the tour, so we were able to bond and develop chemistry along the way. This trip is something that makes our program at Heritage unique, and I am extremely proud of our Summer Tour. I know our players enjoyed themselves, and I am thankful to the players and my coaches for really making this year a special summer tour. I have posted plenty of pictures, and I encourage you to see as many of them as possible.

USF Team Camp / 5 Star Camp

We enjoyed our trip to Tampa for the University of South Florida team camp. It was well run by Coach Heath and his staff, and our entire team certainly felt welcome and wanted. We arrived Friday afternoon and checked into the Embassy Suites for the weekend. Our first game was at 4:40pm, and we played against Oldsmar Christian. We know and respect Coach Panone and his players, and we were excited to play the game. Before the game the team decided that we were going to spend the next 3 weeks using our team camp time to get better on defense and continue to build our chemistry. During the weekend three of our players were invited to the USF Elite Camp. Jake Wheeler, Marcus Blake, and Raymond Taylor attended the camp and were able to work with Coach Heath and his staff in small numbers. I think the camp was beneficial for all three of our players.
Well I can tell you that this weekend turned into a great building block for us - not only did we win quite a few games (we finished 7 -2), but we really played very good defense. We ended up losing in overtime (the rules stipulated a 1 minute running clock overtime period), but it really was a good weekend for us.
After our last game we packed up our Heritage 15 passenger van and headed to Tallahassee for the 5 star instructional camp. Our guys checked into Sallie Hall and went to work on improving their games. Congratulations to our 3 All-Star selections - Marcus Blake, Raymond Taylor and Everton Chin. Our very own coach, Orlando McCorvey was also selected to the All Star game as a coach.
All in all, it was another great week for American Heritage Basketball.

Lynn University Team Camp

American Heritage was invited to the Lynn University team camp which was held in Boca Raton over the weekend of June 6 - 8, 2008. I was eager to compete with some of the best teams in South Florida, and I was happy to see our guys playing again. Overall we had a great weekend, with plenty of successes and things to be happy with. We ended up losing in the semi-finals of the camp to St Thomas, who went on to win the event. In the game we lost, we held a 3 point lead at the half, only to see us give up the lead and more during the 2nd half. To get to that point, we beat a good Grandview Prep team in the morning behind solid defense and a great team mindset to share the ball. That particular game against Grandview showed our players and coaches just how good they can be when they play together, and it was fun to watch from the sideline.
When we play in team camps, I like to be liberal with playing time during the games on Friday and Saturday. During those games we give players an opportunity to play more than they have usually played - I want to see them play against good competition, plus, as a coach I want those guys who have been working hard to be given a chance to earn more minutes down the road. As a result, I was pleased with our play during the pool play games, and, on Saturday night we won a good game against a very good (and rested) South Miami team. So - to our players that helped us to another good weekend - I say thank you - and to our parents and supporters I thank you too for being there for our guys. I am really looking forward to the rest of the summer and good times ahead for our basketball program.

Point Guard Camp begins as the school year ends

We are already into June - I cannot believe how fast the school came to a close. The months of April and May are two of my favorites, as I believe our players get a chance to really work hard on their games during this time. This year was especially rewarding to me, as our players attended exposure events, but, more importantly, attended skill development workshops. I am fortunate to coach talented players but I always say that hard work will beat talent when talent doesn't work hard. We have developed a culture that believes in hard work, and now, just two months into the off season, I am starting to see the results. During the just completed spring league I witnessed our players compete with other schools in the area and continue to get better and better. In particular I was very impressed with Bill Slade, Raymond Taylor, and Jacob Wheeler - they really showed me that their hard work in the gym is paying off. I don't coach in that league - I go to every game but I just watch - but I really enjoyed watching our guys compete and try and play the kind of ball that we need to play to be successful. We finished 6-2 in the league, but I really wasn't focusing on the wins and losses. Obviously we want to win every game that we play, but the purpose of the league was to get better together, develop chemistry, and showcase our new skill set. Looking back at the league now, I feel that it was a success. Thanks to all our players that played, and to the coaches that were there each night for our guys.
So school came to an end last week, so that can mean only one thing - POINT GUARD CAMP! Over the last three years we have developed a nice niche - we hold a camp designed specifically for the point guards that will address perimeter players. We do a TON of ball handling, and each night we address specific skills that a point guard needs to be successful. The first year of the camp I worked with one of my mentors, John O'Connell, and we put the camp on together here at American Heritage. The last two years, things went extremely well and I continue the camp - in fact we have sold out the camp these past two years. This year I have added a week of girls point guard camp, and that happens next week. Be sure to check out the pictures of the camp - we are all having fun.
Our summer tour is approaching fast, and I will have more to say on that in this space soon.
Enjoy the beginning of your summer.

