The 2009-10 season started extremely rough for St John Neumann, a small catholic private school in Naples, when long time head coach Tony Grasso's life took a turn for the worse just days before the Celtics were set to play their first game. Coach Grasso suffered a stroke on Sunday the 22nd of November, less than 48 hours before his team was to play Canterbury in their season opener.
Grasso had already fought to beat cancer in 2004 and everyone at St John Neumann's expects him to pull through in time again.
In the interim, varsity assistant and head junior varsity coach, John Wholihan, stepped in and the Celtics have stepped up in a big way. The Celtics are currently 16-4, with wins over Seacrest, Immokalee, Lely, and Naples. Just a 2A school, wins over bigger programs in Naples is something the Celtics had struggled with at times in the past, but this year's team is different. As a result, coach Wholihan was selected by his area coaching peers as the FACA District 16 Class 2A Coach of the Year on Sunday, edging Greg Donahue from Community School of Naples, who's team is 17-3.
"It's bittersweet," said Wholihan when asked Sunday evening about winning the award "It's an honor to win the award, but with the circumstances it's a little bittersweet." Wholihan went to visit Coach Grasso, who was at rehabilitation, after getting the news and he told us that the first thing the coach told him was, "That's great, you deserve it." Wholihan told us that during his visit Sunday, Coach Grasso even moved his legs for the first time since the stroke, and that his speech continues to improve. Maybe just more motivation for the Celtics to keep pushing forward this season.
"It's a sad situation to see a friend go through tough times, but it is definitely a motivator," Wholihan said. "You leave there saying to yourself, 'If he can work that hard, then so can we."
The other awards given out were easy to see in some cases and a little tougher in others.
In Class 1A, Seacrest swept the lot with head coach Bob Madden taking the Coach award and Brunes Charles taking the Player of the Year honors. Seacrest has had a great season thus far with their only losses coming to Community School twice, state ranked Tampa Prep, and most recently to St. John Neumann. Madden and Charles helped lead the Stingrays to the Lighthouse Christian Christmas Tournament championship in December and they're hoping to capture their first district title in school history this year, after finishing as runner-up to Community School of Naples last season, when they were still in class 2A. Charles is currently ranked #2 in the SWFL Hoops class of 2010 rankings and is still deciding his future when it comes to college, but has received interest from North Florida, UNC-Wilmington, North Dakota, Clayton State, Case Western, and more.
In Class 2A, Wholihan took the coach's award as mentioned, and Community School's Mitch Woods took home the POY honors. Woods is currently ranked #1 in the SWFL Hoops class of 2010 rankings and has led the Seahawks to a 17-3 record on the season thus far, which has earned them the #4 ranking in the latest Class 2A state polls. He has already signed to play basketball at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina which competes in the Big South Conference.
In Class 3A, Dunbar High's Andre McGill takes the award for Coach of the Year as he currently has his squad sitting at 13-6 overall and 5-0 in district play, despite his team being riddled with injuries all season long. Of the Tigers 6 losses, all of them came to out of the area opponents, and three of them were without senior David Paulk. The Player of the Year for 3A is Bishop Verot senior guard Jacquard Hagan. Verot has had its share of ups and downs this year, more so than in recent years, but Hagan has been one of the pieces that has remained consistent. The 6'1 guard leads his team in 3 of the 4 main categories, averaging 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.4 steals per game, while he is third on the team in scoring averaging 10.7 points per contest. His roll as the team's best marksman has decreased, but this is most likely due to the fact that he has taken on the task of running the team full-time now with the loss of last year's point guard Brennen Melvin, who is now playing at Fordham University.
In Class 4A, there is the largest amount of SWFL school's represented and so this was the tighest race for the Player of the year selection. Riverdale senior guard Denzel Hagan needed a revote to edge East Lee senior Derick Yepes for POY honors, and it would have been deserved either way. However, Hagan has definitely shown he deserves the recognition, as he does a lot of everything for his team. He is currently averaging 19 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals a game. Hagan recently returned from an unofficial visit to Jacksonville University and has also received interest from Division 2 and 3 schools thus far. Choosing the COY award could not have been much easier, and Scott Guttery of Fort Myers took the honors. We did not get the official count on the votes but you would have to think Mariner's James Harris (16-6), Golden Gate's Joe Consolino (13-4), East Lee's Justin Woodcox (13-6), and Palmetto Ridge's Joe Rader (12-6) all had a legit chance. However, Guttery is more than deserving, having led his Green Wave to a 14-5 record currently, including an undefeated record versus local opponents thus far and just one loss to a Florida team in general. He led Ft Myers to a 2-2 record in the prestigious City of Palms tournament, with wins over two teams expected to be top favorites to win their respective state titles. Fort Myers themselves are thought to be favorites to reach the 4A Final Four for the first time since 2003, when the team was coached by Ed O'Brien.
In Class 5A, the area's #1 team, Charlotte, swept the awards with head coach Tom Massolio taking COY and senior forward Nick Goshay winning the POY award. Even though there were only 2 other teams in the running to choose from in Port Charlotte and Gulf Coast, there is a good chance the award winners would not have wavered regardless. Goshay is of course in the running for SWFL Hoops POY, and has been the catalyst to a 19-1 squad who recently secured the #1 seed in the upcoming district 5A-10 tournament. He is so much more than the big time numbers he puts up, as he is a leader on and off the court most importantly. The average that stands out maybe more than the 19 points and 9 rebounds a game on the court, is 4.29, which is his overall GPA in school to date. As for COY, Massolio and his Tarpons are using this season to make up for last year. After winning reaching the Regional Finals in 2008, the Tarpons finished just 13-13 last year and did not make the playoffs. This season their sites are set on getting their district title back and hopefully make a deep run into the playoffs, and potentially even reaching the State Final Four for the first time in Massolio's career.
The FACA District 16 includes Collier, Lee, and Charlotte Counties and the awards are voted on by the head coaches.
Class 1A
Coach of the Year - Bob Madden, Seacrest Country Day (Naples)
- Current Record (14-4 overall, 8-0 District 1A-10)
Player of the Year - Brunes Charles, 6'2, G, senior, Seacrest Country Day (Naples)
- Current Averages - 18.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.2 steals, 1.1 blocks
Class 2A
Coach of the Year - John Wholihan, St. John Neumann High School (Naples)
- Current Record (16-4 overall, 6-2 District 2A-12)
Player of the Year - Mitch Woods, 6'4, PG, senior, Community School of Naples
- Current Averages - 18.7 points, 6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.6 steals
Class 3A
Coach of the Year - Andre McGill, Dunbar High School (Fort Myers)
- Current Record (13-6 overall, 5-0 District 3A-12)
- Ranked #12 in current SWFL Hoops Team Rankings
Player of the Year - Jacquard Hagan, 6'1, G, senior, Bishop Verot High School (Fort Myers)
- Current Averages - 10.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.4 steals
Class 4A
Coach of the Year - Scott Guttery, Fort Myers High School
- Current Record (14-5 overall, 8-0 District 4A-11)
- Ranked #2 in current SWFL Hoops Team Rankings
Player of the Year - Denzel Hagan, 5'11, PG, senior, Riverdale High School
- Current Averages - 19 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Class 5A
Coach of the Year - Tom Massolio, Charlotte High School
- Current Record (19-1 overall, 7-1 District 5A-10)
- Ranked #1 in current SWFL Hoops Team Rankings
Player of the Year - Nick Goshay, 6'4, F, senior, Charlotte High School
- Current Averages - 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.5 steal, 64% FG
2009-10 FACA District 16 Awards Announced
January 25, 2010
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