Wesley Chapel Sports: Local Teams Set Sights on Postseason

It has been tough sledding at times for the Wesley Chapel High football team this season.

It would be an understatement to say that the Wesley Chapel High (WCH) football team has hit some potholes in the road.

The Wildcats lost their home opener to cross-town rival Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) by a touchdown. WCH lost its starting quarterback and top college prospect, Isaiah Bolden, to a shoulder injury in that game, and he was later dismissed from the team.

The ‘Cats suffered a demoralizing Class 5A, District 8 defeat at Anclote 27-10, as Florida State University recruit Chaz Neal was ejected and suspended for the next game against Ridgewood.

And, a rash of injuries has sapped the Wildcat roster down to the low 30s, even the high 20s on some days.

The Wildcats, however, remain in the playoff hunt, and they actually control their own destiny. At 4-1 in Dist. 5A-8 (and 6-2 overall), WCH has two crucial distrct games remaining — Oct. 20 at home against first-place Zephyrhills (5-0), and next week’s home finale against River Ridge, currently tied with Wesley Chapel for second with a 4-1 record.

Senior running backs Dexter Leverett and Malik Melvin are still a potent one-two punch. Leverett is closing in on another 1,000-yard season after running for 179 and two TDs in a 33-6 win over Ridgewood.

Senior linebacker Austen Wittish leads the county in tackles with 104 (and five sacks), and senior wideout-turned-quarterback Justin Trapnell has solidified the QB position since the loss of Bolden.

Along with the aforementioned standouts, sophomore receiver Jelani Vassell, junior tight end Tyler Wittish, junior lineman Seth Petty, and senior linemen Andrew Brooks and Matt Severson form a group that the team is rallying around.

“It’s a special group of guys that stick together and have true grit,” Wildcats head coach Tony Egan says. “There’s not one of them that takes a play off and I anticipate them all playing at the next level somewhere.”

“It’s been more responsibility these last couple of weeks but we tell each other to work hard and stay together,” Austen Wittish said. “We have to play together as a family.”

Bulls Also In The Hunt

After a season of narrow escapes, WRH finally lost its first game of the season Oct. 6 to Gaither by a 23-12 score, but bounced back with a 39-8 win over New Tampa’s Freedom and is currently 6-1.

The Bulls had opened their season with five straight wins, but only a 20-0 victory over New Tampa’s Wharton High was comfortable. The other four victories were by a combined total of 21 points. But the Bulls are in good shape for a second straight playoff berth, with tonight’s game against winless Leto, an Oct. 27 home game against Plant and Nov. 3’s season finale against Auburndale.

Cypress Creek Middle High (CCH), which won the first game it ever played 12-0 over Gulf, has found matching their hot start difficult.

The Coyotes, who play their last home game Oct. 27 against Mulberry, had been outscored 273-0 the past five games heading into tonight’s game at Springstead.

VolleyBulls Break Through

The WRH volleyball team had a breakout season. 

Wiregrass Ranch volleyball players (l.-r.) Jaizah Anderson, Carolina Eichelberger and Destanie Aydt led their team to an SAC title. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

Brimming with offensive firepower, the Bulls finished 20-6 – the second-best regular season record in school history — before losing a close 25-23, 26-24, 25-16 match to Wharton in the Class Class 8A, District 8 semifinals.

The Bulls’ offense carried them through a tough schedule and to a Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) championship, which they won 3-2 over Land O’ Lakes on October 10.

Three Wiregrass outside hitters are in triple-digit kills for the season. Juniors Jaizah Anderson and Destanie Aydt led the team heading into the postseason with 159 and 135 kills, respectively, while senior Caroline Eichelberger rang up 113 kills during the regular season.

“I’d like to say I developed them (the trio), but they came that way,” Wiregrass head coach Michelle Davis said. “We have a great feeder program in John Long Middle School and all three of those girls play on high-level club teams. It’s amazing talent coming in, I just have to fine tune it.”

The three didn’t even come all the way together until this year. Aydt and Eichelberger played together in 2016; Anderson transferred in from Fivay High in Hudson.

