Breakfast of champions for Tampa Prep

Posted Mar 5, 2010 by Katherine Smith

Updated Mar 5, 2010 at 11:38 AM

Tampa Prep’s boys basketball team’s pregame meal Friday morning was much different than its last one.

Parents and coaches put on quite the spread, cooking up pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage and fruit. The players happily gobbled it up, adding as much fuel to their bodies before their Class 2A state semifinal game against Port St. Joe in Lakeland..

Their last pregame meal was a hastily arranged dinner at Chick-fil-A and Panera Bread in Naples. Because the team’s charter bus broke down on the way to their regional final game against Naples Community School, previous dinner plans had to be scrapped.

Tampa Prep didn’t take any chances with their transportation this time. No charter bus for the Terrapins to Lakeland. Instead the team piled into the school’s bus.

There was one slight change – the driver. The five previous trips to the state final four, coach Joe Fenlon manned the wheel. On Friday, assistant athletic director Mike Flynn drove the team to Lakeland.

“We’re changing things up,” Fenlon said.

The Terrapins have never advanced to the state championship game, falling in the semifinals all five times. In four of those games, they lost to Port St. Joe.

Assistant coach Brian Reeves played on one of the Tampa Prep final four teams that lost to Port St. Joe.
Reeves remembers the sight of the Sharks signature yellow and purple striped socks, ones they only wear in the final four. He bought a pair of red and black stripes socks from a soccer store near USF and donned them underneath his game slacks.

“If we win, we’re all wearing them tomorrow,” Reeves said.