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5 Questions With Derick Beltran

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

Derick Beltran is a 6-foot-3 senior guard/forward for the Spoto High boys basketball team. He leads the Spartans with 18.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Beltran, born in Queens, N.Y, was recently named Hillsborough County's Class 4A Player of the Year. Beltran transferred from Easy Bay to Spoto before his junior season, and he has helped bring the program some attention. Spoto coach Eric Brooks said a few Division II schools have shown interest.

Spoto has only been in existence for two years, how do you think the basketball program has grown in such a short time?

I think it's grown real well. We just have a lot of new talent, you know. Coach Eric Brooks pushed us real hard over the summer to get us where we need to be. Usually schools and their players have four years to work together and we only had two. That made it a little bit harder, but we've been playing together.

Do you think Spoto will have a dominant sport in the next few years?

Definitely. Football ... basketball, too. We have a couple of underclassmen coming up that are starting. When they become seniors, it should be good.

Give me your top five rappers.

Jay-Z, of course, Nas, Weezy Lil' Wayne, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco.

Name something interesting about yourself people wouldn't expect.

I work real hard in whatever I do. I came from nothing when I was in New York and I pushed myself to where I am now. I never used to play basketball. Before I moved down here, I never used to play basketball. I started playing my first year of basketball at East Bay.

Did you get a lot of questions about how you could be from New York and not play basketball?

People would ask me if I played basketball and I'd just be like 'nope.'

Nick Williams

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