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Lecanto star awarded hoops scholarship

Drew Zimbro will play Division I basketball close to home for the Jacksonville University Dolphins.

By DAWN REISS
Published May 28, 2005

LECANTO - Lecanto High School coach Chris Nichols remembers the first time he saw Drew Zimbro. The boy was 8 and participating in the Panthers' basketball camp.

"He was wearing a Kentucky jersey and a long blond mullet," Nichols said.

"With dirty Converse on," chimed in Zimbro's former Panthers teammate, Mychal Nichols, who is the coach's son. "We weren't sure if he could play, but we soon found out."

All Zimbro's hard work paid off Friday, when he signed a Division I scholarship with Jacksonville University, the first boys basketball player to do so in Lecanto High School's history.

"I hope it paves the way for more guys to get looks," Zimbro said. "Every time I picked up a basketball, I hoped for this day. It shows that all my hard work has finally paid off."

His hoops dreams started early, when Zimbro's father, Tim, put a Kentucky Wildcats Nerf basketball in his baby's hands on the day he was born.

"Basketball is just part of life in Kentucky," his father said. "All my brothers played. One of my brothers (Kenny) even played college ball in Augusta (Ga.) and tried out for the Chicago Bulls in the 70s.

"He was a pure shooter, just like Drew."

Zimbro was born in Ocala. By age 3, he and his father were practicing layups.

"Every time he'd look down, I'd remind him to keep his head up," Tim Zimbro said. "By age 5, he could make it from the 10-foot line. I'd just tell him to keep hitting the square (backboard) and it would go in. And by 9, he was making three-pointers."

Zimbro shed his platinum mullet and continued his consistent scoring. Always tall, Zimbro sprouted into a lanky 6-foot-5, 185-pounder. By his senior year at Lecanto, Zimbro averaged 17.4 points and five rebounds a game to lead the Panthers in a 16-10 season.

His trademark move? "Crossing the half-court line and shooting," coach Nichols joked. "He didn't always make it, but he made a lot more than he missed, so we were willing to take our chances."

One of his most memorable performances this season came in the district quarterfinals against Springstead. With the game tied at 59 and 8.4 seconds left on the clock, Zimbro took the ball from out of bounds. He gutted through a maze of defenders to put up a buzzer-beater jumper.

"He's set the tone for a lot of other kids," coach Nichols said. "What an inspiration. Ten years ago he dreamed of playing college ball, and now he's doing it."

But don't count on Zimbro to stop cheering for Kentucky basketball or grow back that mullet.

"Nah, I think those days are done," Zimbro said, shaking his hair with a smile.

Dawn Reiss can be reached at 352 564-3628 or dreiss@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 28, 2005, 00:08:13]