ITG Next Florida spoke with Ponte Vedra boys basketball head coach Ben Wilson about the Sharks’ memorable 2021-22 season and the outlook for the upcoming 2022-23 campaign.
Q: Your Ponte Vedra boys basketball team is coming off a 27-4 season and a Class 6A state title game appearance. What are your thoughts on what this Sharks team accomplished a year ago?
A: Last year’s team, even though they fell short in the championship game, will go down as the best team in PVHS history. This was an extremely tough group that put themselves in a position to win every game they played last season. They truly bought in to the team and each other. They did not care who was the leading scorer or who got the attention. Their goal was to win a state championship. They achieved every team goal last year except winning the state title. Such an incredible group of young men.
Q: What would you say the 2022 senior class meant to this Sharks program?
A: The 2022 senior class raised the bar so high for all of the upcoming senior groups. They put the team first and led by example every day in practice and in the classroom. They held everyone accountable – the younger guys as well as each other. They had a ton of school pride, and putting on that PV basketball uniform meant something to them.
Q: With many of the top scorers having graduated, who are some players you expect to see take the next step this season?
A: Senior point guard Nate Bunkosky is a three-year starter in this program, and as great as he’s been, he’s going to have to raise his game even higher if we want to have any type of repeat success. Senior forward Israel Nuhu, who has been coming off the bench the previous two years, will be a starter who can fill the stat sheet in numerous columns due to his athleticism and versatility on both ends of the floor.
Senior forward Ben Ritchie, who also came off the varsity bench last year, will be a starter and one of the better outside shooters and overall scorers. Junior guard Sam Ritchie is another big- time scorer who will start and play both guard positions while putting up big numbers. Junior power forward Tyler Cowan, a transfer from California, is a big body who can finish extremely well in the paint while stepping out and knocking down outside shots.
Q: With tipoff a few weeks away, what excites you most about the 2022-23 season for your Ponte Vedra boys basketball team?
A: The most exciting part about the season with this group is seeing if we can do what it takes to get back to Lakeland, but this time finish the job. A lot of these returners were along for the ride last year and were a part of the success the 2022 team had. They were just as heartbroken when we came up short. They wasted no time getting right back in the gym after the season, and they have been working hard since. The motivation is to find their own identity and be prepared to work even harder and make their own season as memorable as the 2022 team.
