Fort Myers High School head coach Scott Guttery took over the Green Wave program with a mission, to get them back to the final four and put them in place to win a state title. Well, he went ahead and took care of both of those objectives in one shot, leading the Wave to the 4A State Championship with a 59-57 win over Oak Ridge (Orlando) in the title game. The title was the first for any boy's basketball team in Lee County and in turn Guttery and his team garnered a lot of high honors from the local community, such as meeting with the Mayor this past Monday.
On Friday, the state started dishing out their honors, and Guttery garnered one of theirs as well, being recognized at the Class 4A Coach of the Year for all of Florida. With the award, he is now a finalist with the other 5 winners from each respective class for the overall Florida Coach of the Year award.
In the same press release, the list of Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball finalists were announced, which is made up of the players of the year from each of the six classes. Those players and a short bio on each is listed below. Most notably, the 6A POY was the City of Palms Classic two-time defending MVP Austin Rivers. Brandon Knight, ranked by some publications as the top player in the country in the class of 2010, was named the 3A POY. Rivers and Knight are widely considered to be the clear leaders to fight it out for the coveted Mr. Basketball award. University of Florida freshman Kenny Boynton won the award last season while playing for American Heritage, while Knight was passed over, but took home the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award.
Here are the classification winners with bios provided from Friday’s press release:
Finalists for Coach-of-the-Year include:
Reggie Kohn, Orlando Christian Prep, 6th Year, Class 1A Coach-of-the-Year.
- In his second year, coach Kohn led Orlando Christian Prep to a 28-4 record and back-to-back Class 1A state championships. He has a record of 58-6 at Christian Prep and a career record of 168-28.
Jim Martin, Jacksonville Providence, 11th year, Class 2A Coach-of-the-Year.
- Providence had a 29-1 record, and won the Class 2A state championship. Coach Martin’s teams have made four regional finals, one Final Four appearance and won a state title (2010). He has a career record of 267-59.
Eli Bryant, Tallahassee Rickards, 5th year, Class 3A Coach-of-the-Year.
- Rickards had a 29-0 record and won the Class 3A state championship. In his five years at Rickards, coach Bryant’s teams have won two district titles, made one Final Four appearance and won a state title (2010). He has a career record of 109-20.
Scott Guttery, Fort Myers, 6th year, Class 4A Coach-of-the-Year.
- Fort Myers finished 28-5 and won the Class 4A state championship. Coach Guttery’s teams have won three district titles and a state title (2010). At Fort Myers he has a record of 75-18 and a career record of 97-71.
Terrence McGriff, Bartow, 8th year, Class 5A Coach-of-the-Year.
- Bartow had a 26-5 record and won the Class 5A state championship. In his eight years at Bartow, coach McGriff’s teams have won two district titles, made two Final Four appearances and won a state title (2010). He has a career record of 129-97.
David Bailey, Winter Park, 8th Year, Class 6A Coach-of-the-Year.
- Winter Park had a 29-5 record and won the Class 6A state championship. In his eight years at Winter Park, coach Bailey’s teams have won four district titles, made three Final Four appearances and won a state title (2010). He has a record of 108-20 at Winter Park and a career record of 176-131.
Finalists for Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball include:
Austin Rivers, Winter Park, junior, 6A Player-of-the-Year (Committed to Florida)
- Rivers averaged 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game while shooing 52 percent from the floor and 68 percent from the free throw line in leading his team to a 28-5 record and the Class 6A state title. Rivers is his school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,874 points.
Jeremiah Samarippas, Bartow, senior, 5A Player-of-the-Year.
- Samarippas averaged 11.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 80 percent from the free throw line in leading his team to a 26-5 record and the Class 5A title.
Cady Lalanne, Orlando Oak Ridge, senior, 4A Player-of-the-Year (Committed to Georgia)
- Lalanne averaged 20.9 points, 12.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 56 percent from the floor and 64 percent from the free throw line in leading his team to a 24-9 record and the Class 4A state championship game.
Brandon Knight, Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, senior, 3A Player-of-the-Year (Undecided)
- Knight averaged 33.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 83 percent from the free throw line in leading his team to a 25-5 record and to the Class 3A state championship game. He holds school career records for scoring (3,472), 3-pointers (368) and assists (700) and is Broward County’s all-time leading scorer with 3,472 points.
Patric Young, Jacksonville Providence, senior, 2A Player-of-the-Year (Signed to Florida)
- Young averaged 12.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 65 percent from the floor in leading his team to a 32-1 record and the Class 2A state title.
Josh Castelanos, Orlando Christian Prep, senior, 1A Player-of-the-Year
- Castelanos averaged 9.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 75 percent from the free throw line in leading his team to a 28-4 record and the Class 1A state title.
Fort Myers' Guttery Named 4A COY and Finalist for Florida Coach of the Year
March 19, 2010
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