January 3, 2024
Lake County Florida’s Montverde Academy Basketball Ranked #1 Nationally
By Kyle Coppola
Lake County Florida’s Montverde Academy Basketball Ranked #1 Nationally
Year after year Montverde Academy continues to impress with their incredible teams and talent they produce. 2023/2024 is no different as the Eagles are once again ranked as the number one team in the nation. The Eagles are currently 14-0. ESPN came out with their latest rankings and Montverde topped the list as the number one school in the nation.
Montverde has 4 players listed in 247 Sports top 20 basketball players in the nation. Led by Cooper Flagg who is committed to Duke. Montverde also has Asa Newell ranked as the #11 player in the nation. Newell will be playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. Meanwhile Derik Queen is ranked #15 in the nation and will play for Maryland. Liam McNeeley is ranked #17 and is committed to Indiana.
(Cooper Flagg #32 is ranked as the number 1 player in the nation. He is committed to Duke.)
The list goes on and on including Rob Wright who is committed to Baylor, Curtis Givins III who is committed to LSU. Coach Kevin Boyle is one of the greatest High School coaches we have ever seen in Lake County. He has reached legendary status and is recognized nationally as one of the premier high school basketball coaches in the country.
For over two decades, Coach Boyle has been a coach for programs like St. Patrick New Jersey and Montverde. Boyle has led the Eagles to seven national championships in 10 years. He is also considered by many college coaches as one of the best teacher’s and strategists of the game on and off the court.
(Coach Kevin Boyle has coached NBA talent such as Joel Embiid, D’Angelo Russell, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, and Michael Kidd Gilchrest among many others.)
Jay Wright the former head men’s basketball and national champion coach with Villanova University was quoted as saying “Kevin runs his high school program like an elite college program. A year-round commitment, a commitment to academics, in preparing kids for college academically like we prepare kids to graduate, his skill development for guys on and off the court is phenomenal. Over the years, Kevin has taken countless young men, turned their lives around and made them into good students, tough competitors, and well-rounded people. That’s why he always has one of the top teams in the country.”
This year Montverde has so much talent that the only thing that could get in the way of contending for another national high school basketball title should be themselves. With a roster like they have, The Eagles should be in prime position to make another run this season.
Photo Credit – Montverde Academy
Information Credit – Montverde Academy, 247 Sports, ESPN
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
