Next basketball season, three men and two women will be missing from the UNF basketball teams. Men’s basketball guards Eni Cuka, Stan Januska and Germaine Sparks will graduate this year, alongside women’s basketball forward Alrande Cherizol and center Shennette Sheffield .

Men’s Basketball Seniors 

Sparks and Januska will graduate with finance degrees after this season, but Sparks said he would like to work for a large corporation or get into coaching basketball. Januska hopes to find a successful position that would allow him to use what he learned through his degree program at UNF.

Sparks played for the UNF men’s basketball team for four years. He grew up playing basketball, with his brother and father being basketball players.

Unlike Sparks and Cuka, Januska isn’t planning on pursuing basketball after graduation, but he said he’ll miss spending time with his teammates, game days, being on the road, messing around and the whole experience.

All of the senior men’s players said they will miss their teammates and the camaraderie of being on the basketball team. Sparks added that the conditioning, practices and trips have formed brotherly bonds between the players.

The players have enjoyed working under men’s head basketball coach Matthew Driscoll because they said he motivates them to push themselves to the best of their abilities. Cuka said Coach Driscoll is a “very fiery guy” who always inspires them to go all out on the basketball court.

Sparks said Driscoll is a very demanding coach, and expects a lot of the team.

Driscoll said the seniors really helped in the transitional period of UNF becoming a Division I athletic program. He commended the senior players for their hard work and dedication to the team. Driscoll ensured the players have learned work ethics and “how failure can lead to success when you treat it the right way.”

After playing with the women’s basketball team for four years, Sheffield will graduate with degrees in political science and criminal justice. Sheffield aspires to set up a faith-based youth home and orphanage to help decrease crime rates among juveniles. She’s been playing basketball since she was in the fourth grade.

Both players are going to miss working with their teammates.

Her basketball career at UNF may be coming to a close, but Cherizol would like the chance to play basketball overseas if the opportunity arises. 

Sheffield said she will not pursue basketball after college, but she possesses an interest in coaching.