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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 2, 2002
Dan Wright remembers walking out of the Lakewood locker room one day before a December practice. Taped over one of the doorways was a picture and article about Los Angeles Westchester, then the No. 1 prep team in the country according to USA Today.
Wright smiled. While his team was focused on dominating the local competition, winning district, regional and state titles and gaining the statewide recognition that comes with it, their eyes were on a bigger prize.
National attention.
The Spartans eventually played, and lost, to that Westchester team at a Christmas tournament, but the game -- as well as three wins in the same tournament over teams from three different states -- served as perfect motivation to what became the greatest season in Lakewood history.
Just like Wright knew it would.
"We knew the schedule would be the key, and that if we wanted to get some national recognition, we had to play a schedule like this one," he said. "We knew it would make us better."
Wright set the chessboard up for his Spartans and then made all the right moves. He used a rotation that included plenty of minutes for everyone and developed the county's deepest bench. He cajoled his players to pull out tight wins over Plant, Monsignor Pace and Leesburg. He got the most out of mercurial stars Marcus Morrison and Kevin Dorsey. He stuck with sophomore guard Maurice Robinson when there were calls not to. He eased his younger players into contributing roles, which paid off handsomely at various points late in the season.
And ultimately, he convinced his team that it could not lose.
Wright is now the coach of a state champion and head of a nationally recognized program.
"I think we are," Wright said. "When you look at where were rated, like No. 2 in the Southeast Region (in USA Today), and in some other publications, I think we did it.
"Now the goal is to try and maintain it."