APALACHICOLA, Fla. (WMBB) — This week’s Scholar Athlete of the Week sponsored by Perry and Young P.A. is Franklin County’s Owen Poloronis.
He grew up playing baseball and then started playing basketball in middle school. It wasn’t until high school that he fell in love with basketball.
“I started working really hard and I realized I really love basketball way on a different level,” Poloronis said. “So I stopped playing baseball, started focusing on basketball and getting a scholarship and being the best player I could be.”
Franklin County Head Basketball Coach Ray Bailey said Poloronis is always trying to get better.
“First person in the gym, he’s the last one to leave,” Bailey said. “These last couple of years, he’s transitioned his body, his game, and he’s just became a tremendous ball player. I’m just proud to be his coach.”
In the final game of the regular season, Poloronis joined the 1,000-point club. He leads the team with 478 points this season, averaging 17.7 points per game.
“A lot of times where there are bumps in the road,” Poloronis said. “You don’t believe, you want to quit. You don’t think you’re going to be able to do it. But whenever all of that hard work and dedication, sweat, tears, all that just comes together and you accomplish something.”
He’s received a couple of offers to play in college but is not going to make any decisions until after the season. He has a 3.6 GPA and is unsure what he wants to study in college, but he is looking at physical therapy.
