Columbus’ Moran, Riviera’s Shahbaz are Miami-Dade Boys’ Basketball Coaches of the Year

Columbus and Riviera Prep both had their best seasons in the history of their programs. Both made it to the state finals for the first time and the Explorers went back to Miami with their first state championship.

Now their coaches are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Boys’ Basketball Coaches of the Year.

Columbus’ Andrew Moran took a team with three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup, and turned it into the Class 7A champion. He’s the Coach of the Year for Classes 8A-5A.

Riviera’s Anthony Shahbaz, a year after the Bulldogs’ season was canceled for COVID-19, brought his team to the state title game for the first time in Class 3A. He’s the Coach of the Year for 4A-2A.

Even though the Explorers were young, their run to Lakeland didn’t come out of nowhere. They went to Region 4-7A championship in 2021 and knew it had two underclassmen coming back. In the offseason, Cameron Boozer, Cayden Boozer and Benny Fragela all decided to come to Columbus for their freshman seasons, and Moran immediately knew his Explorers could be real title contenders.

“Once I knew that the three freshmen were coming in, I knew it would change everything,” Moran said. “We said, Listen: Everyone thinks we’re young and we’ll be better next year, but we’re going to win this year.”

He was right. Columbus reached the state championship for the first time, then beat Orlando Dr. Phillips, 45-44, in the 7A title game.

Dr. Phillips was the No. 17 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps, and had three players signed with Power 5 conference programs.

“I tried to make the schedule as strong as I could, just to prepare them for those moments,” Moran said.

Although Riviera fell one point short in the 3A championship, Shahbaz and Co. still made history just by getting there and his five-year run -- and counting -- has turned the school into a Miami powerhouse. The Bulldogs never reached the region playoffs before 2019 -- Shahbaz’s second season -- and now they’ve been to the final four twice, with a trip to the title game this year.

Their run this year wasn’t exactly smooth, either. Riviera’s players spent last season playing against prep schools with Shahbaz Elite after the school decided to cancel its winter sports seasons and the Bulldogs came back battle-tested. Even when one of its best players left the team midway through the season, Riviera was able to stay on track to make history.

“When you go through something as a group, it just brings you closer naturally and I think that was probably the key to this group really buying in as a whole,” Shahbaz said. “We get them to buy into the big picture.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 12:00 PM.