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Kevin Boyle excited about latest Montverde Academy stars drafted in NBA

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby: Lawrence Fernandez07/01/25lawandfern
Kevin Boyle - Montverde Academy and SPIRE Academy
© Landon Bost/Naples Daily News/USA TODAY Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK GEICO Nationals 2022: AZ Compass Prep (Ariz.) vs. Montverde Academy (Fla.), March 31, 2022

While Kevin Boyle will now spearhead the SPIRE Academy basketball program, he still gets massive credit for turning Montverde Academy into a national powerhouse. Since he took over Montverde’s program in 2011, the Eagles have won eight national championships and five state titles. These achievements earned him National High School Coach of the Year honors eight times.  

Likewise, some of his former players reached the National Basketball Association, including four who will enter the league in 2025. Boyle shared his thoughts about the latest Montverde players to make it to the pros with basketball reporter Andy Katz.

“It seems amazing because when you’re in it and around them, you kind of lose sight of how good they are as a team and as individuals. You’re always trying to get them better and get them to reach their heights as a player and a team,” Kevin Boyle said. “And then, when you get away from it and you watch them in college last year, you really start to reflect how good all these guys were individually but also collectively. It was probably, arguably, one of the two best high school teams of all time.”

Top overall pick Cooper Flagg leads the Montverde Academy contingent from the 2025 NBA Draft. The one-and-done Duke forward will join the Dallas Mavericks, making him the third No. 1 pick on their roster.

Twelve picks later, the Atlanta Hawks selected Derik Queen. However, they traded the former Maryland to the New Orleans Pelicans. Coincidentally, the Hawks received Asa Newell, Queen’s former teammate under Boyle, in return. The Pelicans selected the former Georgia forward 23rd overall, ten picks after Queen.

Liam McNeeley was the final Montverde player selected in the first round. The Phoenix Suns selected him 29th overall but traded him to the Charlotte Hornets.

Boyle shared with Katz that this collection could be one of the two best high school basketball teams of all time, the other being his 2020 Montverde squad, which featured Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, Moses Moody and Day’ron Sharpe.

Meanwhile, some of Boyle’s other former players include Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, Andrew Nembhard, R.J. Barrett, and D’Angelo Russell.