‘He was a gentle giant’
Staples High basketball player from Bridgeport dies unexpectedly
A Staples High School senior and member of the boys basketball team known as a gentle giant died unexpectedly Sunday night.
Timari Rivera, a 6-foot-8 senior at Staples died overnight, according to the school, which received word of his death Monday.
Staples basketball coach Colin Devine said he and Rivera’s teammates are grieving for their friend.
“As a coach and educator, a tragedy like this is never expected. It has been really hard on the players and the coaches. Our thoughts and prayers are with all his family and his friends,” Devine said. “He was a gentle giant with a great heart and a beloved member of the Staples community.”
Devine spoke to Rivera’s mother Monday and met with his team Tuesday morning to discuss Rivera’s death.
Counselors have been made available to Staples students and staff through the school.
“This was a sudden and unexpected, absolutely heartbreaking loss for his family and for the school community,” Superintendent Thomas Scarice said. “This is a young man that has been with us since first grade. … just a special young man.”
He said the untimely loss in an already challenging school year dealt another blow to the school’s community. Staff and students were grieving, he said.
Scarice said services were made ready for students when they arrived at school on Tuesday. Students were also made
aware of what was available between counselors, community services and Staples’ connections program. But Scarice said most importantly the community wants to support the family in this difficult time.
“Right now our hearts are with his family that’s grieving,” Scarice said. “He was just a magnificent young man.”
Rivera, a native of Bridgeport, was a part of the Cooperative Educational Services Choice program and attended Westport schools since first grade.
The Open Choice program was established by legislation and is intended to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation among students. Through Open Choice, students who are Bridgeport residents have the opportunity to attend school in participating school districts when space is available, according to its website.
The Staples student newspaper, Inklings News posted on its Instagram account Tuesday morning a photo from a gathering Monday night at Longshore where friends gathered with candles and flowers to share memories of Rivera.
The Instagram post read: “Timari will always be remembered and loved by all of his peers and he will be dearly missed. He had a huge heart and was a hard worker with big dreams. We will miss you Timari. Fly high.”
On the court, Rivera was an emerging talent ready to come into his own in his senior year.
“He was a very good basketball player and only getting better,” Devine said. “I met Timari his freshman year and knew right away he would be a good player and a great leader, and he was both. He would have been a tremendous senior leader for us this season. We are going to dedicate our season to Timari and will have him in our minds every game and every practice.”
Though he was still developing as a player, he had already drawn the interest of college scouts due to his size and outside shooting range.
Recruit the Bronx, which profiles high school boys basketball players from New York and Connecticut boroughs or counties who are college basketball prospects wrote this about Rivera in November:
“We project that Rivera is going to help make some hard-working scout’s career. He is currently way beneath the radar for a talented 6-8 player. He has the unteachables in D1 size and strength and a soft touch. He has strong low post seal technique, making him an excellent target and a scoring threat deep on the block. He also embarrassed a few ‘ shooting guards’ in this session by sticking his threes both in game play and beating them out for a spot in the 3-point shooting finals. His ability to draw a college-sized rim defender out of the paint will inspire some offensive ‘ coaching genius’ at the next level.”