Nease senior center Camille Hobby was named the 2019 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school coaches and media representatives on Friday, March 22.
Hobby was earlier named the Class 7A girls basketball Player of the Year and was one of nine finalists for the overall award. Hobby received seven of the 19 first-place votes and 122 points to finish ahead of Class 4A Player of The Year Koi Love of Miami Country Day (107) and Class 9A Player of the Year Fujika Nimmo of Haines City (80).
“It’s definitely a really good feeling to win,” Hobby said. “My teammates and I, my parents, everyone involved, we all kind of won it together.”
Hobby is only the fifth player from the Northeast Florida to be named Miss Basketball in the 27 years the honor has been awarded.
Hobby averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 2 steals per game, helping lead the Lady Panthers to a 30-2 record and runner-up finish in the state tournament. She also helped Nease coach Sherri Anthony earn her 600th victory this past season, and Hobby credits Anthony with helping her succeed.
“I just love Coach Sherri to death, honestly,” Hobby said. “She’s been a really great coach and a great person. Obviously, every day at practice she pushes me. She’s just always been there as a coach, and someone I know I can call on if I need anything at all.”
Next up for Hobby is NC State, which is the No. 3 seed in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack beat Kentucky 72-57 on Monday night to advance to play second-seeded Iowa in the Sweet 16 on Saturday. The 10th-ranked Wolfpack (28-5) have a respected and storied history in women’s basketball, which was a big factor in Hobby’s decision.
“I saw how much they cared about the women’s program,” Hobby said of NC State. “Not every school do you have thousands of people come to watch women’s basketball, so the fans really care. Coach (Wes) Moore and the coaching staff recruited me really hard, and I just felt like they cared about me and how I could progress as a player.”
Hobby plans to take what she learned at Nease to help her new team, and her goal in the next stage of her basketball career is to win an ACC Championship.
“I’m most proud of my team and the way we responded to adversity,” Hobby said of her time playing for the Panthers. “We learned that it takes everyone to be committed, and not just one person or a couple of people. Everyone has to be on the same page.”