Now, the trio is a force to be reckoned with. Davis doesn’t even need to have all three on the floor at the same time, even though Eichelberger can play middle hitter with Aydt and Anderson on the outside. Davis often opts to rest one of her hitters to keep them fresh, in case a team like Land O’ Lakes (15-8) takes them the distance.

“It’s encouraging, we have not had this kind of power for years,” Eichelberger says

“It’s always good to have someone on the team who can back you up, even if you get into slumps,” Aydt says.

Lankton Making Waves

WRH’s boys’ swim team also is showing some promise.

SAC champ Doug Lankton

The Bulls are coming off of a fourth-place finish at the SAC meet, but even more promising is the rise of sophomore all-distance freestyler Doug Lankton.

Lankton won the 200-yard freestyle at conference and placed second in the 500 free. Lankton also led off the 4×100 freestyle relay for the Bulls that wound up taking second at the conference meet..

Lankton, even as a sophomore, brings experience to the Bulls as a veteran of the Pipeline swimming club under coach Rene Piper. He is sure to be a factor in his strongest events, the 200 and 500 freestyles, when the Bulls take to the water for districts on Wednesday, October 25, at the Bobby Hicks Pool in Tampa.

“We think he has chances in both events ,” Wiregrass boys coach Kyle Gramm says. “He’s just now coming up to his peak and cut five seconds from his 500-yard time at conference. It’s going to be exciting to see what he does at districts.”

Season Of Firsts For CCH

In its very first year of existence, everything accomplished at the new Cypress Creek Middle High School is a new school record.

CCH golf standout Jarrod Smith.

Sophomore boys golfer Jarrod Smith is helping to establish some of those records. Smith, who played for WCH as a freshman, is coming off a third-place finish at the SAC tourney held at Northdale Country Club.

Smith shot a two-over 74 and made First Team All-SAC. He is no stranger to the sport, having picked it up six years ago and making Second-Team All-SAC as a freshman at WCH. He is and will be the guy to watch at Cypress Creek.

“He is definitely our bright spot,” Cypress Creek boys coach Anthony Mitchell said. “It’s super exciting. Obviously, by this time next year and beyond, he’s going to be one of the favorites to win conference.”

Smith’s strong suit is his putting game. He hit a 30-foot putt for birdie on the 10th hole at the SAC championships to help secure his third-place finish. He led the Coyotes into the Class A, District 13 championships at the Eagles Club Golf Club in Odessa last weekend.

“I just try to go out and play the best round I can every day,” Smith said.

The Cypress Creek Middle High cross country teams enter their first postseason this week. (Photo: Gigante Productions)

CCH Cross Country Team Making Strides

In its very first year of existence, Meanwhile, the CCH cross country team, while tiny in its first year, has the benefit of veteran coaches coming over from WCH, where boys coach John Hoffman and girls coach Eliza Passardi coached together for three years.

“New facilities, new rubber track and it was exciting to be a part of a brand new program,” Passardi says.

The coaches didn’t even discuss coming over to CCH together, it just happened.

“I knew I was coming over but we didn’t talk about it,” Passardi said. “We had a great team at Chapel where, between the two of us, we went to states two of the last three years.”

The Coyotes, who are competing in Class 2A, District 7 meet in Weeki Wachee on Thursday, October 26, only have 11 cross country runners, with seven of them boys. But, Hoffman thinks he has a couple of runners who could advance to Regionals in sophomore Joe Vreeland and freshman John Rowsell.

There will certainly be a lot more attention drawn to the program as spring track season rolls around. Hoffman, already pegged for the head track coach position, will have the only eight-lane rubber track in Pasco County. CCH is already confirmed to host the conference track meet and Hoffman is trying to work out hosting a large invitational for the spring as well.

“Everything’s new here at the school, it’s a lot to put together,” Hoffman said. “We even already have the hurdles for the track, packed in boxes, unassembled.”

Pipeline Swimming Growing Into One Of Tampa Bay’s Biggest & Best Swim Clubs

Swimming has always been a part of Rene Piper’s life.

She was in the pool at age 4. She swam competitively in her youth, starred on her high school team in her native Indiana, and earned a scholarship to college. She cut her coaching teeth in Sarasota, where she was a successful club coach who also started the swimming program at Lakewood Ranch High, leading it to three high school county championships. Her daughters also have been college swimmers.

