Off to an undefeated start, the Yellow Jackets have their eyes on a state title. And Pope is the focus.

Everything he does on the court he learned from his dad, Tony Pope Jr. Once a scrappy guard in his own right, Pope’s father made it “a requirement” that his son give unmatched effort on both ends of the floor.

But five years ago, when Pope was in middle school, his dad died of multiple myeloma. The younger Pope, the point guard for Gwynn Park (10-0), uses basketball as an outlet to grieve his loss and pay tribute to his father.

“I do everything for my pops,” said Pope, who is averaging 15 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals. “Every time I get on the court, I just play like it’s my last and just play through him.”

‘Just give it your all’

Octavia Harrison, Pope’s mom, remembers when her son fell in love with basketball. She and his dad bought a Fisher-Price basketball hoop for Tony, still in diapers, and watched him repeatedly chuck the ball through the hoop. He quickly graduated to a mini-hoop that hung from his bedroom door, one of several around the house.

As he reached elementary school, Pope began taking the drive to Rock Creek Christian with his dad, who coached the Upper Marlboro program. Pope stayed after practice to train with his father, who taught him how to shoot, how to position his body on defense and, most importantly, how to hustle.

“Playing hard, it’s always something he preached,” Pope said, “because, you know, it could be your last time playing. Just give it your all, just compete every time you step onto the court.”

Pope quickly flashed his talent playing point guard in youth leagues across Prince George’s County as his dad continued to coach him up. Harrison chuckled while thinking back to Pope’s first game — at age 5, he took the opening tip, ran coast-to-coast and made a layup on his first shot.

“We couldn’t believe it,” Harrison said. “His basketball I.Q., even at age 5, he just understood it.”

By the time he reached middle school, Pope was already being recruited by private school programs. But as Pope met with coaches to talk about his future, his dad met with doctors who diagnosed him with terminal cancer in February 2018.

Gwynn Park Coach Rob Garner, then the coach at nearby Wise, had formed a relationship with Pope’s father over the years. He remembers receiving a call from Pope’s father in September 2018, imploring him to take an open position at Gwynn Park and promising that his son would come to the Brandywine school if he did.

“He kept letting me know, like, ‘Please, Coach, look over him, look after him, make sure he’s okay,’ ” Garner said. “Never did I imagine he was speaking from a place of ‘Hey, I need you to take care of my son because two weeks from now I might not be alive.’ ”

Garner had no idea about the diagnosis. Two weeks later, he died.

“When he passed away, that’s when I understood what he was doing,” Garner said. “It was his last opportunity to let someone know, ‘I can no longer be there for my son.’ ”

Garner took the job coaching the Yellow Jackets in 2018, and Pope enrolled there for his freshman year in 2020. The next chapter of Pope’s basketball career was set to begin, but for the first time, he was unable to look over his shoulder at the man who stoked his passion for the sport.

That loss took a toll on Pope, his mother said. Harrison said she saw Pope “lose the fire” during his sophomore year each time he looked into the stands and didn’t lock eyes with his mentor.

“He couldn’t really put it together,” Harrison said. “Any time he needed an adjustment, his dad was on the sideline. … The dynamic was so different that he was having a hard time making that adjustment.”

Over time, Pope made that adjustment. Now, before all the noise starts, Pope always finds quiet time to pray. Every loose ball, every steal and every midrange jump shot is for his dad, Pope said, which has given him a new purpose on the court.

“Every adjustment that he told him to make, every speech he gave him, every time he yelled at him, I think it all kind of clicked in his head, like, ‘I don’t need him to physically be here,’ ” Harrison said. “I think when you realize that someone’s presence is still there and you’re just tapping into things that they already instilled in you, he finally came to the realization that he has everything he needs.”

‘Tony Pope is my son’

Like most in the local basketball community, Garner was stunned by Tony Pope Jr.’s death. He was a private person, Harrison said, and only his immediate family knew about his condition.

From that day on, Garner took the young Pope under his wing. Garner had watched Tony grow up and knew his friend’s soft-spoken son still had more growing to do, so he kept his eye out for the young point guard as he transitioned to high school while mourning the loss of his father.

That bond has strengthened over time — Pope and Garner are now just as close off the court as they are in sync on it. Whether it’s catching up over lunch, seeing a movie together or checking in on Pope’s grades before and after practice, Garner has grown into a father figure.

“I’m going to be at his wedding. When he has his first child, when he gets his college degree, when he buys his first house — I’m going to be there,” Garner said. “Tony Pope is my son.”

Garner wasn’t the only one on Gwynn Park’s team to wrap his arms around Pope. Bevins, a 6-foot-4 George Washington commit who is another key cog in the Yellow Jackets’ potent squad, remembers the feeling of shock when his youth coach was gone.

He also remembers numerous hoops sessions in empty gyms alongside Pope, as well as hours of playing Madden, NBA 2K and Fortnite as they dealt with the grief.

“Our bond continued to get stronger. … I started checking on him more and making sure he was good,” Bevins said. “Then we tried to stay together as much as possible.”

Years later, Pope, Bevins and Garner are still grieving. That feeling has sparked a desire to take the team further than it ever has gone — with the ultimate goal of a state championship.

It’s early, but the Yellow Jackets seem poised to make a serious run. Gwynn Park is perfect in the first five weeks of the season and beat two-time defending Virginia Class 6 champion Hayfield, 50-36, on Saturday. Pope and Bevins each scored in double figures.

“We just want to prove everybody wrong,” Pope said after the game. “… We just want to keep it pushing.”

To win it all, they’ll need Pope to play just how his dad taught him. And with his father’s lessons ingrained each time he steps on the court, he wants more than anything to win to honor his father’s memory.