Ocoee Hoops gives fans a peek behind the curtain

Thanks to the success of recent sports documentary series such as “The Last Dance,” “Hard Knocks” and “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” the genre has become increasingly popular among sports and non-sports fans alike. This boom has generated so much attention that we’ve reached the point that most professional sports franchises and many collegiate athletic programs have some sort of production arm that develops their own show, web series or social-media content that peels back the curtains and gives fans a never-before-seen level of access into the lives, locker rooms and huddles of the people associated with their favorites teams.

As the popularity of these docu-series continue to grow and trickle down throughout all corners of the sports landscape, it has reached the corner of West Orange County athletics — with one team taking the reigns of this phenomenon and becoming a pioneer in the space.

Led by coach Marcel Thomas, the Ocoee High boys basketball team debuted their YouTube documentary series titled “D…Termined” in November; a behind-the-scenes look at the Knights 2024-25 season compiled of coach and player interviews, highlights of games and a variety of other clips from the week that was in Ocoee Knights hoops. 

“The documentary really started because of the success we saw with our social media page last year,” Thomas said. “We take a lot of pride in not only promoting Ocoee basketball and Ocoee athletics but also in representing the school, so when we saw the growth of our Instagram account to almost 1,500 followers, we knew that we were doing something right as far as attracting attention. So, this year, with the idea of growing our following and promoting our program and school, we wanted to take it up a notch and expand onto other platforms like YouTube and TikTok. That’s how we came up with the idea of doing a docu-series.” 

For the athletes

Beyond the idea of using the team’s increasing platform to highlight and celebrate the program and the school, the core motivation of the docu-series is for the benefit of the student-athletes involved.

“As a high school coach, the reason I do this job is to help young men grow and develop,” Thomas said. “So when the idea for the docu-series came up, I just said to myself, ‘Why not do this for these guys and give them a chance to gain more exposure for their college recruiting, help them become more media savvy, teach them how to conduct themselves in front of a camera, and how to perform, knowing that your every movement is being watched?’

Photo by Sam Albuquerque

“The whole motivation behind this is that it’ll help them in the long run,” he said. “Another cool part of this is, down the road in life, they’ll be able to look back at these videos and remember what we accomplished this year — whether we win a championship or not — but for them to be able to see how they were able to grow from where we started to where we’ll finish. It also gives people who care about this team and these kids the opportunity to follow our season, as well — whether it’s their classmates or family members — it’s cool to give them the chance to be part of this journey.”

For the benefit of his players, Thomas, who enjoys producing and editing videos as a hobby, takes on the workload of putting together each episode of the series and so far, three episodes in, the players are enjoying the opportunity this docu-series is giving them. 

“I think the experience has been a big positive for the team, because it’s giving all of us more opportunities to get in front of college coaches,” senior Brenden Shaw said. “We have a lot of guys, a lot of seniors, who want to play at the next level, so I think the really important thing for us is getting more exposure but also getting more comfortable speaking about ourselves and our game in front of the camera.

"I think that’ll also be really helpful when we get in front of college coaches and we need to be confident in front of them. … I know in my own journey, I’ve started doing my own thing with video to try and get more exposure and get in front of college coaches, and the series definitely has helped me do that. The other thing it does for us, as a team, is that we have made being on camera feel normal and we have this understanding — especially for those of us being recruited — that we’re being watched, we’re being evaluated and knowing the camera’s there helps us feel more comfortable with the idea that there’s eyes on us.”

Lifelong memories

One of the most common answers retired, or former athletes give when asked what they miss most about their playing days is being in the locker room with their teammates, the bus rides to and from games, and generally the camaraderie and memories that are uniquely forged when you are part of a team.

Thomas and his players — like all athletes — know that the season will end, and even if you are lucky enough to continue playing your sport, those groups of teammates, that dynamic in the locker room is specific to that group, and no matter how familiar the variables, next season’s team won’t be the same. 

That’s why this docu-series, for this group of Ocoee basketball players, will serve as a memory that can last a lifetime — not only because it will be recorded but also because of the special moments that come because of this new experience.  

“There’s been a lot of moments already this season that have been fun because of the series,” said Ocoee senior big man Joshua Lee-Peeples. “One that stood out for me was our media day; that’s when it felt like we all clicked. It was just a really lighthearted moment. We were just all smiling, laughing, having fun, making TikToks, joking around, watching this dude right here, Malachi (Washington), miss a ton of layups. It was a lot of fun just being together as a team that day; it’s always fun to be with these guys.

“This is like a second family to me, so knowing that we get to be together during this season and that the documentary will be something I can watch years down the road is special,” he said.  

How to watch

The first three episodes of the Knights’ docu-series “D…Termined” are available to view on the team’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/@Ocoee_Knights_Basketball/videos.