So, when she was asked to take over a loose collection of swimmers in New Tampa who couldn’t seem to keep a coach longer than six months, Rene jumped at the challenge.

What started as 11 swimmers in 2013 is now 111 strong as the Pipeline Swimming Club — which has its largest of three training locations at the pool at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club, has become Tampa Bay’s fastest-growing swim club.

It was a tragedy that originally brought Piper to Tampa Palms, as previous coach Alex Richardson left to take over at Westchase after its popular director of aquatics Kelley Allen was murdered, devastating the Tampa-area swimming community.

“They just wanted me to help,” Piper says. “There were four or five hundred swimmers (in Tampa) that were just in shock. Some of what we did was grief counseling.”

At the time, Piper was an assistant at St. Petersburg Aquatics under head coach Fred Lewis. Lewis had close ties to the Tampa club swimming community, and asked Piper if she wanted to head north and start the biggest and best swimming club in Tampa.

That may have seemed ludicrous, considering at the time there was some doubt about whether the club would even survive. Piper moved to Tampa Palms, just a half mile from the pool at the country club, and got to work.

“I really felt at home (in Tampa Palms),” Piper says. “They welcomed me in and after they’d gone through four coaches in three years. I saw it as a challenge to grow the team.”

Now, four-and-a-half years later, the club boasts 240 swimmers training at three different facilities in Tampa Palms, New Port Richey and Eastlake Woodlands.

Piper, who swam for legendary coach Doc Councilman at Indiana University in Bloomington, has brought in top coaches to help build the program and develop swimmers, like Peter Banks, former head coach and director of aquatics for the Brandon Swim & Tennis Club (BSAC) and the Blue Wave Swim Team. One of his former students, three-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Brooke Bennett, is also on the staff at Pipeline, as well as former FSU and South African National Team swimmer Jared Pike.

With that kind of instruction, Pipeline is shooting high.

“They had four coaches who all stayed around for six months and said there was no talent in Tampa Palms, and I thought that was absolutely not true,’’ Piper says. “We think we’ll have 6-8 kids going to Olympic trials in Omaha in 2019.”

West Meadows resident Vanessa Goldblum is one of the assistant coaches, and one of the rising stars in the Pipeline program is Goldblum’s daughter McKaley.

Goldblum swam for Banks’ Blue Wave swimming program for 11 years, starring for Durant High in Plant City and at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. McKaley is a sophomore on Freedom High’s swim team.

“The first time I brought McKaley here, she just loved it,” Goldblum said. “The sport is a huge part of our lives and having Peter (Banks) here is fantastic. The staff at Pipeline is amazing and it’s like we’re one, big, happy family.”

McKaley, unlike Piper, wasn’t in the pool at four years old. Rather, she was a volleyball player much of her young athletic life, and only came out for swimming this past January. However, her rise has been meteoric. Piper projects McKaley will be a finalist (in the top 8) at the high school state meet in either the 100m or 200m freestyle distances, or both.

At McKaley’s first high school meet of the season, she won both the 200m  freestyle and the 100m backstroke.

“At that first competition, I was scared,’’ McKaley says. “But I talked with the coaches and they made me feel comfortable. They push me, but I have a lot of support from them. They make me want to get up in the morning.”

Abigail Leisure, McKaley’s teammate at Freedom, also is a member of Pipeline. Leisure is particularly strong in the breaststroke and Piper thinks she’ll be in the top three in the state in the event. Pipeline also has swimmers competing for Wharton, King, all three Wesley Chapel high schools and others.

Carly Joerin, a 14-year-old Liberty Middle schooler, was one of the original 11 swimmers that Piper inherited at Tampa Palms. Her mother Tibbie Farnsworth says that without Piper, the program would have never survived, and because of Piper, her daughter has thrived.

“I think its their approach,’’ Farnsworth said. “They are involved in the kids’ lives. And they make it fun for the kids. It’s competitive, but it’s fun. They work hard because it’s fun. They brought in a great coaching staff that has the same philosophy.”

