The Next 15: Who are Southwest Florida's next best crop of high school football recruits?
High school football talent is so deep in Southwest Florida, we felt as if The Big 15 didn't do it justice when it came to showcasing our area's top prospects with aspirations of playing at the college level.
With that, we've made The Next 15, which are 15 football players that were in consideration and discussions of making The Big 15.
Tough decisions had to be made, but here are some of those prospects that just missed the cut but should make college coaches happy if they were to sign.
Logan Bartley
School: First Baptist
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Bartley returns as First Baptist's lone starter this season and will be tasked with leading a defense that shut down a vast majority of opponents it faced last season. On the recruiting front, Bartley recently received an offer from Wake Forest and also reports Eastern Kentucky and Ole Miss. As a sophomore, he recorded 41 tackles with nine pass breakups and a pair of fumble recoveries.
Ben Bouzi
School: Naples
Year: Senior
Breakdown: Bouzi was a Naples Daily News All-Area First Team selection on defense a season ago, posting 25 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble for Naples, which went 9-3. He reports offers from Alabama A&M, Appalachian State, Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, Pitt, Temple, Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky, and Western Michigan.
Niko Boyce
School: Barron Collier
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Boyce may only have one offer from Oregon when Kenny Dillingham was the offensive coordinator there, but his arm talent and athleticism are second to none in Collier County. He'll have the full-time starting job with Barron Collier this season, and looked strong in the spring game, completing 16 of 22 passes for 190 yards, adding 46 rushing yards with four total touchdowns. With Naples last year, Boyce threw for 198 yards, rushed for 328, and posted 10 total touchdowns.
Jayce Cora
School: Lely
Year: Junior
Breakdown: One who saw his college stock rise immensely after the end of last season was Cora, who saw offers from UMass, Temple, West Virginia, Illinois, Louisville, and most recently on Aug. 1, Notre Dame come through. As a sophomore, Cora picked off four passes last season while adding 25 tackles including two for loss. If Cora puts together another strong season, he very well could be in the upper third of The Big 15 next summer.
Woody Celucien
School: Lely
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Celucien is a giant on the offensive line, coming in at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds. He helped Lely's rushing attack go for 2,394 yards a season ago, averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 217.6 yards per game. Celucien owns offers from UMass and West Virginia, with a good chance that number goes up after his junior season.
Kye Garcia
School: Dunbar
Year: Senior
Breakdown: Garcia owns offers from Florida A&M, Temple, Penn, Kent State, Dartmouth, Bethune-Cookman, Columbia, North Carolina A&T, Air Force, UNC-Pembroke, Army, Tennessee Tech, Navy, Colgate, and Eastern Kentucky. Garcia led the team with 142 tackles. He also notched 12 tackles-for-loss, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 3 blocked punts and was a First Team All-State selection last season.
Jyden German
School: Fort Myers
Year: Freshman
Breakdown: German may not have a Division I offer yet, but that could change with a strong freshman season where he's expected to be involved in the offense. With Evangelical Christian last season, German ran for 312 yards on 36 attempts (8.7 yards per carry) with a touchdown.
Taren Hedrick
School: Community School
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Hedrick was a late transfer this summer, making the switch to Community School from Battle (Mo.). In the 247Sports Composite, Hedrick ranks as a 4-star recruit ranked just outside the top 300 in the nation. Hedrick is ranked as the 26th-best offensive tackle and will be a big point in CSN's offense. He has offers from Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, UNLV, and Ball State.
Deshon Jenkins
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Sophomore
Breakdown: Another player on this list poised to see a leap in his recruiting is Jenkins, who already has an offer from West Virginia and Florida A&M. As a freshman last season with the Vikings, he rushed for 1,218 yards with 14 touchdowns, including six 100-plus yard games. He added 158 receiving yards and will be a key focal point in the Verot offense this season.
Darrion Jones
School: Cape Coral
Year: Junior
Breakdown: A transfer from Dunbar last season, Jones joins a Cape Coral squad looking to make real noise this season. Jones posted 16 tackles, a pair of sacks, and two pass deflections for the Tigers in 2022. Jones reports offers from Miami, Florida State, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Illinois, FIU, USF, North Carolina A&T, and UMass.
James Little IV
School: Lehigh
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Little comes into his junior season poised for a big year in which he picked off a pair of passes while adding 27 tackles for the Lightning in 2022. The 3-star cornerback owns offers from Akron, Florida A&M, Illinois, Miami (OH), and USF, and will be Lehigh's top corner in 2023.
Jayden Petit
School: First Baptist
Year: Sophomore
Breakdown: A wide receiver who could potentially follow in the footsteps of Olsen Patt-Henry is Petit, who has offers from Miami, Louisville, and Florida A&M. As a freshman, Petit caught 18 passes for 233 yards with three touchdowns, including a season-high 81 yards against Bishop Verot on Sept. 23.
Shawn Simeon
School: Naples
Year: Junior
Breakdown: Simeon has shown plenty of promise as the successor to Kendrick Raphael and Isaiah Augustave in the backfield, rushing for 213 yards on 40 attempts against Venice in Naples' spring game in May. With offers from Florida State and USF, expect that number to jump drastically if he can stay healthy and put together a strong season with the Golden Eagles.
Parker Turner
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Senior
Breakdown: Committed to Air Force, Turner is a big asset in the Vikings' secondary at 6-foot-4, 223 pounds. Last season, Turner posted 41 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a pair of forced fumbles along with two blocked field goals to help Verot advance to the state semifinals in Class 2S. Not many opposing quarterbacks tested Turner, who finished with three pass breakups.
Austin Zimm
School: Community School
Year: Senior
Breakdown: Zimm is another Community School offensive lineman that's one of the best locally, committing to Penn on July 15. In eight games last season, Zimm helped CSN's rushing game run for 4.9 yards per carry with 10 scores. His pass blocking was just as solid, as Decker Crosby and Cale Austin were protected well by the unit up front.
Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: The Next 15: SWFL football recruits college coaches need to target
