The easy summary of Osceola High’s 2026 boys tennis season would be continued success and another deep run into the FHSAA playoffs.
But this year was anything but easy, even for a talented Warriors squad.
The defending Class 3A triple crown holders (team, singles and doubles) lost No. 2 player Alexander Rangelov for the season to injury and played into the postseason without their No. 4 player because of a broken wrist. Even so, they had a shot at repeating.
In the state final in Altamonte Springs, Wiregrass Ranch held off the Warriors 4-3 to claim its fourth title.
Through it all — as he had throughout his stellar career — top-seeded graduating senior Alessandro De Bernardo led the way.
Teaming with junior James Mellinger, De Bernardo earned his fifth career gold medal and sixth medal overall as a Class 3A doubles champion. An injury took him out of the singles final, a title he had a strong chance to win, given that the eventual state champion, Spoto’s Luca Torres-Sigler, had lost to him in straight sets in the regional final.
In recognition of a career that included being named Mr. Tennis in the Sunshine State after an undefeated campaign last season, the school retired De Bernardo’s jersey. The four-star recruit will continue his career at Florida Southern College.
Sophomore Leon Linetski, who won his singles match in the state team final, will be a key returning player for coach Alberto Lense in 2027, joining freshman Reid Lloyd and sophomores Chase Sullivan and Fabio De Bernardo.
As he has throughout his coaching career, Lense went deep into his roster all season to keep it ready for anything. In 2026, he rotated at least five players through each of the five singles lines and fielded at least 11 doubles pairings during Osceola’s repeat run to the final.
“Despite the graduation of Alessandro De Bernardo, Osceola’s tennis team has the returning players and incoming freshmen that will keep the team in contention for another run for a state title in 2027,” Lense said.
Quick hits
Coley named Gibbs girls basketball coach
Tamika Coley, a local basketball legend whose playing career took her from Pinellas Park to the University of Central Florida record book, has been named girls basketball coach at Gibbs High.
A standout forward for the Pinellas Park Patriots, Coley became one of the most productive players in UCF history. She remains the Knights’ all-time leader in both scoring (2,006 points) and rebounding (1,211), and as a senior in 1996 she carried UCF to a conference tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth. She was inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
Coley coached the St. Petersburg girls program from 2009 to 2016. Her daughter, Kamika Idom, who also played for the Green Devils, succeeded her and led the team for two seasons.
At Gibbs, Coley replaces Kiana Robinson, who left after two seasons to pursue college coaching opportunities. The Gladiators went 5-13 last season.
The hire keeps a deep basketball bloodline in the city. Coley’s son, Serrel Smith Jr., starred at St. Petersburg High, where he was the 2018 Florida Class 8A Player of the Year before playing at Maryland, East Tennessee State and USF. Cousin Jerica Coley, a St. Petersburg Catholic product, once led the nation in NCAA scoring and reached the WNBA.
Bromell, ex-Gibbs sprinter, joins Baylor Hall of Fame
Trayvon Bromell, the Gibbs High sprinter who became one of the fastest men in the world, is headed to the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame.
The St. Petersburg native headlines Baylor’s 2026 induction class alongside Biletnikoff Award winner Corey Coleman and “Voice of the Bears” broadcaster John Morris.
Bromell spent just two seasons at Baylor, in 2014 and 2015, but rewrote the record book. He won two NCAA titles and five Big 12 championships and earned four All-America honors. As a freshman, he captured the 2014 NCAA outdoor 100 meters in 9.97 seconds, a world junior record and the first sub-10-second 100 by an under-20 athlete.
He turned pro after his sophomore year and became a global star, winning the 2016 world indoor 60-meter title, twice taking bronze in the 100 at the World Championships and claiming a Diamond League crown. He raced for the United States at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
Bromell and the rest of the class will be honored Nov. 20 in Waco and recognized during the Baylor-Texas Tech football game the next day.