Athletes garner scholarships at Daryl Sears Showcase

Athletes garner scholarships at Daryl Sears Showcase
Students participate in the aryl Sears Basketball Showcase at the St. Georges Gymnasium in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Two athletes earned collegiate scholarship offers, while several others garnered interest over the weekend at the annual Daryl Sears Basketball Showcase at the St. Georges Gymnasium in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Former Doris Johnson standouts Lathaniel Bastian and Troy Tremblay were the athletes who scored the scholarships. Following the three-day event, Sears said that the coaches had mixed reviews about the talent crop gathered at the gym for the showcase.

“The Showcase started off a little rocky, but as always, the coaches enjoyed it,” Sears said.

“But like I said, we had two official offers yesterday, so that was a good thing.”

Although only two athletes earned basketball scholarships, Sears said that several athletes were prepositioned with football offers based on their size and athletic ability.

According to Sears, a lot of Bahamian high school basketball players fall into the “undersized” category at certain positions on the court, which means that their development at their respective positions might not be able to carry over to the next level.

“We have a lot who aren’t that tall. Here, they could be 6’4” and play power forward or center,” he said.

“They probably won’t be guards in college, because the skill set is not there, but they can go and play football, because they are so athletic and can get a scholarship in football.

“So were branching off and we’re going to start with girls again next year, boys and then football.”

This year’s showcase also featured a junior boys division, designed for athletes in grades 7-9.

“The younger group is what the coaches were excited about,” he added.

“That’s why we wanted them to come in so we could make those coaches come back. You had so many of these kids that are younger. That’s what this showcase is all about, giving them an opportunity.”

About Randy Smith

Randy Smith is the producer of the widely-watched local television show “Beyond The Headlines” and the web content manager of Eyewitness News. He joined Eyewitness News as a sportscaster in 2018, a role he still performs, and has previously covered a slew of international sporting events, including the 2015 Pan American Games, the Nike EYBL Showcase, several IAAF World Relays, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Bahamas Bowl and multiple CARIFTA Swimming and Track & Field Championships. Randy has been recognized by the Bahamas Press Club with awards for “Best Sports Broadcast” as a sportscaster and “Best TV Talk Show” as a producer.