North Carolina / Duke ; SEC Tournament & Tornado ; NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, NC - 3 weekends of great basketball!

So let me tell you about my travels over the last 3 weeks. I have been fortunate enough to attend the Duke vs North Carolina game in Cameron, the SEC Tournament in Atlanta, and then the 1st round of the NCAA tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina. For each of the 3 consecutive weekends I was able to see great basketball, do some work on behalf of the players at American Heritage, and , of course, have some fun along the way.
When I arrived at Duke we were met by the coaching staff and treated to the behind the scenes tour of the facilities. The cool part was that this was the day of the game, and with ESPN's GAMEDAY on hand, the Cameron Crazies sleeping out for multiple nights, the players getting ready for their biggest game of the year (to date), it was terrific. Now keep in mind that I am Gator, and some would say (ESPN the Magazine, for instance) that the atmosphere for Gator home games is the best in the country, but I can tell you that Cameron Indoor Stadium was amazing for this game. The fans are smart and knowledgable, yet insulting and rude to the away team. The place is small and cozy, loud, and, very very hot. In fact, the guy next to me (I sat right behind the Duke bench) passed out from the heat - and it was 29 degrees outside. It was a great game, with the Tar Heels holding Duke scoreless for the final 5 minutes of the game to come away with the victory. An incredible night, and I was very glad to have made the trip up to Durham.
The following week I made the trip up to Atlanta for the SEC tournament. I arrived on the Thursday to see my alma mater, The University of Florida take on Alabama in a first round game. This was one of the worst (if not THE worst) performances of the year for the Gators, and it was the game that forced Coach Donovan to pull the players' access to the practice facility in preparation for the NIT games. This was also the game that doomed any chances that the Gators had of competing in the NCAA tournament. It was a let down for me and the rest of the Gator fans, as Alabama won the game by a rather wide margin. I came back to the Georgia Dome for the Friday games, and then again for the Friday night games. During the night session the city of Atlanta was hit with a tornado, and I was inside the dome when it hit. This was a very scary event, mostly because as I was sitting there watching things fall from the roof and seeing the scoreboard that was hanging from the roof about to fall down, I heard the very loud sound of what I thought was a train coming through the Dome. It was scary ; but ; what was even scarier was the fact that we had no clue if it was over, and we were told that there could be another one coming. Kind of nuts, if you ask me. I went to Atlanta to watch the tournament and support the Gators, and yet I saw a tornado. I did put multiple pictures up on the website - http://www.goodbasketball.com/ - if you want to see them.
This weekend saw me in Raleigh, NC for the 1st round of the NCAA's. Now I must be honest and tell you that I LOVE the 1st weekend of the tournament. It is fun and exciting, and, each host site has 8 sets of fans who believe that their team can win. In Raleigh I saw Davidson, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Maryland Baltimore County, North Carolina, Mount St Mary's, Arkansas, and Indiana. Great day of action, and I was fortunate enough to be seated for most of the day on Press Row, and then for the Indiana vs Arkansas game I moved back to the 4th row of seats behind the Indiana bench. Interesting stuff to see, and I did attend all 8 coaches news conferences. I love to listen to coaches, and see how they deal with the media.
As a basketball fan and junkie, I have really enjoyed these past 3 weekends.
Now it is off to the off season for American Heritage Basketball.