St. Petersburg Catholic (FL) hires new boys basketball coach

(© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

St. Petersburg (FL) St. Petersburg Catholic has seen its football program return to its winning ways this past 2025 season under the watch of first-year head coach Jesse Chinchar and now are looking to do the same with boys basketball.

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The Barons’ athletic department announced via social media the hiring of St. Petersburg (FL) High School head coach Chris Blackwell as the program’s new lead man. Blackwell has coached in the Tampa Bay area over around 25 years, winning over 600-plus games, reaching seven Final Fours and two state championship game appearances.

“They were really persistent and wanted me there,” Blackwell said to the Tampa Bay Beacon’s Bob Putnam. “They want to build a program, and it’s exciting to see if I can replicate what I did at St. Petersburg over there.

St. Petersburg Catholic hasn’t had a winning season since the 2020-2021 campaign when the Barons went 17-9 and now with Blackwell, who led the Green Devils to 20 straight winning seasons dating back to the mid-2000s.

Per Putnam’s report, it doesn’t sound like Blackwell is heading to St. Petersburg Catholic alone as 2028 four-star shooting guard Nijuan Harris is one of three players from the Green Devils that’s planning to enroll and play for the Barons. St. Petersburg went 20-10 last season and Harris was one of the state’s leading scorers at 22.7 points per game.

The Barons this past season with a 10-16 record and finished ranked No. 548 in the final 2025 Florida High School Boys Basketball Massey Rankings.