There is the Dwyer way.

The lavishly decorated Palm Beach Gardens boys basketball program has won four state titles, advanced to 9 state semifinals and has received five Palm Beach Player of the Year awards.

All under one coach, Fred Ross, who started Dwyer basketball in 1991-92.

“When you think of Dwyer basketball, there’s so many good players right?," said Leemire Goldwire, The Post's 2004 Player of the Year. “But the feeling is in a Dwyer player, you know what you’re getting. They play hard with a level of toughness to them and certain grit. That’s based off the culture created at Dwyer.’’

Undoubtedly, Dwyer goes down as the No. 1 Palm Beach County boys basketball program across the past 25 years - 2000 to 2025. But maybe not the millennial's most liked.

“We’re like Duke in college ball,’’ Ross said. “Everybody, I don’t want to say hate, it’s a strong word. But people liked to see us lose. So if hate is the word, then it is. We really worked hard in our program.’’

How has Dwyer achieved such basketball prominence?

Head coach Fred Ross poses for photos before the William T. Dwyer High School Panthers hosted the Palm Beach Gardens Community High School Gators in Florida High School Athletic Association varsity boys basketball in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on November 19, 2024. The Dwyer gymnasium was named the Fred Ross Court honoring the school's longtime basketball coach in a ceremony before the game.

“There’s two things why,’’ said Goldwire, captain of Dwyer’s first-ever state title team in 2004. “The first is Coach Ross. The second is culture. Coach Ross created the culture – playing hard, being tough. We have tough kids coming from inner-city environment and he got us to play tougher. Without Coach Ross, none of this was possible.’’

Ross, who saw the Dwyer court named after him during a ceremony on Nov. 19, 2024, took the quarter-century distinction to heart.

“It’s a program well-deserving of that honor,’’ Ross said. “Great honor, great players, great culture. It reflects the players we had and their dedication to accomplish what we did. We’ve been blessed with a great bunch of kids. A great honor, especially when talking about Palm Beach County and the great programs here over the years.’’

The Dwyer tradition has only been emboldened. Several alumni attended the Ross court dedication at a gym that hangs state title banners from 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2023.

William T. Dwyer head coach Fred Ross gives instructions during practice in Palm Beach Gardens on November 10, 2014.

“Players from the 1990’s still support us and go to games,’’ Ross said. “We have several players still playing overseas. When they get home, they’re back in the gym, talk to the kids and want to know what we’re doing. It’s a great tradition we started and continue.’’

In fact, earlier this month, Terrell Harris, member of the 2011 title team, was back home from Italy and in the gym playing against current Panthers.

Of his 33 seasons, Ross won’t name his favorite team but thinks the most talented was the 2011 titlists. Ross said every senior received a college-basketball scholarship and it was the only squad that received a berth into the National High School Invitational. It upset two-time defending champion Findlay Prep.

2004 Boys Basketball Class 4A state champion: Dwyer

The team’s point guard, Jacoby Brissett, now a quarterback with his sixth NFL team, Arizona Cardinals, was the biggest name. But while Brissett became a two-time Player of the Year winner (2010, 2011), he was surrounded by great size.

Joel James, a 6-10 player who went to UNC, 6-4 Greg Louis, who attended Ivy League, Penn, and the 6-4 Harris were vital components.

“We were really good and huge,’’ Ross said. “We had a college-sized team.’’

At 6-4, Brissett, was a “Magic Johnson-type point guard,’’ Ross remembers.

“You name it, he played it,’’ Ross said of Brissett. “He did everything. He did everything. He could’ve played college basketball and NBA basketball – no doubt about it.’’

Brissett, an NFL third-round pick who played for New England last season, is building a home in the Palm Beach Gardens area and still comes to games when the NFL season ends.

However, Ross admits the 2004 title was “probably most special’’ because it was the first.

Alonzo Gee, a guard who played on six NBA teams from Gee 2009 to 2017, was on the 2004 and 2005 title squad.

Goldwire/Gee/Corey Young formed a daunting trio in 2004 as it beat Lake Howell in a rematch of 2002’s state semifinal.

The memory is the feeling the team had ,’’ Goldwire said. “We were so focused on “we got to win a championship”. We were just hungry, so locked in, we wouldn’t let anyone get in our way.’’

Goldwire, who will join the Dwyer coaching staff this season after a stint at Park Vista, indicated Ross didn’t have much motivating to do that season. The prior year, they were eliminated in the regional finals – one short of the state final four.

“There wasn’t any playing around,’’ Goldwire said. “Say practice started at 530. Coach Ross might get there at 6 for whatever reason. When coach got there, I had all the guys at every basket, already going through a full workout. So when coach came, we were ready to go. Most high schools, when the coach isn’t there, everyone’s goofing off, messing around.’’

While Goldwire, Gee and Young were the main scorers. Kyle Marks, a 6-7 center who played at Nebraska, and Alphonso “Slim” Towns added further depth.

“People always say it was a team effort but it really was a team effort,’’ Goldwire said. “Everybody was engaged and locked in - top to bottom.’’

After the 2011 title, there was a dry spell before Dwyer went back on top in 2023, led by Kyle McNeal, who plays receiver for FIU football.

After adding Mason Brown as a transfer, Dwyer clinched it by beating Ponte Vedra in the 2023 6A state title game in Lakeland to finish 29-1. Brown is headed to Division I LIU after playing at Indian River CC.

The best player never to win a state title at Dwyer, Ross believes, was Ramon Galloway, who went on South Carolina, then LaSalle, where he played in the Sweet 16 in 2013. “That (2009) team we thought had a chance to win it all and didn’t,’’ Ross said.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging (but) that’s our goal every year,’’ Ross said of winning the state chip. “We expect to get to states and try to win. We lost more than we won (at the state semifinals).

Dwyer had five Player of the Year winners in eight years from 2004 to 2011 (Goldwire, Gee, Fred Brown, Brissett twice). But it was reaching the state summit that means most at Dwyer.

Reflecting on the 2004 night Dwyer won its first-ever title, Goldwire said, “That’s probably the happiest days of our lives. It felt like all the work we put in was validated.’’