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DeMatha coach Mike Jones will help the Stags open a new gym this winter.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Head coach: Mike Jones
2009-2010 record: 32-4, WCAC champions, Abe Pollin City Title, No. 19 in final Xcellent 25
Key returnees: BeeJay Anya (6-8, So., F), Marcellous Bell (6-0, Jr., G),
Jerami Grant (6-7, 180, Sr., F),
Mikael Hopkins (6-8, 210, Sr., F, Georgetown), Kelvin Howard (6-5, So., F),
James Robinson (6-3, 195, Jr., G)
Scouting report: It's a huge credit to the job Jones is doing at DeMatha that he could lose star point guard Quinn Cook to Oak Hill Academy and still be saddled with a top 25 national ranking.
Cook, the player of the year in the Washington, D.C., area a year ago, left the program with Jones' blessing but the Stags still have plenty of talent.
Grant will eventually join fellow senior forward Hopkins in committing and signing to a major-conference college program. Along with rapidly developing sophomore Anya, Jones has three long, tall post players that will be difficult for any opponent to match up with.
Cook will be tough to replace in the backcourt, but Robinson is another Stag on the rise and helped Team Takeover capture Nike's inaugural Elite Youth Basketball League championship over the summer. He has been on the radar since his freshman season and could step out of the shadows in a big way this winter.
In addition to the grueling Washington Catholic Athletic Conference schedule, DeMatha will step out to compete in the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon and square off with Bob Hurley and St. Anthony at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.
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