It’s the little touches, Farnsworth says, like noticing when someone has had their braces taken off, asking about a test in school or even having nicknames for the swimmers. When Carly showed up for 5 a.m. practice on Aug. 31, her 14th birthday, the coaches were there with a cake.

“Isn’t that awesome?,’’ Farnsworth says.

Pipeline isn’t just a club for competitive swimmers, Piper says. The club offers mommy-and-me swim classes for toddlers. There is a Scare D Cats program for adults who are non-swimmers. There are active Pipeline members from five years old to 64.

“Youth swimming programs are a perfect place to find an identity,” Pike said. “Being part of a club became my identity and I stuck with it. It teaches dedication, discipline, life lessons and there’s benefit to the social aspect of it. A swimming friend is a friend for life.”

Pipeline holds tryouts every Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club pool at 5811 Tampa Palms Blvd. For more information, visit PipelineSwimming.com, or call 941-737-4455.

Special: 2017 WESLEY CHAPEL AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Last year was a banner season for high school football in Wesley Chapel. Wiregrass Ranch High went 7-3 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2010, while Wesley Chapel High went 7-2 and just barely missed the postseason. There’s a new kid on the block this year, Cypress Creek Middle High, so expect things to get even more interesting in local “Friday Night Lights.” |  STORY and PHOTOS By Andy Warrener and John C. Cotey

WCH’s Isaiah Bolden is a lockdown CB and playmaker at QB.

WESLEY CHAPEL HIGH (7-2 last year, 5-2 in Class 5A, District 8)

If you had to rank the three teams in Wesley Chapel to start the season, the Wildcats would have to be No. 1. They have lots of experience, and while they will likely feel the effects of losing players to Cypress Creek in the coming years, it won’t be this season.

WCH is locked and loaded. The Wildcats lost their two biggest games last season, key district meetings against Zephyrhills and River Ridge in back-to-back weeks, but still won seven games in 2017, or, one more game than they had in four previous seasons….combined!

Head coach Tony Egan enters his second season at WCH with some holes to fill on the offensive and defensive lines, but has some prime talent at key positions.

Oregon and Florida State recruit Isaiah Bolden, a top DB prospect, will also play QB this year. Bolden’s ability to run makes a rushing attack that accumulated more than 2,200 yards and 32 touchdowns on the ground even more dangerous.

But he can throw a little too, and completed all of his spring passes to WR Justin Trapnell, including a 58-yard touchdown.

RB Dexter Leverett, a 1,249-yard rusher last season, could repeat or improve upon his 2016 numbers, though he may not have to, with Bolden and backfield mate Malik Melvin, who also has 1,000-yard potential.

Junior OL Seth Petty, senior LB Austen Wittish and Melvin, who also plays DB, were all All-Sunshine Athletic Conference performers last year.

The icing on the cake, however, could be DE Chaz Neal, a transfer from Armwood, arguably the best high school team in all of Tampa Bay. A 6-foot-9, 270-lb. FSU recruit, Neal will force teams to gameplan around him.

River Ridge and Zephyrhills will again be the teams to beat in Class 5A, District 8, but they have to travel to Wesley Chapel this year; in other words, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Wildcats beat them both of them!

Kwesi Littlejohn

WIREGRASS RANCH HIGH (7-3 last year, 5-1 in 7A-8)

In the spring, WRH looked like a team well on its way to repeating, if not exceeding, last year’s breakout season. But, the transfer bug took a big bite out of the team during the summer.

The Bulls saw a trio of key players depart — Shamaur McDowell, a DB that has orally committed to the University of Minnesota, transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton; last year’s leading rusher, Da Da McGee (1,063 yards, 11 TDs), transferred to Hillsborough High; QB/S Raymond Woodie III, who has 20+ Division I offers, moved to Oregon with his father, who is the Ducks linebackers coach.

Between the three players, that’s a ton of multi-position talent to lose. But, head coach Mark Kantor thinks he has the pieces to fill in the puzzle for the Bulls.

Senior RB Kwesi Littlejohn will take over for McGee, after carrying the ball five times for 100 yards in limited action last year. Paxon High (in Jacksonville) transfer Mason Buie also will get some touches.

