Florida Friday

The top teams in Florida continue to roll as it looks again like one of the

strongest regions in the country. Chipola College, the nation's number 1

team has continued to play well improving it's record to 11-1. Daytona

Beach Community College is also off to a perfect start and has climbed to

number 10 in the national rankings.

Hillsborough Community College is a team that has been sliding under the

national radar. HCC has yet to lose a game and this week moved to third

place in the FCCAA coaches poll. The strong play of Ohio State signee

Othello Hunter has led the way, but Hunter has plenty of help. UTEP signees Tavaris Watts and Jeremy Sampson join Hunter to form one of the best frontcourts in the country.

Miami Dade College continues to play well, improving it's record to 11-1 on

the season after 2 wins this week. The Sharks, led by All-American candidate

Stuard Baldonado are a dangerous team after the return of sophomore guard

Xavier Dawson, who missed the first month of the season for academic reasons.

Coming this week

This week's big matchups will be Palm Beach CC going on the road Saturday to

do battle with St. Petersburg College. In a game that will feature probably

10 plus future Division I players St. Petersburg will look to big man

Kenneth Williams to dominate inside. Also on Saturday a very improved Pasco Hernando team will travel to Indian River to do battle with Alton Hart and company. Don't forget next week, December 16 and 17, the Florida Juco

Shootout will take place. This event features 16 of the 21 teams in Florida

doing battle over a 2 day period. Eight teams will be playing in Daytona

Beach while the other eight will do battle in Ocala.

Player of the Week

Alton Hart

6-foot-5

215

Power Forward

Indian River CC

Hart continues to put up big numbers early for IRCC. The undersized post player is a force inside and is a definate mid-major Division I talent.

Hart is coming off a 22 point and 16 rebound performance against Manattee CC

leading IRCC to their fourth straight win. Hart plays much bigger than his size and is extremely strong inside. Academics are an issue, however, concerning his Division I eligibility.

Recruiting Notes

Freshman forward Calvin Henry from Miami Dade has been attracting interest from numerous mid-major programs. Henry, a 6-foot-7 forward, was a qualifier out of high school and has 3 years of eligibilty remaining if he decides to leave this year. A kid to keep an eye on is 6-foot-5 G/F Tavaris Nance from St. Petersburg College. I saw him play this weekend and think he may be a big sleeper. Nance is very skilled and athletic, with long arms,

and actually defends. Devin Harden from Santa Fe CC is a kid for all NAIA

schools to keep an eye on. He is a mid-major D1 player who will more than

likely be forced to go NAIA due to academics. Harden can really score the

ball and is an excellent defensive player.