Poole is solid commit to Florida despite other visits

Brian Poole appears solidly committed to Florida though he plans to take three more visits as allowed by NCAA rules.

The Southeast High senior, who is rated the best cornerback prospect in the country by one publication, has visited Notre Dame and recently Western Kentucky.

He had a home visit from WKU head coach Willie Taggart just before Christmas and said it was a good meeting and he likes the former Manatee High star. However, it didn’t change Poole’s mind about playing for the Gators.

Poole grew up a Florida fan, but perhaps more importantly sees an opportunity to get on the field early and says Gators head coach Will Muschamp told him he expects him to make an impact next season.

One of the state’s most versatile players, Poole excelled this past season as a cornerback, running back and kick returner. He returned punts of 92 and 90 yards for touchdowns, rushed for 439 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had 155 receiving yards and a touchdown and threw for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Poole also had two interceptions, seven pass deflections and 44 tackles, including 20 solos, which were impressive since most teams ran away from his side of the field Southeast head coach Paul Maechtle said.

For his career, Poole returned three interceptions for touchdowns and had 12 picks. He had 212 tackles, including 107 first hits.

Rachel Brown eclipses 1,000 point barrier in Smoothie Classic

Rachel Brown broke the 1,000 career scoring barrier, but it wasn't enough to help her host Bradenton Christian team avoid a 52-47 loss to Englewood Lemon Bay (4-8), Tuesday night in the Smoothie King Classic.

The senior guard needed 19 points to reach the milestone and scored 20 to finish the night with 1,001 points. She scored her 1,000 point on a driving layup and added a free throw with 3:25 left in the game.

The game was the final of eight contests and did not end until 11:45 p.m. The BCS girls (5-5) take the floor again today at 2:30 when it plays Arcadia DeSoto County in a consolation round matchup.

In other late game Tuesday night, the Manatee High girls defeated DeSoto 46-39 to improve to 4-8. The Hurricanes were led by Jasmine Luther (12 points) and Taylor Wilson (11). DeSoto (4-6) got 19 points from freshman Tishona Riley.

TODAY'S SEMIFINAL:
Boys:
Cardinal Mooney vs Tamp Prep, 4 pm
Bradenton Christian vs Lennard, 7 pm
Girls
Braden River vs Bayshore, 5:30 pm
Manatee vs Lemon Bay, 8:30 pm

Consolation games:
Boys
Bayshore vs Pinellas Park, 10 am
Lakewood Ranch vs Community Christian, 1 pm
Girls
Cardinal Mooney vs Alonso, 11 am
Bradenton Christian vs DeSoto, 2:30 pm

Mistral Raymond has best day as pro with interception

Mistral Raymond is starting to show up big for the Minnesota Vikings despite a nagging shoulder injury that has plagued him in recent weeks.

The former Palmetto High/USF standout intercepted pass thrown by Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman last week that set up a Minnesota field that enabled the Vikings to get a good cushion in their 33-26 victory.

It was the first interception in 10 games, which set an NFL record for the beleaguered Vikings defense, which has been hit hard by injuries. Raymond finished with six tackles and two passes defended in the game.

The rookie safety now has 18 tackles though he only started seeing significant minutes in the last quarter of the season because he was set back by injuries. The Vikings entered the game with an NFL low six interceptions for the season

Taggart makes home visit to try and persuade Poole to swtich allegiance

Could this be the night Brian Poole switches allegence?

The Southeast High standout, who has verbally committed to Florida, is getting a home visit tonight from former Manatee High quarterback and Western Kentucky head coach Willie Taggart.

Poole, rated the number one cornerback in the country in some publications, visited WKU last weekend. Before he left he said he was still a Florida commit but added you never know. He also said he planned on taking all five of his alloted visits. Earlier this season he took an official visit to Notre Dame and has three left.

Taggart is receiving rave reviews for how he turned around the WKU program this year taking the Hilltoppers to a 7-5 record that included a 7-1 Sun Belt Conference mark. He inherited a 2-22 program prior to last season that was the domat of FBS (I-A) football.

Taggart is considered a top notch recruiter who is particularly effective in his home state of Florida. With Poole, he has the added incentive that six former Manatee County players are on the roster at WKU.

