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| Brandon Academy’s new boys basketball coach Walter Perkins. (Photo provided) |
Staff Report
BRANDON – Brandon Academy is set to make its debut as an FHSAA Independent program for the 2017-18 school year, and the international Baccalaureate high school program has hired Tampa Prep and Saint Leo University alum Walter Perkins as its new boys basketball coach.
Perkins, a Brandon native who attended Brandon Academy, is a 2007 graduate of Tampa Prep, where he scored
1,498 points and helped lead the Terrapins to the FHSAA state final four in his senior season. He earned a basketball scholarship to Saint Leo and followed his college career with stints in semi-pro basketball before moving into coaching.
1,498 points and helped lead the Terrapins to the FHSAA state final four in his senior season. He earned a basketball scholarship to Saint Leo and followed his college career with stints in semi-pro basketball before moving into coaching.
Perkins spent time at Tampa Prep as a junior varsity head coach and a varsity assistant under coach Joe Fenlon, before spending the last three seasons as the JV head coach and assistant varsity coach at King High. He is also the current vice president and trainer for the Brandon Bolts AAU Basketball Club.
Brandon Academy was established in 1970, and opened the high school in the fall of 2015.
“As a Brandon Academy alumni, I’m excited to be back on campus as head of the Brandon Academy basketball
program,” Perkins said in a press release from the school. “Through the years, I have pursued my passion for the game at the high school, college and post-collegiate levels. Returning full circle to where some of my earliest experiences began, is both a blessing and an incredible opportunity. ”
program,” Perkins said in a press release from the school. “Through the years, I have pursued my passion for the game at the high school, college and post-collegiate levels. Returning full circle to where some of my earliest experiences began, is both a blessing and an incredible opportunity. ”
Last week the school announced that former Carrollwood Day School assistant head of school and varsity baseball coach Nick Rodriguez will assume the head of school position at Brandon Academy. Rodriguez said this is the first of a number of hires the school will make for its first year of FHSAA competition.
“I could not be happier Walter is joining the BA Family once again,” Rodriguez said. “Walter is the best guy to build this program from the ground up. He has played for some of the best coaches, is of the utmost character and understands what being a part of a prep school and competitive environment demands from our student-athletes.”
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