Wimbley addition has helped make St. Thomas Aquinas a boys’ basketball power

Dwayne Wimbley, a former Miami Hurricanes basketball standout, was asked for his thoughts on his son/namesake signing with rival Florida State in November.

“It’s always going to be awkward for me,” Wimbley admitted.

“But my son will be playing for Leonard Hamilton and Stan Jones, who were my coaches at Miami.”

Wimbley’s son is Dwayne “DJ” Wimbley Jr., a 6-6½ senior shooting guard at St. Thomas Aquinas. He played the past two years at Westminster Academy.

With Wimbley on board this season, the Raiders are off to a great start at 15-1.

Wimbley, a three-star recruit, is averaging 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.8 steals.

But the Raiders, who are coached by Julius Sandi, have a lot more than just Wimbley.

Clarence Westbrook Jr., a 6-1 sophomore shooting guard, leads the Raiders in scoring at 18.4.

Drake “DJ” Sandi, a 6-2 junior point guard and one of the coach’s two sons on the team, leads Aquinas in assists (7.1) and steals (3.7). He also ranks fifth in points (9.8). And he was recently named the MVP of the Kreul Classic, a Coral Springs-based tournament won by the Raiders.

Aquinas won three games in three days to earn that trophy, beating teams from Connecticut, New York and North Carolina.

A week later, the Raiders won four games in four days to take the Kingdom of the Sun championship in Ocala.

Aquinas won the final over St. Petersburg Gibbs, 80-64. Gibbs, the reigning Class 4A state champions, boasts a roster that includes 7-footer Isaiah Medina, who has signed with DePaul.

Given all of that, it’s no surprise that the Raiders are ranked No. 22 nationally by MaxPreps. Coach Sandi said that’s the highest ranking in program history.

So, how has St. Thomas Aquinas – a school known for a football program that sends players to the NFL and wins state titles seemingly every season – suddenly become a national power in basketball?

For starters, watch what happens when the Raiders don’t have the ball.

“Our standard is defense,” Julius Sandi said. “We’re a man-to-man team, but we give different looks.”

The Raiders are also a deep team.

Aquinas lost just one starter from last season – AJ Ambrose, who transferred to Cardinal Gibbons.

But the Raiders brought back Zane Elliott, a 6-6 junior forward; Kellson Sandi, a 6-1 sophomore guard and the coach’s other son; and Mark Matthews, a 6-6, 270-pounder who has more than a dozen scholarships, including Auburn, Florida and Kentucky, to play offensive tackle in football.

Kellson Sandi, who is third on the team in scoring (11.2), is a strong perimeter shooter. Elliott leads the squad in rebounds (8.1), and Matthews is the enforcer.

In addition, the Raiders added two transfers from Westminster Academy – Wimbley and Nate Accius, a 6-4 sophomore guard who has used his length and athleticism to top the team in offensive rebounds per game (3.5).

This is the core of a roster that has vaulted the Class 6A Raiders to a No. 3 ranking among all Florida teams. They trail only Columbus, a Class 7A team; and Calvary Christian (3A).

In other words, the Raiders have at least a path toward what would be just the second state championship in program history.

The only state title the Raiders have won so far was in 2001.

“There’s a championship banner for 2001 right on top of the hoop in our gym,” Wimbley Jr. said. “We see it every day.”

Ironically, Wimbley Sr. – an effective 6-9 center for the Hurricanes a bit more than two decades ago – never won a state title at his alma mater, Aquinas.

In fact, the only state-championship hoopster in the family is Wimbley Jr.’s sister, Alexia, who won two rings at Aquinas. She is now a non-playing junior student at Florida State, and another big reason why Wimbley Jr. is on his way to becoming a Seminoles player.

“On my recruiting visit to FSU, I spent a lot of time with her,” Wimbley Jr. said. “I was missing her.”

Wimbley Jr. said Miami was his “dream school”, but, when he didn’t get a Hurricanes offer, he happily committed to FSU last year on June 10.

“I’ve known (Hamilton and Jones) my whole life,” Wimbley Jr. said. “I feel very comfortable there.”

Wimbley Jr., who played some football at Westminster as a wide receiver with scary potential, is all in on basketball now.

But is he better than his father, who averaged a career-best 7.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks as a Hurricanes senior in 2000-2001?

“It’s taken me a long time to say this, but he is better than I was,” Wimbley Sr. said. “I was a defender, but if you took me out to the perimeter, I was lost.

“DJ is more skilled. He probably would have a higher ceiling in football at his size for wide receiver.

“But he’s a good basketball player, too. He’s intense. He’s unselfish. He can handle the ball. He can defend almost any position. He can shoot from anywhere ...”

And he’s headed to Florida State, no matter how awkward that is for his Hurricanes father.