USF offers three Manatee defensive linemen

The University of South Florida offered scholarships to three Manatee High defensive linemen soon after the Hurricanes Class 7A state semifinal victory over Palm Beach Dwyer Gardens last weekend.

Manatee assistant coaches said the offers went to juniors Blake Keller (6-2, 211) and Derrick Calloway (6-1, 302) and sophomore DeMarcas Christmas (6-3. 285). They said there is a chance the fourth member of the 'Canes front four, junior Marquis Dawsey (5-11, 219), could eventually secure an offer.

The players obviously have time to wait, which is good. USF head coach Skip Holtz is on the hot seat after a 5-7 season which saw him win only one Big East Conference game. Quite a few fans are upset that he is third highest paid football coach in the Big East Conference earning $1.7 million with little to show for it.

Ironically, if Holtz does get fired next season there are those at Manatee High who are hoping Willie Taggart might get the job. The former Manatee star quarterback did one of the best turn-around jobs in the country this year at Western Kentucky and is considered a fierce recruiter who gets excellent results.

Poole visits Western Kentucky this weekend; says you never know

Brian Poole, the area's most heavily recruited player, will take an official visit to Western Kentucky this weekend.

The Southeast High defensive back has verbally committed to Florida and Gators head coach Will Muschamp has been telling Poole he can make an impact next season.

This is Poole's second official visit. He visited Notre Dame earlier this season and says he might take all five official visits allowed by the NCAA.

Poole has been speaking with with WKU head coach Ray Woodie, a former Palmetto High head football coach and standout player there, who has close ties to Manatee County players.

"I am still verbally committed to Florida, but you never know. I hope to take all of my visits," Poole said.

Poole is rated among the top cornerbacks in the country and one publication had him the top cornerback. He also played running back, but will play defense for the Gators, who have struggled with their secondary this season.

Bucs tackle woes at root of their problems

It's time for the Tampa Bay Bucs to get back to basics. And by that we mean learning how to tackle.

Going into last week’s Carolina game, Tampa led the league in attempted tackles missed with a soaring 15.4 percent rate according to Pro Football Focus.

They did show a slight improvement against Carolina with “only” 12 missed tackles after averaging 14 per outing over the previous three games.

Despite all the rave about his return, Tanard Jackson is the most culpable Buc coming up short on nearly half of his tackles by missing an astonishing 44 percent. Not too far behind is Quincy Black, who is missing on 25.5 percent of his attempts.

The three worst tackling teams in the league are the Bucs, Eagles and Carolina. The best is San Francisco.

The worst tackling secondary in the league is arguably the Eagles led by high priced trade acquisition Nnamdi Asomugha, who has allowed 27.3 percent of runners to escape his grasp. Six of the Bucs missed tackles against Carolina came trying to bring down Jonathan Stewart.

Palmetto's Raymond to get inaugural start against Tebow

Mistral Raymond is a person filled with patience and perseverance.

The Minnesota Vikings safety is expected to receive his reward this Sunday when he starts his first NFL game against Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.

The game, slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff, is supposed to be televised to a good part of the nation by Fox Sports.

Raymond, selected in the sixth round of this year’s NFL draft, gets the starting nod at safety after Husain Abdullah (concussion) and Tyrell Johnson (hamstring) were placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.

The 6-1, 190 pound Raymond, who played at Palmetto High and the University of South Florida, has been used sparingly this year seeing most of his action on special teams.

He was very impressive in pre-season camp, but went down early with a hamstring injury that kept on the sidelines for an extended period of time.

The game has an interesting story line. Though Tebow has come somewhat of a national craze with all the media hype, in a very quiet, unassuming way Raymond has gotten his share of stories written about him because of his unique background and struggles.

One of the latest was a story that appeared this week on Yahoo Sports. Click here to read.

Holtz building a troublesome football resume at USF

The second year of the Skip Holtz era ended with one of the worst seasons in the history of the program following the Bulls gut-wrenching 30-27 loss to West Virginia Thursday night.

Perhaps more disturbing is how the defense collapsed on the late stages of four heartbreaking losses.

Cincinnati, Miami and West Virginia scored on their final possessions to come from behind to beat the Bulls. Rutgers scored on its next to last possession of regulation to tie the game and then defeated USF in overtime.

The combined stats from those four drives are most troubling. USF opponents completed 20 of 26 passes for 244 yards without an interception on those drives.

