One of the more established programs in talent-rich South Florida, SFL Elite has the look of a group that should be able to challenge for a lot of accolades this coming travel season. We caught up with Head Coach Cedric Smith to discuss the team.
“I think this will be one of our better teams as we are very athletic one through twelve on the roster”, said Smith. “We have good size, both inside and out, and each player has the ability to score the ball. Playing on the Adidas Gauntlet Silver circuit, we will be challenged each time out but I believe these guys are both talented and tough enough, individually and collectively, to consistently get to the winners’ circle.”
Wylie Howard, a 6’11 junior from Boyd Anderson in Fort Lauderdale will anchor the inside. Alongside him will by 6’7 junior Christopher Spenkuch from Miami Norland, 6’6 junior Brandon Brivio from Boca Raton Christian, and 6’5 junior Yves Fleuranvil from Royal Palm Beach.
“Wylie is long and does a good job of patrolling the paint”, stated Smith. “He’s got a nice touch out to the free throw line and short corners. Spenkuch comes from a winning program at Norland. He’s an athletic lefty that runs the floor and attacks the basket. Brivio is a native of Switzerland. He’s an excellent rebounder with an ability to stretch the defense at the offensive end of the court. Fleuranvil is a stretch four that plays above the rim. He also excels in transition.”
Along the perimeter, Smith will have a lot of options to choose from. 6’2 junior Todd Johnson of Boyd Anderson, 6’2 junior Kenny Anderson from Weston Cypress Bay, 6’2 junior twins Gedeon and Gethro Germinal from Jupiter Christian, 6’3 junior Blair Cleare from South Broward, 6’4 junior Floyd Rideau from Melbourne Holy Trinity and sophomores 6’4 Kirt Bromley of Boca Raton St. John Paull II and 5’10 Dominick Denny from North Broward Prep.
“Johnson is a solid athlete with range on his shot”, Smith said. “Anderson has a high basketball IQ and is really good at taking guys off the dribble and knocking down mid-range shots. The Germinal twins excel at football also, so they bring toughness to the court. They both are very good at attacking the basket. Cleare can score from all three levels and uses his athleticism well on the defensive end. Rideau is a combo guard with good court vision and understanding of the game. He excels at breaking down the defense with the dribble and making plays. Bromley will provide us with another athletic shooter while Denny is a solid point guard that handles the ball and sees the court well.”
In April, the team will take part in the Indy Hoops, Southern Jam Fest and Adidas Gauntlet events in Dallas and Atlanta.
In July, SFL Elite will be in the Adidas Finale, AAU Nationals and both the Fab 48 and Bigfoot Hoops out in Las Vegas.