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Basketball

Jesuit basketball has a decades-long tradition of hardwood success, beginning with the first of its 11 State Tournament appearances in 1941, and including three State Championships, in 2013, 1984, and 1950, when the Tigers became the first Catholic school in Florida to win a state title.

Head coach Neal Goldman enters his 39th season in 2025-26 with a career record of 737-328 and 17 District titles. Last season, 2024-25, the Tigers were 20-8, their 11th consecutive 20-win season, and they captured the District with a 78-51 win over East Bay led by Tyler Caouette '26 (15 p, 12 r) and Carter Reins '25 (21 p, 8-of-9 shooting). Caouette paced Jesuit over the season with 15.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 2.0 spg, while Morty Hanlon '25 led in assists (3.8 apg) and 3-point shooting (47%), and Reins shot 61% from the floor.

The 2012-13 Tigers are considered by many to be the greatest boys basketball team in Tampa Bay-area history. They won 30 games by 10 or more points and were unbeaten against Florida competition en route to finishing 31-1 as State Champions. That team was honored at the Tiger Palace during the 10th anniversary of its championship season at the inaugural Cookie Garcia Jesuit Invitational in December 2022. After a one-year hiatus, "The Cookie" returns this season with an 8-team tournament between Christmas and New Year's. 

Jesuit basketball also continues to excel in the classroom, finishing in the Top 5 annually in the FHSAA's Academic Team Champion standings. With an unweighted 3.4 team GPA last season the Tigers ranked No. 4 in Class 5A in the ATC standings, and they have finished 1st (most recently in 2018) or 2nd (2019 and 2020) several times.

Top returning players for the Tigers in 2025-26 include Caouette, Damian Ross '26, Mike McLendon '28, and Dre Taylor '28. The Jesuit basketball page on MaxPreps.com is regularly updated with team statistics and results after every Varsity game.


1,000 POINTS

On January 23, 2024, Nate Boakye '24 became the 17th player in Jesuit basketball history to score more than 1,000 points in his career. Jesuit athletic director Terry Rupp '84 is the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,705 points. View below the full list of Tigers who have achieved 1,000 career points.

  1. Terry Rupp - 1,705 - 1981-84
  2. Lou Piniella - 1,549 - 1959-61
  3. Reggie Reed - 1,372 - 1971-74
  4. Travis Johnson - 1,303 - 2009-13
  5. Jack Fleming - 1,280 - 2009-13
  6. Bob Bacon - 1,276 - 1956-58
  7. John Williams - 1,272 - 1978-81
  8. Gary Godsey - 1,210 - 1995-99
  9. Andrew Darst - 1,202 - 2003-07
  10. James Bunn - 1,177 - 1999-02
  11. Stevie Darst - 1,161 - 2014-16
  12. Alan Schonbrun - 1,146 - 1999-03
  13. Thomas Kaiser - 1,138 - 2003-06
  14. Nate Boakye - 1,108 - 2021-24
  15. Ryan Weir - 1,082 - 2018-21
  16. Everette Egun - 1,060 - 1999-02
  17. Bob Gooding - 1,012 - 1953-55


COACHING STAFF

Varsity Head Coach
Neal Goldman (39th season in 2025-26)

  • 737-320 career record entering 2025-26
  • Titles: 17 District, 3 Region, 1 State title
  • ngoldman@jesuittampa.org

Varsity Assistant Coaches
Joe Sansonetti
David Ritchie '91
Seth Ravenna, P '18, '21
Sebastian Reyes '26 - manager

JV Head Coach
Orloff Civil

JV Assistant Coach
Stevie Adamchak '14

Freshman Head Coach
Jonathan Barlaan '07

Announcer
Andrew Lusher '97

Livestream Announcer
John Pedrero '81

2025-26 Schedule

The Athletic Calendar on the Jesuit website has the most recently updated Jesuit sports schedules

The Jesuit basketball page on MaxPreps.com is regularly updated with statistics and Varsity results.

ROSTERS

2025-26 VARSITY

No.       Name                        Yr.      Ht
2            Brooks Milazzo      Jr.        6-0
3            Junior Arroyo         So.      5-10
4            Curtis Ward              Jr.       6-2
5            Mike McLendon     So.      6-1
10         Damien Ross           Sr.       6-2
11         King Powell              Jr.       6-0
15         Zach Larson             So.      6-2                           
23         Dre Taylor                 So.      6-3
25         Tyler Caouette        Sr.       6-4
30         Joe DeLuciano       Jr.        6-3


2025-26 JV ROSTER

No.     Name                             Yr.      Ht
1          Hayes Grabill              So.     5-9            
2          Xavier Ross                  So.     5-10
3          Drew Branagan         So.     5-10
4          Braylon Civil               So.     5-10       
5          Evan Wilson                So.     5-10
10       Cutler Cool                  So.     5-10
11       Luke Stanton              So.     5-10
15       Griffin Corr                   So.     5-9
20       Dominic Diaz               Fr.      5-11
21       Kiran Kulkarni             Fr.      6-0
23       Charlie Stanton          So.     5-10
25       Jackson Hernandez  Fr.      6-2   
30        Arness Hayes              So.     6-0 
33        Landon Kane              So.     6-2
35        Brady Black                 So.     6-2

CHAMPIONSHIPS

STATE TITLES (3)
1950 - Class B Champions, d. St. Petersburg 58-53, Jefferson 39-38, Jacksonville Jackson 55-48
1984 - Class 3A Champions, d. Bartow 78-65, Orlando Jones 64-60, Stuart South Fork 58-53, Tallahassee Godby 88-71
2013 - Class 5A Champions, d. Boca Ciega 63-50, Gibbs 65-38, Lake Wales 97-72, Jacksonville Bishop Kenny 46-41, Plantation American Heritage 79-58

REGION TITLES (11)
1941 - Class B, l. State Semifinal to Jacksonville Bolles, 38-36
1944 - Class A, l. State Semifinal to Plant, 44-30
1946 - Class B, l. State Final to Fort Lauderdale, 43-40
1950 - Class B State Champions, d. Jacksonville Jackson, 55-48
1976 - Class 3A, l. State Semifinal to Titusville Astronaut, 57-54
1977 - Class 3A, l. State Semifinal to Leesburg, 51-36
1984 - Class 3A State Champions, d. Tallahassee Godby 88-71
1985 - Class 3A, l. State Semifinal to Crestview, 52-50 
2013 - Class 5A State Champions, d. Plantation American Heritage 79-58
2016 - Class 5A, l. State Semifinal to Jacksonville Bishop Kenny, 55-54
2021 - Class 5A, l. State Semifinal to Pembroke Pines Charter, 63-57 (OT)