CINCINNATI, Ohio—As the boys' basketball state championships grow closer, teams are taking the extra step to prepare for their games this weekend. But the Centerville basketball team has been going the extra mile all year long with its early morning voluntary workouts, called Breakfast Club.

What You Need To Know

  • The Centerville basketball team is in the Final Four for the first time in program history

  • When Coach Brook Cupps took over the program nine years ago, he started implementing Breakfast Club

  • Breakfast Club is an entirely voluntary morning workout session led by varsity players

  • Many of the players have been coming to the gym at 6 a.m. each day during the season since they were in middle school

​​Every morning when the clock hits 6, the Centerville Boys basketball team takes the court.

“5:25 is usually when I get up," sophomore Gabe Cupps said.

Breakfast Club started nine years ago when coach Brook Cupps took over the program.

“I just think the difference in anything you do is in the extra and what you do outside of what’s required of you," Coach Cupps said.

The morning workouts are completely voluntary and led by leaders on the team, like Gabe Cupps.

“It just makes you feel like they care about winning," Gabe Cupps said. "And they care about getting themselves better for the betterment of the team.”

And if that last name sounds familiar it is. Gabe is the head coach’s son. He’s been around the program since he was just eight years old.

“I started coming in, I think in sixth grade and I don’t think I’ve missed a day since," he said.

Tom House, a junior, has also been coming since middle school. He said it’s a sacrifice worth making.

“I like coming," House said. "Some people say that would suck waking up early but our coaches and teammates really make it fun.”

And they do have fun, even just days leading up to the program’s first-ever Final Four run. That is something Coach Cupps says is because of the extra work put in by his players every morning.

“If you just start coming the week you’re playing for the state championship, it makes no difference," Coach Cupps said. "The benefit that we have is we’ve been doing it every single day for some of these guys, for years.”

And while this team takes those extra reps, they know their work isn’t done just yet.

“Now that we’re here, we’re here to win,' House said. "We’re not just happy that we got here. We’re just going to finish what we started throughout the season and hopefully get a state championship.”