HomeDCMS Blog DCMS Blog: The DeMatha Stags: Not the only game in town anymore.
DCMS Blog: The DeMatha Stags: Not the only game in town anymore.
Written by Wendall Stevens
Thursday, 28 February 2008
I had the opportunity to attend the WCAC Playoff game last Sunday and admittedly was scouting some players Van Johnson of GamePlan Sports was giving me the low down on. Van mentioned names like O'Connell's Jason Clark, who has committed to Georgetown, and Kendall Marshall, who has already committed to North Carolina as a sophomore. More on him later. I also wanted to catch a glimpse of Max Kenyi, and highly touted sophomore point guard Tyler Thornton.
Of course I can't mention DC high school basketball without the Stags of DeMatha not appearing in the paragraph. DeMatha has a kid Naji Hibbert who Van tells me is the truth. Well, I got to see them all for myself and I tell ya I was really impressed by two Archbishop Carroll players Kris Joseph and Rodney McGruder. Van has them on his top 20 list and both can really ball. I like Kris Joseph's size and ability to handle the ball in the open court. He has a lot of upside. I like McGruder's athleticism. On one play McGruder finished at the rim with a thunderous dunk on an explosive drive to the basket and it looked easy. I think Van mentioned McGruder has committed to Kansas St. It looks like a DC - Kansas pipeline starting to happen.
Max Kenyi has a great all around game and Thornton is the quarterback. Thornton is not explosive, but he is quick, and like Kendall Marshall, his basketball IQ is off the charts.
Now DeMatha. Naji Hibbert has a beautiful outside game with perfect guard size. He started off the game against O'Connell lighting it up but cooled off substantially in the second half. The bottom line is DeMatha lacked a floor general. After three straight WCAC titles this must seem like the apocolyse for the Hyattsville boys. Coach Young was visibly upset after the lost. The plethora of talent in the DC area levels the playing field but the DeMatha brand still carries weight. Catholic schools are getting like colleges in regards to attracting athletic talent. You no longer have to attend DeMatha to get noticed. Talented high school kids have a choice of at least 8-10 private schools within the District, Maryland, & Virginia. Why go to DeMatha and ride the bench when you can go to O'Connell and start?
Coach Young and the DeMatha basketball program will bounce back but the fact that Gonzaga and O'Connell advanced to the finals shows there is no lock on talent in this fertile basketball ground.
O'Connell's Kendall Marshall was another kid I had an eye on. Marshall has been highly touted since 7th grade and I heard about his basketball IQ. I read that he committed to North Carolina already as a sophomore and then I really had to see for myself if the hype was justified. Marshall is not known to be physically gifted so I didn't expect high flying dunks or explosive burst to the basket. What I did get to see is a player who is a leader, a player who can finish with either hand, and a confident swagger. After the game I had a chance to speak with him and he was polite and articulate. He spoke about how they gathered themselves to comeback and defeat DeMatha. I must say he appears to be mature beyond his years and has a grasp of what's at stake in the big picture. Kendall Marshall is a really good kid who will be a model citizen in Chapel Hill.
Hibbert, Thornton, McGruder, & Marshall are all underclassmen. I can't wait to blog about their progress this summer.
