The seven finalists for the 2020 Florida Mr. Basketball award were revealed Monday following balloting by a statewide panel of prep media members and high school coaches.
The following were named classification Player of the Year:
7A: 2020 guard Ga’Khari LaCount, Miami Coral Park (recently de-committed from Lynn University)
6A: 2020 guard Dionte Bostick (formerly Blanch), Tarpon Springs East Lake (Murray State)
5A: 2022 guard Emanuel Sharp, Tampa Blake
4A: 2020 forward Isaiah Adams, Jacksonville Paxon (UCF)
3A: 2020 power forward Yussif Basa-Ama, Boca St. Andrew’s (Yale)
2A: 2022 forward Ven-Allen Lubin, Orlando Christian Prep
1A: 2020 guard Marcus Niblack, Wildwood (Ole Miss)
Duke freshman Vernon Carey Jr., out of Davie University School, won the award the past two seasons. Carey led the Sharks to back-to-back Class 5A state titles and berths at GEICO Nationals.
Basa-Ama and Lubin were the only two Players of the Year to also win state championships.
LaCount averaged 31 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists while leading Miami-Dade County in scoring.
Bostick put up 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists in leading East Lake to a berth at state.
The 6-4 Sharp, just a sophomore, averaged 31.9 points a game.
The versatile Adams — a 6-6 talent with inside and outside skills — averaged a double-double (24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks) in getting Paxon to the final four. He held the largest margin of victory in balloting among the seven finalists (91 votes).
Basa-Ama heads to the Ivy League after going for 15.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks
The two closest races were in the smallest two classes. In 2A, Lubin won over Canterbury’s Percy Pederson by just 12 votes. In Class A, Niblack defeated Hilliard’s Jacob Crews by 13.
The following finished second and third, respectively, in the Player of the Year voting:
7A: Giancarlo Rosado, Palm Beach Lakes; Justin Neely, Miami Senior
6A: Devin Carter, Doral Academy; Jordan Sears, Daytona Mainland
5A: Max Jones, Clearwater; Dallas Graziani, Pembroke Pines Charter
4A: Hunter Hogland, Hudson; Deebo Coleman, West Nassau
3A: Matt Bennett, Neumann; Logan West, Andrew Jackson
2A: Percy Pederson, Canterbury; A.J. Lopez, Miami Schoolhouse Prep
1A: Jacob Crews, Hilliard; Torey Buie, Hawthorne
If you have high school or travel basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer at PatALammer@Gmail.com
