University School heads for Geico Nationals

University School’s first boys basketball state title will not mark the end of its stellar season.

The Sharks will be playing in Geico Nationals, the nation’s premier postseason high school basketball tournament involving top teams from across the country.

The tournament, formerly known as Dick’s [Sporting Goods] Nationals, will be played in New York from March 29-31. Eight teams will compete through three rounds to determine a national champion.

“It’s a big-time accomplishment for the whole program,” said Sharks coach Adrian Sosa.

University will play Phoenix’s Shadow Mountain at noon on March 29 in a quarterfinal matchup airing on ESPNU from Christ the King High in Queens.

USA Today ranks the Sharks second in the nation — behind only Montverde Academy, which is also in the tournament field. Oak Hill Academy was previously ranked ahead of the Sharks, but was dropped from USA Today’s rankings for dressing a “fifth-year player,” according to the publication. Oak Hill, the only team to defeat USchool this season, doing so in a Hoophall Classic contest in Springfield, Mass., on Jan. 15, also made GEICO Nationals.

The Sharks set a state record last week by winning its games in the semifinal and final rounds by a combined 75 points en route to the Class 5A title. The Sharks trounced Ocala Trinity Catholic 80-40 in the championship and won the semifinal over Tampa Catholic 83-48.

U-School is led by 6-foot-10 junior forward Vernon Carey Jr., who is ranked the No. 1 prospect in the 2019 class by Rivals and second by 247 Sports and ESPN. Carey averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds and four assists per game this season.

The Sharks have one of the top 2020 prospects nationally in forward Scott Barnes, who went for 15, eight and six as a sophomore. They also have senior guards Trey Doomes and Drue Drinnon, who both transferred in from Georgia schools prior to the season and are signed to West Virginia and New Mexico, respectively.