No. 1 Montverde Academy hosts No. 11 DeMatha Thursday night on ESPNU

By Jordan Divens Dec 11, 2019, 2:00pm

Storied high school basketball programs clash in a showdown that features a dozen Top 100 prospects.

Video: Montverde Academy highlights
Eagles in action at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest vs. Yates.

A pair of storied high school basketball programs will face off Thursday night as No. 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) plays host to No. 11 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.).

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET and the contest will be televised on ESPNU.

Montverde Academy has one of its most talented rosters under head coach Kevin Boyle, powered by six five-star prospects.



Oklahoma State pledge Cade Cunningham (No. 2 in Class of 2020 according to 247Sports), Florida State-bound Scottie Barnes (No. 9 in Class of 2020), North Carolina signee Day'Ron Sharpe (No. 14 in Class of 2020), Langston Love (No. 17 in Class of 2021), Caleb Houstan (No. 14 in Class of 2022) and Dariq Whitehead (No. 15 in Class of 2022) headline a loaded Eagles rotation.

Moses Moody (No. 45 in Class of 2020, Arkansas commit), Michigan signee Zeb Jackson (No. 61 in Class of 2020) and Ryan Nembhard (No. 75 in Class of 2021) give the Eagles nine players who are currently ranked among the Top 100 prospects in their class by 247Sports.

Since taking the helm in 2011, Boyle has won a record four GEICO Nationals titles and produced promising young NBA players Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, D'Angelo Russell and R.J. Barrett among others.

DeMatha head coach Mike Jones owns a career record of 473-117 (.802 winning percentage) with nine Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular season titles and eight WCAC tournament crowns since taking over the program in 2002.

Jones learned from the best, as the former player and assistant coach under Morgan Wootten took over for the Hall of Fame coach and continued the legacy.

Wootten was the head coach of the DeMatha basketball program from 1956-2002, with a career record of 1,274-192 (.869 winning percentage). He captured five national titles and 33 WCAC championships while establishing the Stags as one of the top basketball programs in the nation.



Despite a slip up against Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) last week, DeMatha holds onto high expectations this season behind a talented returning core that has finished ranked in the Top 10 nationally each of the past two seasons.

The Stags are led by Miami pledge Earl Timberlake Jr. (No. 28 in Class of 2020), 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson (No. 34 in Class of 2020) and Jordan Hawkins (No. 73 in Class of 2021).

While Montverde Academy overpowers DeMatha on paper, the Stags can make things interesting by limiting their turnovers and slowing down the tempo to force the Eagles to execute their halfcourt offense.
Day'Ron Sharpe is one of six five-star prospects on the Montverde Academy roster.
Day'Ron Sharpe is one of six five-star prospects on the Montverde Academy roster.
Photo by: Jim Redman