Floyd honors late boys basketball coach Darrell Sumpter: 'I felt like his presence was there'
There’s an empty chair on Floyd’s bench for Darrell Sumpter, who died last December. After the win over Sachem North on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, Sharod Sutton Jr. said: “I just know he was watching.” Credit: Bob Sorensen
The empty chair stood out on the Floyd bench, the one with the white T-shirt draped over it and a coach’s dry erase board laying on the seat and the Mamba candy stick sitting on top of the board.
Darrell Sumpter loved giving that candy to the players and they loved receiving it.
There was a photo of him emblazoned on the T-shirt with the words “Rest In Peace DARRELL” above and “GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN” below.
Sumpter, who became a Floyd assistant boys basketball coach in 2015, died in a vehicular accident at age 51 last December. He worked with so many boys and girls at this school and also helped at the youth level.
Thursday’s game at Floyd was in his honor, the first annual Darrell Sumpter Memorial Game.
PA announcer Michael Feldstein read a speech about him. Then the Colonials beat Sachem North, 63-51, behind 12 points apiece from Jesse Durham and JJ Smith and nine more from Sharod Sutton Jr.
“I felt like his presence was there the way we were playing and moving the ball,” said Sutton, who called Sumpter “like a father figure” to him. “I just know he was watching.”
Will Slinkosky, Floyd’s fifth-year coach who joined the program in 2016, could call Sumpter a mentor, too.
“He told me the No. 1 thing is to show that you care and show that you love them as young men and show them that you want to develop them as young men and help them succeed in life outside of basketball and show them that passion and they’ll follow,” Slinkosky said.
“I listened and we did it together. And we were able to really turn the program around. It’s evident because of how many kids we have playing college basketball right now.”
Slinkosky played at Sachem North under coach Tommy Mullee and phoned him during the summer about being the opponent.
“Just the consummate gentleman,” Mullee said of Sumpter. “Just really honored to be the team they wanted to be here for this.”
Sutton hit a buzzer-beating three, giving Floyd a 17-14 lead after one quarter.
The Colonials (1-1) then outscored a young Sachem North team 20-5 to go up 37-19 at halftime. They led by 27 in the third.
Sophomore point guard Jevon Alfonso scored 13 for Sachem North (0-1).
“I thought we played very well,” Slinkosky said. " . . . We still have a lot of work to do.”
