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By PETE YOUNG
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2001
Amare Stoudemire, considered by numerous recruiting services to be the nation's No. 1 senior prep basketball player, is coming to St. Petersburg in December for the Hooters Holiday Shootout.
Stoudemire, a power forward for Orlando Cypress Creek, has attended several high schools, and his eligibility for this season was in question. However, he was declared eligible this week by the Florida High School Activities Association.
Cypress Creek committed to the Hooters tournament, Dec. 26-29 at the Bayfront Center, during the summer.
"It's the first player of his caliber we've had in our nine years," Hooters team selection chairman Matt Ramker said of the 6-foot-10, 240-pound player. "It brings our tournament to national prominence. We are the only holiday tournament with the nation's consensus No. 1 player."
Stoudemire is considered likely to go into the NBA draft after his senior season and is expected to be a high first-round selection.
Last season he attended Winter Garden West Orange and was academically ineligible. The FHSAA cleared Stoudemire academically and also ruled that Stoudemire should not be punished because his mother accepted $100 from a representative of Nike.
The Shorecrest football team will play its preseason game for the second year in a row at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.
At 6 p.m. Saturday, the Chargers meet Ocala St. John. Last season, Shorecrest defeated Carbondale (Colo.) Roaring Fork 34-20.