FB/LB Chase Oliver, a 5-9 210-lb. wrecking ball, ran for 82 yards in the spring game and broke off some big runs, but is also effective as a third down/short yardage option. And, production at LB can help make up for the loss of McDowell.

Senior WR/DBs Dorien Green, Jacob Hill and Adrian Thomas are expected to rotate in at safety in Woodie’s absence.

Junior Grant Sessums inherits the starting QB job, and he’ll have tall, skilled targets to throw to, like 6-1 Penn State recruit Jordan Miner (featured in our last issue) and 6-3 Daniel Biglow, both seniors. Miner is one of the most explosive players in the Tampa Bay area, and his big-play ability is a huge plus.

CYPRESS CREEK HIGH (First season)

There’s little doubt that you are going to take your lumps in your first year of varsity high school football. The seven most recent public schools to open in Pasco County went a combined 4-61, and WRH and WCH both started out with 1-9 records.

Keith Walker will see an increased role in 2017 at Cypress Creek.

That said, the Coyotes need to focus on one game at a time, says coach Mike Thompson.

“Start small,” Thompson says. “In game one, let’s get one first down,’’ he says. “Then, let’s get one touchdown. Then, let’s win a half — baby steps. It’s important to show we’re progressing.”

Thompson is excited about sophomore QB Jehlani Warren, who the coach says has been “soaking up the playbook.” He will have some solid targets to throw to between Tim Ford-Brown, Devin Santana and Trevor Maxwell.

Though the team will have no seniors, guys like Santana and RB Keith Walker have varsity experience. Santana played four games for Wesley Chapel last year as a sophomore and had 158 yards receiving and a touchdown, and Walker, a budding star, ran for 136 yards and two scores as a freshman.

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN WC

Nkem Asomba

Nkem “Kim” Asomba (WRH Sr.) DL/OL: The 6-5, 265-pound Asomba is new to the sport and still raw but if he develops quickly, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the football. Asomba was very disruptive in the spring game against Tampa Catholic.

Isaiah Bolden (WCH Sr.) QB/WR/CB/KR/PR: Bolden will be everywhere this year. Teams will not be able to gameplan around him anymore since the ball will be in his hands every play.

Jordan Miner (WRH Sr.) WR/CB/QB: Miner will get some reps in at Wildcat quarterback, as well as line up on the outside on both offense and defense. The Bulls will look to tap Miner’s skill set and versatility, and he is their most dangerous player.

Jehlani Warren

Keith Walker (CCH So.) TB/WR: Walker comes over from Wesley Chapel after having a breakout game in the spring for the Wildcats.

Leverette (WCH Sr.) RB/S: Leverette was the featured guy in the offense last season. With Bolden under center and Malik Melvin lining up alongside him, it will be hard for defenses to key in on Leverette in 2017.

Chase Oliver (WRH Sr.) LB/RB: Oliver is a bulldozer of a player, and a menace to both ball carriers and would-be tacklers. Oliver joined the 1,500 Club in 2017 (combined bench press, power clean, squat and dead lift weights).

Chaz Neal (Sr.) DE/RT: You won’t miss him, as he stands 6’-9” and towers over teammates. He might be the best player in the county that no one has seen. He’s a huge (pun intended) X-factor for the Wildcats and his impact on the field will be immediately felt.

Jehlani Warren (CCH So.) QB: As Warren’s fortunes go, so go the fortunes of the Coyotes. If Warren and the offense can find rhythm early in the season and adjust to game speed, the Coyotes could have a productive season.

Chaz Neal

Austen Wittish (WCH Sr.) LB/FB: Wittish is the centerpiece of the Wildcats’ defense. He led the team with 94 tackles a year ago and will also contribute at FB.

Kwesi Littlejohn (WRH Sr.) RB/S: Littlejohn will be the guy most asked to step into the void left by McGee. If Littlejohn can bring some consistency to the position, the Bulls will be in great shape.

GAMES TO WATCH

WRH’s Jordan Miner leaps for extra yards during the spring game.

Tonight: Gulf at Cypress Creek

Welcome to high school football, Coyotes. Oh, and mmmmm, gotta love that brand new stadium smell. The Coyotes are young and ready to go, and they couldn’t have found a better opponent for a first-ever game in Gulf. The Bucs typically are one of Pasco County’s smaller teams up front, although they often have a few great athletes, but they are also riding a 21-game losing streak. Dare we say it?