The final game typified this season with USF unable to stop West Virginia on its game winning drive. The killer came when the Mountaineers had a fourth and 10 from the USF 42 yard line with 13 seconds left and quarterback Geno Smith completed a 26 yard pass to set up the game wining 28 yard field goal as time expired.

Miami’s Jacory Harris completed seven straight passes without an incompletion on the Hurricanes final drive. Rutgers had five straight completions and then after two misfires quarterback Chas Dodd threw a 34-yard TD strike with 1:08 left that eventually sent the game into overtime.

Cincinnati’s Zach Collaros completed four of his first five passes in the Bearcats winning drive, including a 21 yarder that gave his team a first down at the USF six that led to his two-yard TD run.

Holtz now owns an indistinguishable list of non-accomplishments and failures.
The loss ends the Bulls string of going to six straight bowl games, gives the program (5-7) its first losing season since 2004 and only third since the program first started playing in 1997.

The 1-6 Big East Conference record is the program’s worst since joining the league in 2004 surpassing the previous worst in ’08 when the Bulls had a 2-5 league record. Its worst record in Conference USA was 3-5 in ’04.

As pointed out earlier this week, this is all from a man who is the reported third highest paid coach in the Big East Conference at $1.7 million per season.

Southeast Kieron James and Ranch's Matt Farhat earn honors

Former Southeast defensive back Kieron James and Lakewood Ranch offensive lineman Matt Farhat won honorable mention honors in their just completed collegiate seasons.

James, who played defensive back and some quarterback at Southeast, finished his junior year at FCS (formerly I-AA) Western Illinois University where he ranked 49th nationally in passes defended (0.91 per game and was one of the top defensive backs in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The six-foot, 190 pound James led WIU with three interceptions and had an impressive 45 total tackles, including 29 solos. He was credited with seven pass breakups to go along with his three picks.

Charles Chestnut, another Southeast product, also completed his junior year at WIU. The receiver was second on his team with 23 catches and 296 reception yards.

Enock Presidendieu, a 6-4, 280 pound offensive lineman also from Southeast, finished his career for the Fighting Leathernecks.

Farhat earned honorable mention honors in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) in completing his junior year at the University of Charleston. He helped pave the way for the team's higher powered run game and for Adrien Jenkins, a Southeast High graduate.

A junior, Jenkins finished third for Charleston in total offense with 254 yards amassed on 256 yards rushing, 142 receiving and 28 yards on kick returns.

Muschamp says Florida lacks the physicality to be winning team in SEC

There are so many things you can find wrong with Florida in its 21-7 loss to FSU Saturday night. Gators head coach Will Muschamp focused on four, but cited his team's lack of physicality as a contributor to many problems.

In a nutshell he mentioned lack of a running game, lack of physical toughness and team that is still overall on the immature side.

He is what he said:

On lack of a running game:
"We have tried to run the ball inside and just haven't been very effective. We've tried different things__probably did too much at times to try and create a run game and help us vertically down the field. We haven't been able to do it consistently."

On lacking physical toughness:
"That's not first time they've heard it all season. It starts with me, falls on my shoulders and I'm the one who is responsible. At the end of the day you are what you are."

On Gators defense:
They got four turnovers and we only had one so it wasn't good enough."

On the team's youth:
"Some of our players are more mature than others. There's a lot of things. You just can't put your finger on one thing."

USF men take 3-0 record to Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic

The University of South Florida mens' basketball team hits the road this weekend as it heads to Uncasville, Conn. to take part in the Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.

The Bulls will fact Old Dominion at 2 p.m. on Saturday and will face either Kentucky or Penn State on Sunday. Saturday’s game will be on ESPN3 with Mike Crispino (play-by-play) and Tim Welsh (analyst) having the all. In addition, Jim Lighthall (play-by-play) and Todd Kalas (analyst) will call the action live on WHNZ 1250 AM Radio with the pre-game show starting at 1:30 p.m.

USF head coach Stan Heath returns the majority of his roster from 2010-11 including 77 percent of his scoring and 67.8 percent of his rebounding.

The Bulls have four returning starters in forwards Augustus Gilchrist and Ron Anderson Jr., and guards Jawanza Poland and Hugh Robertson. Other returnees include junior guard Shaun Noriega and junior forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who saw action in every game last season.

