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The Saint Leo women’s basketball team has announced the addition of three more players to the 2017-2018 roster: Alani Gallagher, of Vestal, New York; Savannah Scott, of South Bend, Indiana; and Dashaun Jackson, of Miramar, Florida.

• Gallagher,a 6-foot-1 center from Vestal High School, was named the BCANY (Basketball Coaches Association of New York) Class A Player of the Year following her senior season, where she averaged 15.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.
• Scott,a 6-foot-1 power forward, was a three-year letterman at South Bend St. Joseph High School, winning the Indiana Class 3A State Championship in 2017.
• Jackson, a 6-foot-1 wing, was part of Miami Country Day High School’s Florida State Championship three-peat, winning the title in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Jackson, Scott, and Gallagher join Delaney Bernard, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard; Brandi Bain, a 5-foot-9 wing; and, Montia Moon, a 5-foot-5 guard, who signed with the Lions during the fall signing period.

“Our first recruiting class is very special,” Crocitto said, in a statement. “We have       brought in kids from a few very different areas while addressing some weaknesses within our program. We have added size with three players being over 6-foot-1, shooting, and big game experience.”

Crocitto also noted the recruits have either won or contended for state championships in New York, Florida and Indiana.

Wharton High senior Ryan Russell has signed a letter of intent to run track for Boston College, a Division I school in Boston, Massachusetts. Russell is expected to compete in both the 200-meter dash (PR 22.06) and 400-meter dash (PR 50.01).

Freedom High product Taylor Emery has verbally committed to play women’s basketball at Virginia Polytechnic University, a Division I school in Blacksburg, Virginia. The 5-foot-10 shooting guard most recently was named national junior college women’s basketball player of the year after leading Gulf Coast State (Panama City, Florida) to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I championship as a sophomore in the 2016-2017 season.

A four-year varsity starter at Freedom, Emery averaged 36.4 points per game in her senior prep season, and set Hillsborough County’s all-time scoring mark (2,689 career points).

Emery signed with Tulane University (New Orleans, Louisiana) out of high school, but elected to transfer after her freshman season.

Wesley Chapel High junior Isaiah Bolden has verbally committed to play football at the University of Oregon, a Division I school in Eugene, Oregon. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound defensive back previously committed to Florida State University last June.

A highly touted four-star recruit and consensus top-200 player for the 2018 recruiting class, Bolden holds nearly 30 scholarship offers.

Pasco High product Joey Ivie (University of Florida) was picked by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round with the 228th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-3, 301-pound defensive tackle, who was one of eight Florida Gators selected in the draft, registered 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 11 games last season. Ivie graduated from Pasco High in 2013.

Freedom High product T.J. Mutcherson (University of Central Florida) has signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Houston Texans. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound safety tallied 73 tackles and two interceptions in 13 games last season. Mutcherson, who graduated from Freedom High in 2010, also played for Iowa State University, but was dismissed in 2015 for violating team rules.

Sunlake golfer wins junior match play tournament Jordan Sarhaddi, a sophomore at Sunlake High, won the Greater Tampa Junior Golf Association’s annual HAM Match Play Championships on April 23 at the Countryside Country Club, in Clearwater. At the three-day tournament (April 21 through April 23), Sarhaddi outlasted 15 other golfers to claim the Boys 16-18 Division Championship. The annual match play event is dedicated to a former junior member, Harris Armstrong, who died in 2008 of cancer at the age of 12.

Brooke Blankenship, an eighth-grade shortstop at Academy at the Lakes, has verbally committed to play softball at Florida State University.

Through 20 games this season, Blankenship is batting .542, with five home runs and 31 RBIs and 36 runs scored. Blankenship joined the Wildcats varsity team last year, as a seventh grader.

Dade City native Mike Penix, a rising senior quarterback at Tampa Bay Tech, has verbally committed to play football at the University of Tennessee.

Penix, who transferred from Pasco High School after the 2015 season, is ranked as one of the nation’s top 25 pro-style quarterbacks for the Class of 2018, according to multiple recruiting outlets.

The 6-foot-1, 182-pound left-hander chose Tennessee over offers from, among others, Arizona, Oregon, Rutgers and South Florida.

Last season, Penix threw for 2,078 yards, 31 touchdowns with just one interception; he completed 56 percent of his passes.