TC's Dziagwa earns win No. 400

On a football-crazed holiday weekend, in a remote rural community about 90 minutes to the north, Tampa Catholic boys basketball coach Don Dziagwa quietly carved out another milestone triumph.

The Crusaders'  season-opening 86-68 triumph Friday against Kissimmee's New Dimensions at the Dunnellon Thanksgiving Classic was the 400th of Dziagwa's career. A 65-62 victory against South Sumter the following night gives him a career mark of 401-353 in 27-plus seasons. 

A shot at 500 seems realistic, barring something unforeseen. Dziagwa, who has led TC to four state tournaments and captured a state title in 1995, said he hopes to hang around long enough to coach his son Thomas, an eighth-grader and the youngest of his four children.

"The thing about it is, it's been fun," said Dziagwa, who was honored by his team with a cake at a nearby McDonald's after Friday's victory. "Even the losses have been fun. ... We're pressing and running and really doing some unconventional stuff with this team, so even for me it's kind of new for me."

The beneficiaries of this breakneck style include forward Chivarsky Corbett, the 6-foot-5 quarterback of the football team who registered consecutive double-doubles over the weekend despite having less than two weeks of practice. Corbett finished the event with 30 points and 24 rebounds.

"And his shot is not really there yet," Dziagwa said. "You don't come off the field and just start knocking down shots."