JACKSONVILLE - At the Jacksonville High School 9:12 Media Day basketball gathering at the Winston YMCA, it was obvious that basketball was the hot topic, but it was also obvious that Fleming Island High's team will feature a four-pack of some very tall guys, led by returning center Carson Crawford, who now peaks at 6 feet 7 inches with a newly groomed head of hair rising three inches off his skull. 

"We are loving the fact that the basketball state championships are going to be in Jacksonville the next few years; like our backyard," said Crawford, who guided Fleming Island to a 23-6 record with a second round region out to Leon. "Ryan Turner, from Bishop Snyder, comes in at 6 feet 6 inches, Ayden Greenidge comes back at 6 feet 4 inches, Bryce Robinson, short guy at 6 feet 3 inches, is the main traffic control guy on the court with a new freshman coming in, Jalil Hill, at about 6 feet 9 inches, a Providence guy." 

The idea of a foursome under the basketball for coach Traavis Chandler is a daunting look for the Golden Eagles. 

"We added Ryan Turner, a 6-foot-4-inch guard from Bishop Snyder," Chandler said. "We got Nate Lowery as our three point guy again." 

For preseason, Chandler plans on a visit to Andrew Jackson Nov. 14-15 to take on a couple state contenders in Stranahan out of Fort Lauderdale, the defending 4A champions, and Central Florida Christian Academy out of Ocoee, a 1A region finalist. 

"We are going to possibly have 9-10 running guys," Chandler said. "We have great depth." 

For the Fleming Island girls basketball, with lead scorer Gianna Crawford back and with Seven Gourdet, both returning sophomore starters, Kristina Gallagher and Amira Martin on hand in Jacksonville, will be packed with returning players for 2025. 

"We're all returning with better conditioning after a long summer," Crawford said. "We have two big shoes to fill with Devyn (Dudones) and Victoria (Nobles) graduated." 

According to assistant coach Molly Ragle, the 2025 team is going to be a lot more aggressive on the court. 

 
"These four bring a lot to the table, height and physicality, with Seven one of the best all around athletes in Clay County," said Ragle, noting a preseason classic with Providence to start the season. "We haven't quite worked the point guard in, but Angel Pierce is good player coming back." 

One team looking to return to historical success are the Oakleaf girls basketball with senior Destini Williams and returning sophomore Nyla Parson's simple proclamation. 

"Defense, we are going to be playing some fast and furious defense," said Parsons, noting the coach Fred Cole's forte of running opposing teams up and down the court is going to be their style of play. "We know what the Oakleaf history is and want to add to that." 

For Cole, the level of readiness is just about ready to go.
"Right now, we can go about seven deep that can go full tilt," Cole said. "We got two more we are working on, then we'll be ready to go."
Cole, who has a handful of deep region and Final Four runs on his resume, hopes the tradition of Oakleaf girls hoops can inspire his bench. 

"We want to bring that back to our gym," Cole said. “We know the formula. We try not to talk about it a lot because this is a different team, but we owned the gym."

At Orange Park, with coach Derek Kurnitsky looking to Chuck 'n Duck back into the state playoffs after an 11-15 season last year. One guy on the radar is 6-foot-5-inch senior center Josiah Bell. 

"We want to set a statement by bringing the program back that we had when we got here," said Bell, who played throughout the summer with the Raiders playing at home and also at Ribault in summer leagues. "Me, Marcus Bullock, Markell Campbell and ...want to turn it around this year." 

For the Orange Park girls, coach Michael Nesmith sees last year's district title and region quick finish as the first step to moving deeper in 2025. 

 
"Last year, we had some unknown good freshmen players; Ellen Crowe, Trinity Dinkins and Kai Longmire, who all come back as Sensational Sophomores," Nesmith said. "We do have senior guard Mariah Young coming back to lead the team as well. We've added some new people too including Bella Brown from Ridgeview." 

Nesmith's group of sophomores on hand in Jacksonville; Crowe, Dinkins, Gabby Mallory, all had the look of excitement to get the season started. 

"We have been together as a team for the last few years between here and junior high," said another Sensational Sophomore in guard Gabby Mallory. "Our front line; Kai, Ellen and Trinity are all weapons for me to pass to." 

The other team in that district championship game was Ridgeview High School, who now has just one more Blocton to play; Narissa, who is now on the cross country team to improve her running stamina on the court. Ridgeview finished 20-6 with a region semifinal finish after the loss to Orange Park in the district final. Blocton had junior teammate Lily-Ann Powell by her side. 

"We have a very young team and it will be a rebuild season for us," said Blocton, noting an FSU preseason visit. "Of course, I miss my sisters, but I have to be the leader this year."

For the boys, who under first-year coach Isaiah Jackson, finished strong at the season's end with four wins in the two weeks of the season, want to improve on that finish. Jackson came to Ridgeview after finishing with a 25-3 record as a senior in 2014 at The Villages Charter High School in The Villages near Ocala. As a college player at Providence College, Jackson played in three NCAA tournaments and also scored 1,000 points as a Friar. 

On tap in Jacksonville were Marion Dupont, Gavin Stechschulte and Justyn Cappas representing the Panthers. 

 
"Our coach is a very disciplined teacher on the court," said Stuchschulte, a 6-foot-5-inch forward. "We're looking to win our district this year. It's time for Ridgeview to bring back the history of this program." 

Football players Treyvon Morene and Jordan Mesa will also join the team to bring some extra firepower to the hardwood. For Jackson, his second year is to build on the finish of last year. 

"We put in a lot of work last year that paid off at the end with a handful of wins," Jackson said. "We are going to focus on fundamentals and conditioning which starts in the off season. We've been at since June. The team had a 2-24 record for the past two years and we went 7-16 last year so it's going in the right direction." 

Keystone Heights boys and girls teams are looking to improve on last year's season records; 3-18 and 5-18, junior varsity players looking to step up. 

 
One team that will need to overcome some shock will be St. Johns Country Day School boys basketball who lose the scoring prowess of sophomore Camden Cooper to Nease High School.
"He decided to go to Nease and we hope the best for him," said Spartan coach Ian Gibson. "We will be moving people to fill that void." 

Gibson's void, a 20-points-per-game average will fall upon junior Erik Williams under the basketball, a formidable 6-foot-7-inch body in the lane, as the presence on the court.

"We will have to command the defense on the floor now," Gibson said. "Defense and toughness are what we are going to hang our hats on. Eric is a two year player." 

Gibson is relying on Williams up front to lead the guard Caden Rocco, a smaller guard looking to add his name to the scoring banners on the gym roof. 

For the Lady Spartans, scoring machine Kendall Proffitt returns as one of the more prolific shooters in the area with an outstanding 28.7 points per game with senior guard Sophia Mejias dishing and rebound powerhouse Ashanti Williams getting the rebounds. Spartan coach Tyler Miller knows the winning ways of basketball, but with just maybe seven or eight girls on his bench, the distribution of personnel is a key to durability and fourth quarter success.

"We want to get more offense from Ashanti to take some pressure off Kendall with Sophia leading the offense," Miller said. "We're telling her to shoot, shoot, get into the double digits." 

Miller's bench dilemma is something he has dealt with since taking the Spartan post.
"We just take our shots, play fast and keep our conditioning up in practice," said Miller, who loses just two seniors. "We will play Nease at Orange Park in preseason with Mandarin and Oakleaf now on our schedule. I want to challenge my team against some of the bigger schools." 

Final school visited was Oakleaf's girls team with Jayden Brant