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Homecoming Crown Becomes Brandon Family Tradition

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By MARILYN BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

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Tiffani Conway

TAMPA - Seventeen years ago, Tiffani Conway raised eyebrows when she was voted homecoming queen by fellow students at Brandon High School.

She was the single mother of an 8-month old boy.

Fast forward to Friday night.

That baby boy, DeAndre Bowers, was crowned homecoming king at his mom's alma mater.

"I was pretty happy because of my mom," DeAndre said Monday. "There's a little bit of history to it."

That history, he said, has everything to do with his mother being the only black candidate on the homecoming court in 1991 as well as carrying the stigma of single parenthood.

"You tend to get stereotyped when you have a baby," said DeAndre, who said he didn't know of his mother's past as a homecoming queen and unmarried mother until he was about 13.

His mom was Brandon's second black homecoming queen, and 'I was second black dude," he said.

Conway attended Hillsborough Community College after high school, graduating from its law enforcement academy. She was a Bartow police officer for almost three years and has been a sales rep for a cable company for the past seven years. She left police work for better hours to care for DeAndre and later two more sons, now 9 and 5.

DeAndre runs track and plays defensive back on the Brandon team. He also is on a student advisory board for the Tampa Bay Bucs, maintains a B average and works at McDonald's.

He is hoping for a college scholarship. His first choice is Florida State University. He wants to study journalism and become a sportscaster.

Tiffani Conway wasn't at Friday's homecoming dance at Brandon High when her son competed with six other young men to be named king. That was by design.

"I wanted that to be his moment," Conway said. Still, her son called just before and immediately after he was crowned.

"She comes to all my other events. Every game," DeAndre said. His two brothers play football, too, and he helps coach their teams.

His mom and their past and the connection at Brandon were all part of the pressure of homecoming night, DeAndre said.

Then again, he said, "I always feel pressure. I don't want to let her down. She is my most valuable person in the world. She's been there since Day One."

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813)259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

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