Tonelli Looks Back On 500 (And Counting) Basketball Wins At Wharton

On Dec. 7, Wharton High’s Tommy Tonelli joined rarified air when his Wildcats beat Chamberlain 75-46 to give him his 500th career win. He’s now at 514 wins, and the Wildcats are off to one of the best starts in program historyat 19-1. Among current public school coaches in Hillsborough County, Tonelli has no peers.

We caught up with Tonelli before Christmas to talk about milestones, both current and past.

NN: What does 500 wins mean to you?

TT: No doubt it’s an accomplishment, but I’m very in tune with the fact that I’ve been very very fortunate to have had some great players from Day 1 when the school opened.

NN: Did you ever imagine something like 500 wins when you got into coaching?

TT: No matter what age, what level, I’ve always been very competitive. I want to win no matter what I’m doing. I didn’t get into coaching to win 500 games, I just wanted to win every game. That’s the approach I took.

NN: So you’re 10-1 (now 19-1) this season, looks like you’re on your way to the next 500?

TT: (Laughs) I doubt it. This is my 23rd year. I can’t imagine coaching 23 more years, no chance…. I’m just proud I’ve done it at one school. At a public school, you’re at the mercy of who shows up and I’ve been really lucky over the years to have some outstanding players.

NN: Do you remember any of the other milestone wins?

TT: I do remember No. 400. The only reason I didn’t talk about it is because it was a District semifinal game and we were playing at Sickles against Wiregrass. The winner of that advanced to the District final and State playoffs, and I didn’t want to put any additional pressure on so I didn’t mention it to anybody.

NN: What about the first win ever?

TT: Of course. It was the school’s first-ever game, a home game vs Leto. They had Mike Jenkins (Ohio State football, Atlanta Falcons WR) and Ricky McConnell (6-foot-8 All-County forward). We didn’t even have padding on the walls at the end of the court yet. We beat them 70-63. The guys played great. We had a good team from Day 1, with no seniors, but great players like Terrell Farris, Joe Colangelo, Cliff Russ, Chris Christie.

NN: Was that the most memorable win?

TT: The first game was special, but I really think when we beat University High 41-39 to get to the State final four in 2013, that was the most memorable. It was a great game, and we had a special team with CJ McGill, Chase Litton, Sir Patrick Reynolds, Jaken Grier…my son Thomas was on that team, too.

CJ made a free throw with 4.5 seconds left and their point guard drove the length of court and got all the way to the basket, but Chase Litton came over and had the kid shot it, I’m sure Chase would have blocked it. The kid had the presence of mind to know he wasn’t going to get the shot off, and he double clutched and whipped this bullet pass to the corner…and (his teammate) wasn’t expecting it. It hit him in the stomach and caused him to bobble it, and by time he gathered it and shot, the buzzer had gone off. He made the shot, it was close. The refs gathered to talk about it. If it was a three-pointer, we lose. 

It seemed like forever. They broke from the huddle and waved off the basket. I’ll never forget that game.

NN: Is there a loss you’ll never forget?

TT: Yes. The two Regional playoff games back-to-back at Windermere Prep (2019 and 2020). I don’t think I’ve ever had two more devastating, sickening, crushing losses than those. And both (59-57 loss in 2019, 54-53 loss in 2020) were games I could have done more to help the team and help determine the outcome of the game. I don’t feel like I made good decisions down the stretch to help us, and I think I’ve prided myself on that over the years.

NN: What’s your best-ever Wharton team?

TT: I know for sure the all-time Wharton team is 2007. That team had Shawn Vanzant, Adam Noble, Anthony Gomez, Leonard Simmons. Our only losses were to (national prep powerhouse) Mount Verde and Lake Howell in the Regional championship. That Lake Howell team was incredible. We lost by 11, the closest anyone came to beating them. They won the 5A State championship game by 43. Any other classification, with no Lake Howell, our team wins the state title.

NN: If you had to put together an all-star team of all the guys you’ve coached, who’s on the All-Time All-Wharton team?

TT: That’s a tough question. I think you start with Shawn Vanzant and Darin Green. Xavier Owens, A.J. Astroth, Damian Dixon, Anthony Gomez. Oh man. Who am I missing? Danny Green, Terrell Farris, Joe Colangelo. Man oh man, this one caught me off guard. Sir Patrick Reynolds, CJ McGill, Chase Litton. There’s others, but those guys are all in that top group.

NN: Are you going to be around for win No. 600?

TT: I’m just looking forward to this afternoon (which turned out to be a 63-49 win over Hillsborough High). I’m not in my 30 and 40s any more. The demands have gotten harder. 

We’re just finishing four games in 5 days, 7 games in 12 games. Plus my responsibilities as guidance counselor are greater. I take a lot of pride in that as well.

NN: Other than a State title, there’s probably not much left to accomplish. You have to be proud of what you’ve done at Wharton though.

TT: We haven’t won a State championship, but those are so hard to come by. There’s so many variables, so many things you can’t control. I think Sickles is the last Hillsborough County public school to win one, and that hadn’t been done prior to them doing it since 1982. It’s just really hard. But I feel like, sure, we haven’t won a State championship, but in many regards we have a State championship program. We’ve never had a losing season, that’s one thing I’m really proud of. I’d venture to say there’s not many schools that have been around the last 25 years that can say they haven’t had a losing season. Would I rather have some losing seasons mixed in there and be able to say we won a State championship, sure. But, we’ve sustained excellence. The winning tradition is a credit to all the kids. We’ve built a program (with the kids from Benito, Turner-Bartels and around the area) and I think we built something the community can be proud of.