Former Florida basketball standout Teddy Dupay was inducted into the FHSAA Hall of Fame on May 6 with a prep scoring record that has stood the test of time.
The 5-foot-10 Dupay played with an industrial-sized chip on his shoulder throughout his four-year high school career at Mariner High in Cape Coral, scoring 3,744 career points under coaches Timmy Maloney and Frank Morris.
As a senior in 1998, Dupay averaged 41.5 points per game, which included a 70-point performance in a state playoff game, and a 56-point game in City of Palms Tournament, which remains a record for the elite Fort Myers-based event.
Little guy. Big heart.
“I believed I could do it,” Dupay said in an interview with the Sun. “I just knew it was going to happen and then got to play as a freshman, got to have the ball in my hands a lot, it was a perfect team for me to come right in with coaches that wanted to play ultra, ultra fast, obnoxiously fast, with Coach Maloney my first couple of years and then with Coach Morris, we played even faster.
“The amount of possessions, the amount of shots I was able to get up, play and shoot freely, it was such a unique situation that I was in, you know, to be able to thrive like that.”
The record has stood for 28 years and counting. Asked if it could ever be broken, Dupay responded: “If there was someone who had the goods to do it, you’d know right away. I’d like to go watch them play because it’s hard to remember certain plays and games, but when you are player that puts on a good show, you can’t explain it, it just makes you feel good. That’s what we had, no doubt.”
Teddy Dupay’s path from HS to Florida basketball
Former Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan saw a bit of himself when he offered Dupay a scholarship to UF in 1996, when Dupay was just in 10th grade. Like Dupay, Donovan was a shorter scoring point guard who helped lead Providence to the Final Four in 1987.
“Coach Donovan had to have seen something,” Dupay said. “He offered me a scholarship and be a building block, go out there and build the team we really wanted when I was in 10th grade.”
Dupay earned Florida Mr. Basketball honors in 1998 before enrolling at UF, where he shared the scoring load with others. With Dupay at point guard on a team with eventual NBA players Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Donnell Harvey and Matt Bonner, Florida made the first of its four Final Fours under Donovan in 2000. The Gators reached the NCAA Finals before falling 89-76 to Michigan State.
In three seasons at Florida (1998-2001), Dupay sank 188 carer 3-pointers and scored 980 career points.
“As good of a competitor as I’ve had a chance to coach,” Donovan said in an interview with the Sun in 2014. “He was always a fearless guy who was not afraid to take big shots. Very gutsy.”
How former Florida basketball standout Teddy Dupay is giving back to the game
The 46-year-old Dupay overcame some obstacles and bad choices in his post-Florida career and has spent the last 13 years coaching basketball at the grassroots level in Tampa. Dupay said he’s coached and mentored thousands of kids during that span in his Teddy Dupay Basketball Academy.
“I’ve been doing to academy and working with kids longer than I ever played basketball,” Dupay said. “What we’ve been doing now in the community and helping kids, has been way more impactful and important and significant.”
Of, course, Dupay still finds time to get out on the court with his students. Some have heard the stories, but none were alive to watch him during his Mariner and UF days.
Dupay said he underwent a knee replacement last year and is back to moving around like he did pre-surgery.
“Sometimes kids are super surprised, ‘Oh, you’ve got a nice shot’,” Dupay said. “Especially a teenager they might get a little cocky or get out of line, it’s fun to play some one-on-one with them.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Former Florida basketball great Teddy Dupay talks FHSAA HOF induction, scoring record
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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