Coral Springs boys’ basketball team looking for a new state championship banner

It’s one of the first things you notice when walking into the Coral Springs Colts gym.

On the right side of the facility, behind the scorer’s table, is a historic banner that reads:

“BOYS BASKETBALL 8A 2016 STATE CHAMPIONS”

Included in that banner is the name of every player and coach on the Colts team that shocked nearly everyone with the only boys’ basketball state title in the 50-year history of the school.

“That banner means a lot,” Coral Springs senior Alex Pierre-Louis said. “I see it every time I walk into the gym.

“I’d like to get my name on a banner, too.”

Accomplishing that goal won’t be easy, especially for a public-school team such as Coral Springs that gets few transfers on its roster.

That’s in stark contrast to private schools that offer more resources academically and better facilities athletically.

Those private schools also play tougher schedules and travel to more and better tournaments.

But despite all of that, the Colts should not be counted out for 2024-2025, and here are a few reasons why:

1. Devin Barta, who led Coral Springs to that state title in 2016, is still the coach, which means the players have a guy who knows the winning formula.

Barta, 39, has a career record of 206-122, and he bleeds Colts blue and green.

After all, he graduated from Coral Springs in 2003, and he was the Colts’ starting point guard and team captain.

Then, as a 19-year-old college student at Florida Atlantic University, he started coaching the Coral Springs junior varsity.

Barta became a varsity head coach at the age of 24, taking over at Delray American Heritage. Two years later, he got the job at Coral Springs.

This is his second stint at Coral Springs – after turns at Cardinal Gibbons and South Broward – and Barta is grateful to be back home.

“This is the job I always wanted,” Barta said. “I shouldn’t have left. In hindsight, it was a mistake to ever leave Coral Springs.”

2. Another Colts advantage over most schools is that they have a senior-led roster with tremendous continuity.

Pierre-Louis, a 6-4 senior combo guard, leads the way. He made first-team All-County and third-team All-State last season. This season, he is averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a Coral Springs team that is off to an 8-1 start.

Also, out of the 10 players in Coral Springs’ rotation, five of them are seniors, and that includes four starters.

When the Colts won state in 2016, 12 of their 14 players were seniors.

“A lot of the guys on this team I’ve known since the sixth grade, and that’s a huge advantage,” Pierre-Louis said.

3. There is talent on this roster.

Six players return from last season’s third-seeded Colts team that won the Big 8 Broward County championship for the first time in program history.

Besides Pierre-Louis, there’s 6-2 senior forward Jevah Chervin, who is averaging 9.5 rebounds.

In addition, Tavien Neille is back. He played for Coral Springs as a freshman before his family moved to Fort Pierce. Now the 5-7 senior point guard has returned to the Colts, and he’s averaging 8.9 points and 4.1 assists.

“We missed him over the past two years,” Barta said. “He’s an incredible athlete.”

The Colts have also added 6-3 senior forward Josh Pierre, whose family moved from the Homestead area; and 6-3 freshman Jahmai Henry, who was the MVP of the middle-school champs. Pierre is averaging 13.2 points and 10.1 rebounds. Henry is averaging 9.4 points and 3.3 steals.

4. The Colts have been dropped from Class 7A to 6A.

That means the Colts won’t have to get past Columbus, which has perhaps the best roster in the nation.

Of course, there will be other solid teams standing in the way of Coral Springs’ goal of adding another banner inside their gym.

“We have to stay focused and remember that we’re in this together,” Pierre-Louis said. “We can’t play hero ball.”

Barta said winning state in 2016 was “an incredible accomplishment that we couldn’t even fathom at that time.”

Doing it again will be difficult, but at least there’s a blueprint.

“We try to get kids into our program as freshmen,” Barta said. “We want them to buy in to our vision of being here four years.

“If they work hard and sacrifice, we believe there will be team and individual success at the end.”