Daequon Montreal commits to....

[Greg Auman]

It's Toarlyn. Had to look it up, but I covered him four years ago as an eighth-grader in state playoffs ...

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/25/Sports/Lancers_find_going_to.shtml

[NormalBull]

Dang Greg, have you covered EVERYBODY at some point in their sporting lives?  You probably still have the dude's cell phone number from when he was in the 8th grade. 

Normal

[The New "U"]

I know USF was high on him, so this speaks to their interest in Fitzpatrick. It could be that they're comparable, and USF likes having a four-year player instead of two. Another tiebreaker: building local ties -- this would be their first Hillsborough signee in four years.

I hadn't thought about that. I don't know why you don't go after both though. It'd be nice to start recruiting some HS players with talent rather than almost exclusively getting transfers and juco players (or lucking out with players like DoJo).

This guy doesn't seem all that talented though what with originally going to the great Georgia Southern and all..

[Mama_Bull]

April 20, 2009

Fitzpatrick granted release from Georgia Southern

King basketball player Toarlyn Fitzpatrick has been granted his release from Georgia Southern, a school spokeman confirmed to the Times on Monday.

Fitzpatrick, the Times All-Suncoast Boys Basketball Player of the Year, led the Lions to their best season in school history, which included a 21-game winning streak, a 23-7 record and King's first trip to the state final four.

Georgia Southern assistant athletic director for media relations Patrick Osterman confirmed that Fitzpatrick has been released from his scholarship.

"The decision has been made to release Toarlyn from his NLI (National Letter of Intent)," Osterman said.

He committed to Georgia Southern in early October and officially signed in a month later, but King coach Sam Lanier said Fitzpatrick asked for his release after Eagles coach Jeff Price resigned three weeks ago after leading the team for the past 10 years. Georgia Southern was 8-22 this past season.

"Most of the time, one of the main reasons a kid chooses a university is because of the coach," Lanier said. "They like the university of course but the coach is the one forming a relationship with the kid. I think Toarlyn and his family felt strong enough about that to make a decision."

The 6-foot-7 Fitzpatrick averaged 14.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 blocks, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals a game as a senior for the Lions.

One possible destination for Fitzpatrick is USF. He would be the first Hillsborough County product to play for the Bulls since Zaronn Cann came out of Brandon in 2004.

-- EDUARDO A. ENCINA.

Posted by Times Editor at 4:47:03 PM on April 20, 2009

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