Sophomore Victor Rudd (Arizona State) will look to make an immediate impact after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Overall the Bulls return eight players who have seen action in 443 career games.

The Bulls are off to a good start and are 3-0 after coming off a 73-43 victory over Florida Southern College last Wednesday night.

Rudd is averaging 16.7 points per game to lead the team in scoring. Other double digit scorers are Gilchrist (12.7 ppg) and Ron Anderson (11.3 ppg). They are also number one and two in rebounding with Gilchrist averaging 9.3 boards per game and Anderson 9 rebounds per game.

Bucs Winslow is high risk low reward target

Action speaks louder than words, but stats don’t lie.

They might explain in part the Josh Freeman quandary.

The Tampa Bucs quarterback leads the NFL with 13 interceptions, after throwing only six last year.

Most disturbing is that nearly half of his picks (6) have come when he has thrown to tight end

His sideline arguments with Winslow have been well documented and it makes you wonder if the tight end is putting pressure on Freeman to throw him the ball in bad situations. The six picks when targeting Winslow is twice as much as any other Bucs player.

It’s time to break up this relationship, but the stubborn Winslow can’t accept reality.

Freeman has been picked off three times throwing to Arrelious Been and twice when Preston Parker has been his target.

Throwing to Winslow has become high risk with low reward.

He is averaging 3.4 yards after the catch and 9.1 yards per reception, which is well below the NFL norm.

Winslow was Freeman favorite last year, but everything comes to an end and it seems as if the surly tight end can’t accept it.

People laugh when Freeman says he is a better quarterback this year.

But he does have some factual ammunition to support an argument that he is victim of a poor receiving corps.

Among the regular starting NFL quarterbacks, Freeman and Michael Vick lead the league in most passes dropped by their receivers with 27 says PFF.

It doesn’t help that he Bucs Mike Williams is tied for second among NFL receivers with eight drops. Williams is only averaging 3.4 yards after the catch, which ranks among the bottom third in the league and is catching 54.2 percent of the balls thrown to him, which also ranks him among the lowest in that category.

Could Lakewood Ranch football team get free pass into second round of playoffs

This could be better than anything the Lakewood Ranch football team could have imagined entering practice this week.

The FHSAA is looking into whether Armwood, the Mustangs first round playoff opponent this Friday, might have used an ineligible player, according to a Tampa Tribune report.

The request for clarification on the player was initiated by the school after a televised report questioned the eligibility of a starting offensive lineman because he did not satisfy residence requirements, the report said.

If the FHSAA determines the player was ineligible Armwood could have to forfeit all its games and would be knocked out of the playoffs. At this late date, it could mean a free pass into the second round for Lakewood Ranch (5-5).

How big it this. Well undefeated Armwood is ranked second in the country and just doesn't beat teams. It pulverizes them. Armwood has outscored its opponents by a combined 410-35 and beat teams 68-0, 80-0, 54-6 and 54-6.

Manatees take on country's second ranked team in SCF Classic

BRADENTON- The State College of Florida Basketball Classic tips off today at the Hal Chasey Gymnasium with the host Manatees facing nationally touted Monroe College (NY) in the nightcap.

Eight teams will participate in the classic that will run Friday through Sunday. Monroe, which finished third in the country last year with a 31-5 record, is ranked second in the latest National Junior College poll.

Other out of state teams include ASA Institute (New York), which finished last year as the NCAA Region IV runner-up and prep school powers ABCD Prep of Texas and Southeast Academy from Michigan.

The rest of the field includes Daytona State College, Indian River and Broward College.

Tickets cost $7 per day or $15 for the entire tournament.

Free Admission will be given to Veterans on Friday, Youth basketball players from the Manatee and Sarasota County YMCAs on Saturday and members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on Sunday, the school said.

The Schedule:

Friday:

2 pm Indian State College vs Southwest Academy (Michigan)

4 pm Daytona State College vs ABCD Prep (Texas)

6 pm ASA (New York) vs Broward College

8 pm State College of Florida vs Monroe College (NY)

Saturday

2 pm ASA vs Southwest Academy

4 pm Monroe College vs Daytona State

6 pm Broward College vs ABCD prep

8 pm State College of Florida vs Indian River

Sunday

11 am Southwest Academy vs ABCD Prep

1 pm Indian River vs Monroe College

3 pm SCF vs ASA