The DC-Metro area has a long history of really good High School Basketball. Whether it’s PG County, Montgomery County, the Private Schools of Northern Virginia, or the Public Schools of DC, high-quality high school and prep basketball talent has always been there. It’s been an attraction for College Basketball programs of all leagues and levels for as long as I can remember.
So it’s a pretty big thing to say that a single High School Basketball Conference in a Metro Area as chock full of talent as this one, is the best in the country in terms of competition.
Well, that’s exactly what the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference has been for well over a decade; Some of the DC-Metro area’s best talent resides in this conference, and the results bear that out in competition, rankings among programs in the area (and nationally), and in the amount of Division 1 talent comes to school in the conference. For readers out there that aren’t familiar, here are the schools that make up the WCAC:
Dematha Catholic High School
Bishop Ireton High School
The Heights
St. John’s College High School
Gonzaga College High School
Bishop McNamara High School
Academy Of The Holy Cross
Bishop O’Connell High School
Paul VI Catholic High School
Good Counsel High School
Archbishop John Carroll High School
Elizabeth Seton High School
If you’ve got some base knowledge of DMV basketball history, there’s one name that immediately jumps out from that list; DeMatha Catholic is the most storied high school basketball program in the area, and one of the most recognizable high school programs in the country. From Morgan Wooten to Mike Jones, no other program in the region has produced more high level, Division I college talent over the past 30 years, than the Stags. Victor Oladipo, Joe Forte, Keith Bogans, Danny Ferry, and Adrian Dantley are among the legions of notable DMV basketball talent to come through those Hyattsville doors. As impressive as the DeMatha pedigree is, they aren’t the sole source of talent for the conference, nor the only tradition-laden basketball program in the league. Lawrence Moten (Archbishop Carroll), Ty Lawson (McNamara/Oak Hill), Tom Sluby (Gonzaga), Romelo Trimble (Bishop O’Connell) Nolan Smith and current UMD PG Anthony Cowan (St. John’s), and Brandon Slater (Paul VI) are only a handful of talents from schools not named DeMatha to come through the WCAC over the years. In a Metro Region where basketball talent runs pretty deep in both the Public and Private school ranks, The WCAC arguably has the most talent of anybody, top to bottom.
That makes the league the competitive gauntlet that it is. I know it may be a bit cliche’ to say, but there’s truly NEVER a night off in the WCAC. This sentiment kinda bears itself out in the success of WCAC squads outside of the region, and the sheer amount of WCAC talent that’s gone on to play Division I College Basketball (and inevitably in the NBA) over the years.
So, if you’re in the DMV and you’ve gotta get your basketball fix satisfied, there are a couple of spots in the city that should be on your short list. ANY WCAC game should be one of them. 😉
Until Next Entry…
#HHG
#ThisGroundIsHallowed