Sept. 1: Wiregrass Ranch at Wesley Chapel

It’s a shame the big rivalry game got cancelled due to inclement weather a year ago, with both teams in the midst of their most successful seasons in years. The wait should add a little charge to this year’s showdown. There will be a Fox 13 pep rally that morning and Spectrum Sports will televise the game.

Oct. 20: Zephyrhills at Wesley Chapel Some key injuries early in the game and miscues on special teams opened the door for the Bulldogs to steal a game that Egan felt his squad had under control.

Oct. 27: River Ridge at Wesley Chapel

A banged up Chapel team hung with the eventual district champion for most of the game last year. This year, the Wildcats host Egan’s former team, and a district title could be on the line.

Oct. 27: Plant at Wiregrass Ranch

It’s always worth a trip to check out the four-time state champion Panthers, who are once again loaded. This game should be ripe with playoff implications.

PRESEASON RANKINGS

Here’s how PascoCountyFB.com has the teams ranked for 2017 in its Super 7.

1. Wiregrass Ranch

2. Wesley Chapel

3. River Ridge

4. Zephyrhills

5. Sunlake

6. Mitchell

7. Zephyrhills Christian

Penn State is the choice for Miner

Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) football star Jordan Miner, one of the top players in the Tampa Bay area and arguably Pasco County’s best, is taking his talents to the Big Ten. Miner, a rising senior defensive back for the Bulls, announced on July 6, during a live broadcast on Spectrum Sports, that he would play college football for Penn State University.

Miner will make it binding in February on National Signing Day, and next summer will return to a region of the country where most of his family still lives.

“Well, 95 percent of our family is within a couple hours of Penn State,” Jordan’s father, John Miner, said. “Penn State felt like a family atmosphere and Coach (James) Franklin was very engaged throughout the process.”

Rated a 4-Star recruit by the 247Sports recruiting service, Miner had 29 college scholarship offers, including 10 from Southeastern Conference teams and five from the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference.

Penn State, the Big Ten champions last year, went 11-3 and were ranked as high as No. 5 in the country before losing a 52-49 thriller to USC in the Rose Bowl.

Mark Tate, a Penn State alum, connected Miner to Coach Franklin. Tate was Miner’s AAU track coach in elementary school, when Miner lived in Ohio, and was an assistant coach on the Team Tampa 7-on-7 team that won the under-15 national title in 2016. Miner was one of the standouts on that team.

“I’ve known Coach Tate since I was a kid,” Miner said. “I knew he played for Penn State but I didn’t know much about the program.”

Even though he’s entering his senior year, Miner won’t turn 17 until the end of this football season. He started grade school in Ohio, where if a student turned 5 during the course of the school year, they could start kindergarten. He’s always been one of the youngest players on the field and in the back yard.

Football is in his blood, as brother Jaye, also a former WRH standout, is playing for Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Jordan was called up to the WRH varsity team at age 13, after he scored five TDs in his second junior varsity game. “When you’re 13 on varsity you’re not as physical as the other kids,’’ Miner said. “So you have to outsmart them and learn the game better than anyone else.”

Despite his age, Miner used his speed and agility to become one of the team’s top DBs, receivers and return specialists. In an October 8 game last season against Wharton, Miner scored on a 53-yard touchdown reception, and then returned an interception 95 yards for a TD.

Two days later, he received a text message from PSU defensive backs coach Terry Smith. Smith made an offer, Miner posted the news on Twitter and, “it blew up from there.”

Miner has scored on a run, pass, interception return and kick return. “Jordan is the ultimate team player,” WRH head coach Mark Kantor said. “He gets us up and motivated to play at a high level, and he made a great choice to play for Franklin and Penn State.”

The Bulls visit Clearwater Central Catholic for the Pre-Season Classic on Friday, August 18, and then open the regular season at home against Zephyrhills High on August 25.

Former Wildcat Hoops Star Ready To Pursue Pro Career

Erik Thomas worked out for the Portland Trailblazers three days before the NBA Draft. Although he wasn’t drafted, Thomas is pursuing opportunities in the NBA’s Sumer League.

