Emanuel Sharp was born to play the game of basketball, bouncing a basketball in his diaper before he could even stand up and walk.
The Blake High Sophomore grew up playing the game in Israel, where his father Derrick had achieved legendary like status.
15 years ago, his father Derrick, a former standout at USF hit a game-tying shot in the Euroleague playoffs to help Israeli basketball power Maccabi Tel Aviv avoid elimination and eventually go on to win the win the game and become Euroleague champs, one of 13 national championships Sharp would win in his 15 years of playing ball in Israel.
His dad's playing days made a big impression on little Emanuel back then.
"I remember I had to sneak out with him out the back of the arena during the games to avoid the fans, I mean they were crazy, they were crazy for him".
Emanuel would follow his dad to his games, his practices and into the locker room afterwords, it was then his dad Derrick, knew he was hooked.
"You know just giving him that ball, having that basket in the house, bringing him to my practices, my games, him being around it seeing the crowds, I saw he loved it".
It was only natural Emanuel was drawn to the sport at such a young age, The Sharps are a basketball family, besides dad, His mom Justine played 10 years overseas and he has two brothers currently playing in high school and professionally in Israel.
In 2013, The Sharps moved back to Florida, two years later Derrick became the head coach at Blake, where father and son now share their basketball dreams together.
"We’re helping each other admits Derrick, I can give to him everything that I’ve learned and he’s shown me things also".
Emanuel: He’s taught me everything I know, he’s a shooter, he taught me all my shooting techniques, how to play, how to play with your teammates, he pretty much taught me the game of basketball.
At 6-4, 200lbs, Emanuel is a quick study, this year as a sophomore he leads the district in scoring and he’s one of the top scoring players in the state, averaging more than 35 points a game.
The Yellow Jackets are off to their best start since 2011, which was also the last time they made it to the state semi-finals, a place father and son, together are trying to get this program back to.
"That would be ultimately the biggest accomplishment for me, definitely as a coach outside of me winning European titles in Israel, yeah that would be one of the greatest things ever".