The Capital of Basketball is out in time for holiday giving — order now!
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The Capital of Basketball is out in time for holiday giving — order now!

Order The Capital of Basketball here, or at Amazon here. Dec 7, Saturday, 12 noon, Barnes and Noble, Rockville, MD. Special guest: Hall of Fame Coach Gary Williams! Dec 10, Tuesday, 6 pm, Dematha Stags vs Archbishop Carroll at Dematha High School Dec 14, Saturday, 2 pm-5pm Takoma Park Book Fair Dec 15, Sunday, time…

One local product staying put, one moving on, another makes history
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One local product staying put, one moving on, another makes history

During the past week, one local basketball product will be staying put, another will be moving on and yet another made a bit of history. At Notre Dame University, Mike Brey (Bethesda/DeMatha), the winningest coach the program’s history, has signed a contract extension through the 2024-25 season. The new deal was in recognition of his…

Forty years ago this week, DeMatha came up with the perfect ending
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Forty years ago this week, DeMatha came up with the perfect ending

Forty years ago this week, DeMatha’s basketball team made history. By that time, Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten had been at the school 20 years and had turned it into the premier high school basketball program in the Washington area, if not the country. But the Stags had never finished a season unbeaten. That…

Happy 62nd birthday to DeMatha great Adrian Dantley
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Happy 62nd birthday to DeMatha great Adrian Dantley

It was a cold winter morning in December of 1969. Schools were on break, with teachers and coaches like DeMatha’s Morgan Wootten happy for a respite from their responsibilities. This particular morning, Wootten heard a knock on the door of his Hyattsville home. He went to answer it and discovered ninth-grader Adrian Dantley standing on…

Local product Palmer finds winter in Nebraska to his liking
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Local product Palmer finds winter in Nebraska to his liking

It’s rare that someone would prefer winter in Lincoln, Nebraska to winter in Miami.
But it worked out for James Palmer, Jr. Palmer, who played at Henry Wise and St. John’s, is one of the main reasons Nebraska is battling for an NCAA Tournament bid as March approaches.

50 years ago, Northwestern’s Fox played a game to remember
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50 years ago, Northwestern’s Fox played a game to remember

Was it the greatest single-game performance in the history of D.C. area high school basketball? It just might be. Fifty years ago this week, Harold Fox, a 6-foot-1 guard at Northwestern High School, pumped in 64 points in a wild 103-87 victory over Oxon Hill. Fox, a senior, connected on 29 of 44 shots, pouring…

Gary Mays, Armstong High’s one-armed wonder, dead at 82
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Gary Mays, Armstong High’s one-armed wonder, dead at 82

When you hear the stories about Gary Mays, a multisport star at the long-closed Armstrong High School, it’s easy to dismiss what you’ve heard. There’s couldn’t really have been a one-armed high school basketball player who was also the best catcher in the city. It’s got to be an urban legend. Mays was a legend,…

In January of ’68, nobody was hotter than Jim O’Brien
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In January of ’68, nobody was hotter than Jim O’Brien

Fifty years ago this week, Washington’s sports pages were full of stories on the Green Bay Packers’ recent Super Bowl II victory over the Oakland Raiders. In sports news closer to home, local basketball fans were starting to notice a kid named Jim O’Brien, who kept showing up in the Stuart High School boxscores with…

Memories of ex-DeMatha star Sid Catlett
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Memories of ex-DeMatha star Sid Catlett

Catlett was a key figure in DeMatha’s biggest win ever, its upset of Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Power Memorial in 1965. That DeMatha victory ended the New York City school’s 71-game winning streak in front of 12,500 at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House.