After leading St. Patrick High School to national prominence over the past two decades, Kevin Boyle has no intention of slowing down at his new home.
Boyle, who shocked many in the basketball world by leaving St. Pat’s for Montverde (Fla.) Academy in April, told SNY.tv that 6-foot-11, 263-pound center Dakari Johnson is coming to Montverde.
“He’s enrolled at the school,” Boyle said by phone.
One of the top prospects in the Class of 2014, Johnson spent his freshman season at St. Pat’s, which was ranked No. 1 nationally before losing to arch-rival St. Anthony in the North Non-Public B title game at Rutgers.
Johnson, who is being courted by Kentucky, Syracuse and Georgetown, among others, will be part of a loaded Montverde team that Boyle says is every bit as good as his Celtics teams of recent years.
“We’ve had great teams at St. Pat’s over the years,” Boyle said. “We’ve been 2, 3, 5 and 6 nationally in the last four years and this team is potentially as good as any of those teams.”
Along with Johnson, Montverde will feature 6-foot 2013 point guard Kasey Hill, who was named MVP of the adidas Invitational after leading his Florida Rams Black 17s team to the title.
Hill picked up offers from Kentucky, Florida, Louisville, Florida State, Miami, and Kansas State in the wake of the performance.
Montverde also has added 6-4 Florida commit Michael Frazier, who transfered from Tampa Plant.
Frazier averaged 29.7 points as a junior and has 1,902 career points.
“He’s a great shooter,” Boyle said. “I have not seen yet. He’s a real good student, a very good academic student.”
Montverde has students from 42 countries and the basketball team will reflect that.
Playing for the Puerto Rican U16 team at the recent FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico, Miguel Cartegena dropped 36 points in a win over Canada and averaged a tournament-best 22.4 points a game.
Patricio Garino, a 6-5 small forward from Argentina, averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Argentina U19 team in the recent FIBA World Championships in Latvia. His high-scoring game was 21 points in a 81-76 victory over Croatia.
Montverde also has Landry Nnoko, a 6-11 big man from Cameroon who picked up an offer from Louisville, Boyle said.
As far as scheduling, Boyle’s team can only leave the state once during the year, per Florida state guidelines, and they are locked into games in Tennessee with Memphis White Station and Ridgeway.
They will also play in the City of Palms, various other events in Florida and potentially the ESPN Rise national championship.
“I’ve had more people call that school to attend in a short period of time,” Boyle said. “It’s a tremendous academic school with a safe community. We should really compete for the national title with that team.”
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