‘It’s worth it’: Riviera Prep trio goes the extra mile to have success
It’s not easy for most people to wake up every day at 3 a.m.
Even less so to get in a car and take a trip that can last an hour and a half.
Even less when what you do immediately when you arrive is go work out and then go to class.
And then after a full day of going to class and playing basketball repeat the same long ride — sometimes longer due to traffic — back home.
This is a typical day for Riviera Prep sibling guards Mason and Myles Fuentes, a sophomore and freshman respectively.
It’s also a typical day for 7-foot junior center Gustavo Guimaraes Alves, who has lived with the Fuentes brothers since moving to South Florida from his native Brazil three years ago.
Cooped up in the
Fuentes brothers’ father’s black Tesla Model Y, the trio has formed a bond as tight as brothers during those roughly three hours a day they spend commuting to and from their house in Boca Raton to Riviera Prep, located in Kendall.
“I don’t know how they do it. I would be asleep by 6:15 a.m. every day,” said teammate Dante Allen, a junior guard. “I’d still be asleep when I’d get here.”
But when you ask any of the three why they do it, they echo the same answer. “It’s worth it.”
The Fuentes brothers and Guimaraes Alves, along with Allen, have formed one of the most prolific inside-outside combos on the court in the state and arguably the nation over the past two seasons at Riviera Prep.
They’ve helped the Bulldogs win a state title and finish state runner-up the prior season.
On Friday night, they will try to win more together as Riviera Prep (22-8) vies for another berth in the state final four when it takes on Westminster Academy in the Region 4-3A final at 7 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale.
“In life you have to sacrifice things,” Myles Fuentes said. “We sacrifice by having to do that drive every day.”
Guimaraes, who was born in Sao Paolo, endures what’s not the most comfortable situation for someone his height.
But the brothers have found ways to pass the time. They’ll sometimes get some of their homework done ahead of time.
The Fuentes’ father, Joe, calls the Tesla the best investment he’s ever made since it helped his sons further their education and basketball careers at Riviera
while making Guimaraes Alves part of their family.
Fuentes’ father was connected with Guimaraes Alves’ family in Brazil by a mutual friend who thought he would benefit from the opportunity to play and train with them in the U.S.
“From day 1, he became family for us,” Joe Fuentes said of Guimaraes Alves. “His goals are equal to my sons’ goals.”
While the Fuentes brothers and Guimaraes Alves are at Riviera Prep or in the Kendall area during the day, Allen says he and his teammates try to spend as much time as possible with them. It’s built a comfort level that’s carried over to the court.
“Those guys are goofballs,” Allen said with a laugh. “They’re good characters. Three guys you always wanna hang around and once they’re on the basketball court, we’re always on the same page with them.”
Guimaraes Alves, who grew up speaking Portuguese, arrived in the United States knowing no English and only a little bit of Spanish.
The long car rides and experiences on and off the court with the Fuentes brothers helped him learn English faster and get comfortable living in South Florida.
“He knew a little Spanish so he talked to my dad,” Myles Fuentes said. “He didn’t fit in the door and was always ducking.”
Mason added: “Even though he’s taller, he’s ‘little bro’ to us. We just clicked and now we’re like brothers. Our chemistry has been off the charts since day one. In travel ball to high school ball, it all carries over.”
The three of them play together on the South Florida-based All Ball travel team on the Under Armour circuit.
Allen, a four-star prospect and reigning Class 4A-2A Miami Herald Player of the Year, leads Riviera Prep in scoring (20.8 points per game), rebounding (7.8) and steals (3.4).
But Myles averages 11 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while Mason is averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 assists. Guimaraes Alves is a force in the paint, averaging 8.5 points and 10 rebounds per game.
“When you have a family that is getting up at 3 a.m. to make a 4:45 a.m. workout in high school, you know that the coach has created the perfect culture,” Riviera Prep athletic director Courtney Young said. “We are a family, and people in the community are attracted to that aspect of our program.”