Florida College Shootout Scores

The screech of tennis shoes and the sound of leather bouncing against wooden floors echoed from Conn Gymnasium again as the Florida College basketball program hosted the FC Shootout – a team camp for high school basketball programs – from June 5 through June 7.

Coach Robb Mitchell and Assistant Coach Derek Stewart organized and ran the team camp, which involved six high schools from the four counties that surround FC. The schools represented were: Seffner Christian Academy, Leto, Sickles, Chamberlain, Countryside, and Wesley Chapel. Sickles High School was the winner of Saturday’s championship game.

Teams played at least two games a day on both Thursday and Friday, and participated in a tournament on Saturday morning. The participating teams’ coaches were present for instruction, and games were refereed by FC coaches and players, both past and present.

The purpose of the Shootout was twofold. First, it gave the community exposure to the college and specifically the basketball program. Second, it served a recruiting function by introducing FC’s coaches to several potential students and future talent in the area.

FC has held individual basketball camps before, but this was the first time for a team camp. Coach Mitchell went to team camps frequently in his high school days, and Coach Stewart used to be a high school coach in the county himself, so both men had plenty of experience with the concept.

Coach Mitchell stressed that one of the greatest parts about the Shootout was that it gave publicity for the school to a lot of students and their parents. “Some parents came through our doors for the first time ever,” Mitchell said.