After the trials and tribulations of a 2020-2021 season affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, student-athletes and coaches alike reveled in a "normal" annual Media Day at the Winston Family YMCA in downtown Jacksonville Tuesday.
"Wayyyy better this year!" Orange Park senior and Jacksonville University commit Josiah Sabino smiled. "Last year's it was less crowded, less people, less interactive booths due to COVID. This year, it's really well set-up."
Sabino, the first local JU commitment in a decade -- and the first D1 pledge the Raiders have had in about the same time period -- was among the headliners at the annual event.
"When Media Day comes, I feel like basketball season is here," third-year Bishop Snyder head coach Russell Powell grinned. "It's just great to see all the teams here, see all the different schools that maybe you haven't seen since 2019."
The major, developing story coming out of Tuesday's festivities regarded the highest-rated recruit in Florida's Class of 2023: Arkansas commit Taliah Scott. After leading Oakleaf to the Final Four last season (and playing at Bolles her freshman season), the five-star Scott quietly transferred to St. John's Country Day three weeks ago. On Tuesday, there was Scott, decked out in the Lady Spartans' Carolina blue-and-white for the first time.
"Early first quarter, I started thinking of new places I wanted to go to, and my brother was already coming to St. John's," the junior said. Scott is currently the ninth-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2023. "As a family, we decided it would be a better fit for me to go there."
St. John's Country Day head coach Yolanda Bronston found out just as abruptly of Scott's transfer as most: she received a phone call three weeks ago, and the wheels were put into motion.
"I've known Taliah since she was in middle school," Bronston explained. "My associate head coach here was one of her first basketball coaches. The relationship with Taliah and the Scott family run deeper than most people think."
Practices for the upcoming FHSAA high school basketball season can officially begin on October 25. The first games are set for November 15.