For as long as he can remember, Juwan Scippio has had a basketball in his hands.
The Newberry High School senior fell in love with the sport at 4 years old and has spent nearly every day since working to become the best player he can be whenever he steps onto the court.
“I grew up being one of the better players out there and that just kept inspiring me to be even better,” Scippio said. “This game has helped me accomplish so many things, so I’m never gonna stop going hard and working.”
Scippio and a group of eight other seniors at Newberry believed entering the season that they had a chance to do something special in their final year, as long as they stayed focused and didn’t let outside expectations distract them.
“We came in with the mindset of keeping our heads down and just working,” Scippio said. “We had a really big year last year and knew we had to block out all the noise of people telling us how good we are. We just went in knowing we had to keep getting better as a team.”
The Panthers opened the season by winning their first nine games. After a close loss to Stranahan of Fort Lauderdale, Newberry rattled off five more victories to move to 14-1.
But back-to-back tight losses to Buchholz and Gainesville High School proved to be a turning point for the team.
“That locker room was different after the loss to GHS,” Scippio said. “Coach told us we needed to have a different type of hunger and we turned up the intensity in practice after that. The mindset was definitely different and you could tell in the way we played down the stretch.”
Scippio missed the Gainesville High game with an MCL injury. Although it was difficult watching from the sideline, he credits Newberry’s athletic training staff for helping him return to the court quickly.
“It’s so great having Ed Schaeffer around,” Scippio said. “He stayed on top of me and made me do the things I needed to do in rehab to get back with the guys. He’s always there doing the things we need as a team to be healthy and we’re definitely grateful for that.”
The Panthers were back to full strength as they entered the postseason. Newberry rolled past South Walton and the Episcopal School of Jacksonville to reach the regional final against Andrew Jackson.
Newberry fell behind by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, but Scippio helped spark a second-half comeback.
“I just had to play my game and at halftime I realized I was in my own head, just trying to do too much,” Scippio said. “I knew I had to stop forcing things, so I just went out in the third quarter and played ball.”
The senior shooting guard scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Panthers within two points. However, Andrew Jackson answered with a late 9-0 run to secure the victory, ending one of the best seasons in Newberry history.
The Panthers finished 21-4 and did not lose a home game all season. Despite the disappointment of falling short of the school’s first Final Four appearance, the senior class takes pride in what it accomplished.
“This was probably my most favorite group to be around,” Scippio said. “It was all good vibes and a great bond between us. I’ll never forget these guys.”
He also won’t forget the coach who first gave him a varsity opportunity as an eighth grader, Newberry head coach Patrick Green.
“Coach helped me get better in so many ways,” Scippio said. “It wasn’t just on the court either. We were able to talk about other things, and he’s definitely been a big influence on my life and how I’m going to be prepared for the next step.”
With more than 20 collegiate offers, Scippio is still weighing which program will be the best fit for him at the next level.
In the meantime, he can look back on a record-setting high school career where he scored more than a thousand points and earned this week’s UF Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Athlete of the Week honor.
Each weekly winner is eligible for the UF Health High School Athlete of the Year Scholarship, a $2,500 award presented at the conclusion of the 2025–26 academic year.