BARTOW, Fla. - Diamonds aren’t just a girls best friend.

The guys kind of dig them too.

What You Need To Know

  • The Bartow High boys basketball team won the Class 6A state championship in March

  • It was the program's fifth overall state title

  • The Yellow Jackets previous championship was in 2010

Nothing says I’m a state champion like sparkling, big bling. The Bartow High boys basketball team learned that first hand at their ring ceremony. One by one, head coach Terrence McGriff handed out the jewelry to cap off a magical season that saw these Yellow Jackets lose just one game and win the biggest one of all.

“It feels empowering,” senior forward Joshua Simons said. “It makes me feel like all the hard work, all the dedication, it was very much worth it.”

This ceremony almost didn’t happen, just like Bartow’s title game almost never happened. The Yellow Jackets won the program’s fifth state championship on March 7. One week later, the Coronavirus shut everything down.

“If they shut down the country a week earlier, there isn’t even a state championship to celebrate,” McGriff said.

The Yellow Jackets know how to throw a party, even though its been 10 years since the basketball team’s previous ring ceremony. A lots changed since then. This time, there were temperature checks, mandatory masks and social distancing. But it was well worth all the precautions.

“It’s pretty awesome for the kids, like this ain’t no every year,” McGriff said. “This is a once in a lifetime.”

Finals seconds ticking off a clock solidifying your status as a state champion is one thing. Getting the bling to back up the claim is another.

“I might as well keep in on forever,” Simons said. “I like how it feels.”

“Every time I look at this ring, I’m going to think about the whole season, all the hard work we put in and all that,” junior guard Walter Clayton said.

That’s the thing about memories, they last a lifetime. And these Bartow basketball players enjoyed a season full of them. Now that’s something to celebrate.

“Things happen for a reason,” McGriff said. “And even in the bad, there’s good. People are losing life and people are losing their jobs and people can’t pay their bills and it’s chaos and there’s division. And then what you saw today was everything coming together.”