Former prep standouts remember Smalling

Posted Oct 27, 2009 by Nick Williams

Updated Oct 27, 2009 at 04:26 PM

Some of the best basketball players to come out of Hillsborough County this decade, who were also former opponents and AAU teammates of Theo Smalling, had a few words to share after learning of the former Bloomingdale star’s death.

Shawn Vanzant, junior point guard at Butler University, 2007 Tampa Tribune Hillsborough County Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Graduated from Wharton in 2007. Played against Smalling for three seasons (2004-06):

“He was a fierce competitor. I always remembered how hard he played. I remember my junior year, coach always said to make sure we knew where he was on the court. If I could compare him to a player, it would be Dennis Rodman, but ten times more skilled. That was him. He was always going hard. He had a knack for being around the ball.”

Jason Anthony, 2007 Armwood grad and 6-foot-4 power forward. Smalling’s Brandon Bolts AAU teammate and high school rival:

“We played on the same team since we were 12 years old. He’s always been there. Every summer, we were together. We had some serious games (against each other). He had a lot of games where he beat me. I couldn’t get rebounds because he was too big (laughing).” There was one game at Armwood (Smalling’s senior year), we lost by a few points. At the end of the game, I think he said something slick like “you’re just not as big as me.” I laughed but then he shook my hand and said “you have one more year.”

“He always had that dominant presence. We he came into the room, people would say, ‘oh that’s Theo’. He had that type of attitude about himself. He was a person that made himself known when he walked into the room. He cracked jokes. He was a confident person. He had that mentality.”

Adam Sollazzo, sophomore at East Tennessee State, 2008 Tampa Tribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year. 2008 Armwood grad. Also played with Smalling as member of Brandon Bolts AAU club.

“We played (Smalling) twice a year and in district (tournament). He was a beast. He was one of the best big men I’ve ever seen in Hillsborough County. He was big, strong and fast. He was the whole package. On the court, we didn’t get along. Him and Jason Anthony were rivals and Jason was my boy. But after every game, he would always shake hands and say ‘good game’. He was one of the best to come out of Hillsborough County.”