Floyd boys basketball honors fallen coach Darrell Sumpter with win vs. Longwood
Floyd's Jermaine King, center, sets up during a Suffolk boys basketball game on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
The basketball nets were perched amidst orange-shaded clouds on either side of Darrell Sumpter’s image. The words “In Loving Memory” hovered in the blue sky above him and a ball rested on the floor below in this graphic on the videoboard inside Floyd’s gym.
PA announcer Michael Feldstein began reading a memorial speech, written collaboratively by some involved with athletics at the school.
“Darrell used basketball as a vehicle to reach kids,” Feldstein told the crowd. “He helped them find direction, guidance and hope, and they received his unconditional love and support.”
Sumpter died Friday in a car accident. The beloved assistant varsity boys basketball coach was suddenly gone at 51, and Floyd was playing Tuesday for the first time since the tragedy.
With Sumpter’s wife, Susan, and four of his five children on hand, the Colonials honored his memory, holding off a furious Longwood charge to emerge with a 66-57 Suffolk League I win at an event that came with hugs and tears.
“It means the world,” coach Will Slinkosky said. “It’s not to put added pressure on our players. We told them before the game [that] us just stepping foot on this floor and giving everything we have is going to honor Coach D every single time.”
Besides being a varsity assistant since 2015, Sumpter worked with the girls program and the district’s youth basketball program.
“I knew him my whole life,” senior point guard Jermaine King said. “He was like my uncle to me. … It was heartbreaking.”
King stood out with eight threes and 33 points.
“I would say I was inspired,” King said. “He definitely put a chip on my shoulder.”
Jawuan Smith made a clutch baseline jumper with 2:27 left, scoring the final two of his 12 points after Longwood (4-3) sliced a 15-point deficit late in the third to 58-55.
The senior forward called Sumpter “a big influence.”
“We looked up to him not only (in) just basketball, but as a father, as a gentleman,” Smith said. “… He did a lot for, not only the players in the gym, but the community. He did food drives. He was always a good person.”
Smith said this season is dedicated to Sumpter.
“We do everything for Coach D,” Smith said.
The Colonials moved to 5-1.
“They were county finalists last year for a reason,” Longwood coach John Ford said. “… They execute when they have to. That’s what we’re trying to be.”