West Oaks adds 4 Division I prospects from Broward
West Oaks Academy, which has been on the basketball national rankings radar since it left the FHSAA 12 years ago, is looking to make a major step up in status this season.
The Flame, always a magnet for transfer talent as an independent school that can offer housing, hit the jackpot last week when four Division I college prospects from Broward County announced that they left a Florida High School Athletic Associatin state championship contender, Oakland Park Northeast, to enroll at West Oaks for the 2020-21 season.
The quartet includes twin 6-foot-9 sophomores Matt and Ryan Bewley, who are among the top 10th graders in the country.
With them are two senior guards, top 50 class of 2021 recruit Wesley Cardet Jr. (6-5), who recently added a scholarship pledge from Illinois to his 20-plus offers; and mid-major prospect Jameon “JJ” Harris (6-4). Harris was at West Oaks from eighth grade through last fall. He transferred to Northeast just before the 2019-20 season tipped off and now is back in Orlando with his basketball buddies.
A group statement the four players made through West Oaks said: “A worldwide pandemic (COVID-19) has forced us to reevaluate and adjust everything that’s going on in our lives. … At this point in time, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the FHSAA in general and Broward County schools in particular when it comes to athletics. As a result, we feel it’s in our best interest as student athletes to transfer to SIAA member West Oaks Academy. This makes sense because we will be able to continue our education and play a uninterrupted national schedule.”
They join a team that returned standout senior guard A.J. Neal (6-1) and previously picked up three other key senior move-ins last spring. The Flame added A’drelin “Ray” Robinson (5-11), who was the catalyst for Tallahassee Rickards’ Class 5A state title run last winter; Jahsean Corbett, a 6-6 blossoming prospect who previously played for Poinciana; and Jordan Shorter (6-5), a transfer from Fort Lauderdale High who has shed 40-plus
pounds and enlarged his profile.
Social media chatter has pegged West Oaks as potentially one of the top teams in the country.
“This team is for sure the most talented team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Kenny Gillion, head coach for the Flame since 2015. “I think realistically, anything less than top five [nationally] would be a little low.”
Ronnie Flores, National Editor for Ballislife, said he would still rank West Oaks behind Florida’s two boarding school juggernauts, Montverde Academy and IMG Academy of Bradenton. Flores said Gillion has the makings of a top 25 team with the ability to rise.
The Bewley brothers are both ranked among the top 14 10th graders nationally by ESPN. Matt Bewley averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots per game last season for a 21-7 Northeast team that was ranked third best in 5A by MaxPreps. He earned first team All-State honors and was selected to the MaxPreps’ Freshman All-American team and is now Florida’s top rated sophomore.
“He was the best freshman I’ve ever seen in Florida,” Gillion said.
Family connections and travel
team ties to Gillion and his wife, Diana, brought the four South Florida teammates to West Oaks.
The twins, Cardet, Harris and Corbett were the starters for the Team Breakdown17U team Kenny Gillion coached this year. His wife, who is an assistant for West Oaks, directs the Showtime Ballers travel team that featured her son, Neal, along with Robinson and Corbett.
“These are guys that all are really familiar with each other,” Kenny Gillion said. “Our teams traveled together on the [age
group] circuit and guys from both teams trained together a lot. Diana and I both know all these guys well. It’s an easy transition.”
Three of Gillion’s brothers, Zach, Gerald and Darrance, have spent time serving on the Northeast staff over the past decade and also have done work with the Team Breakdown program. Gerald was head coach for Northeast last season before landing a slot on the Samford University staff. Zach had been the Hurricanes girls basketball coach and was in line to take over the boys program but instead is now a West Oaks assistant.
Rickman hospitalized: Wayne Rickman, the revered basketball coach that Boone High’s gym was named for in 1994, has been hospitalized for several weeks and is fighting pneumonia.
Rickman, 82, coached underdog Boone teams to state championships in 1977 and 1983. He also coached at Oak Ridge and Cherokee Junior High
He was later elected to the Orange County School Board.
Former Boone and Pine Castle Christian coach Mark Rickman said Tuesday that his dad contracted Legionella bacteria which led to pneumonia, which led to other complications.
“Sort of taking it one day at a time,” Mark said. “We’d appreciate prayers right now. God is sovereign and in control.”
Osceola coach steps down:
Nate Alexander, who coached Kissimmee Osceola to two state titles (2017, 2019) and a runner-up finish (2015) during the past six seasons, is out of the game. He left coaching and teaching to try his hand in the real estate field.
Alexander won his first state title at age 33 and finished with a 198-62 record during seven seasons against tough schedules.
Steven Perez, a former Liberty head coach and Osceola assistant for all three of the Kowboys recent state final appearances, replaces Alexander as head coach.
Ely coach moves on: Melvin Randall, who holds the FHSAA boys basketball coaching record with nine state championships, left Pompano Beach Blanche Ely and the Broward County public school ranks in August to become coach at a Broward private school, Chaminade-Madonna of Hollywood.
Randall won seven state titles over the past 14 seasons at Ely. He also won two titles at nearby Deerfield Beach and has a career record of 591-184.
Ely saw key players transfer away and slipped to 11-13 last season. Chaminade was a 3A final four team.