When 22-year-old Erik Thomas was a basketball star at Wesley Chapel High (WCH), he drew attention from opponents for his always-tenacious effort on the court, from fans for his overall dominance and from the media for his mind-boggling, record-setting statistics.

What he failed to draw, however, was the kind of attention from big-time Division I college coaches that you might expect someone who averaged 33 points and 16 rebounds as a senior for the Wildcats would receive.

Blame it on his size, which was and still is 6 feet, 5 inches, and 215 pounds. Blame a torn ligament in his ankle that scared away some schools. Or, blame it on the game itself, which is more impressed by flash than fortitude.

But, you can’t blame Thomas’ attitude, work ethic or competitive drive, which continue to propel him towards his dream of playing in the NBA.

On June 22, Thomas woke up with slight hopes for being drafted that evening’s second round. And why not?

Three days before the draft, the Portland Trailblazers called and invited him to a pre-NBA Draft workout. When he arrived, he found out he would be competing against a number of top college basketball players in a quest to convince team brass he was a worthy draft pick.

The group, invited to the sixth and final pre-draft workout held by Portland, included North Carolina small forward Justin Jackson (who ended up picked No. 15 in the first round by Portland but then traded), Oregon power forward Jordan Bell (drafted No. 38 overall by Chicago in second round), Kansas State guard Wesley Iwundu (drafted No. 33 overall by Orlando in the second round), and California’s Ivan Rabb (drafted No. 35 overall by Orlando in second round).

That’s pretty good company to keep, and Thomas held his own against the better-known players.

“I spoke to one of the (Portland) guys, he said they liked my performance,’’ Thomas said. “I think I did very well, considering it was my first pro workout. I was just enjoying the moment, honestly.”

After going undrafted, Thomas said he would be trying to earn a spot with an NBA team for their summer league, held in Las Vegas and Orlando.

“Everybody wants to be drafted, of course, and it was my dream to get drafted,’’ Thomas said. “But, if I can get on a summer league team and go there and perform, I’ll have more people watch me play. Hopefully, I opened up eyes at that camp.”

Impressive College Stats

Thomas has certainly opened eyes since he left Wesley Chapel as its most accomplished basketball player.

Thomas’ college career included one-year stops at East Georgia State College and Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC).

Erik Thomas with his sister Sthefany (left) and mom Fabiana.

While at BRCC, he earned Louisiana Junior College Assn. Player of the Year honors and attracted a slew of those Division I coaches that seemed to miss him at Wesley Chapel.

He ended up choosing the University of New Orleans. “My coach (at BRCC) called around, telling coaches I was transforming into a great player,’’ Thomas said. “He warned everyone in our conference, ‘Hey, you should watch this kid.’ I think some of the schools might be upset they didn’t recruit me.”

Like back in his days as a Wildcat, Thomas continued to draw attention from opponents, fans and the media. This past season, he capped his college career by leading the Privateers in scoring (19.5), rebounding (7.8), steals (45), field goal shooting percentage (59.1) and even free throw percentage (78.3). He earned Southland Conference Player of the Year honors, and guided his team to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 21 years.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Thomas said. “For all of us to be able to have that experience together, to win the conference title and get as far as we did, that’s just a story to tell later down the line to the grandkids.”

A Family Legacy

For local basketball fans in Wesley Chapel and even New Tampa, where his parents now live, the name Thomas is synonymous with hoops excellence.

Sister Sthefany also played at Wesley Chapel High, graduating in 2007 after setting the Pasco County career scoring record (since broken) with 2,563 points before going on to Division I Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Thomas definitely ended up living up to his sister’s rep, scoring 2,138 points. They are the only brother-sister team in the history of the Bay area to each break the 2,000-point mark.

As a junior at WCH in 2011-12, Thomas averaged 21.7 points and set a school record by averaging 14.1 rebounds. That record didn’t last long, as his senior year, he averaged 16.3 rebounds, and added another school record with 32.7 ppg.

That included one game where he had 32 rebounds, and two games where he scored 45 and 46 points.

The Wildcats went 24-5 in both of his final two seasons, and he was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year for Class 5A.