More and more schools interested in Cooley

Plant basketball standout Sheldon Cooley, the 2008 Times Hillsborough Player of the Year, already has scholarship offers from both East Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech, and it looks as if more are on the way. Cooley, who has been playing in out-of-town events nearly every weekend with his travel team (Florida Elite), has been watched closely last week by Houston, Ohio and UCF, Plant coach Mike Phillips said. It is Phillips' belief that each will soon offer Cooley, a 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 22.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and five steals per game as a junior. "I feel like they've liked what they've seen," Phillips said. "They'll be out here real soon. Sheldon is playing real well. He's the leader on (Florida Elite) and we've got kids on the team from all over the place." Neither Rivals.com nor Scout.com currently has a player page for Cooley on their respective websites, but both have had representatives at recent events in which Cooley played -- and each inquired about him, Phillips said.

-- KEITH NIEBUHR