Dunbar's Donta Bright, already chosen as a McDonald's and Parade magazine boys basketball All-American, has been selected the state Player of the Year by the Gatorade Circle of Champions.
Bright, a 6-foot-6 center/forward who is rumored to be leaning toward Ohio State, is eligible for the regional and national player of the year awards, which will be announced in the next two weeks.
This is the seventh year the award has been given. Past national winners include LaBradford Smith of the Washington Bullets, Kenny Anderson of the New Jersey Nets and Alonzo Mourning of Georgetown.
Last year's state winner was St. Frances' Devin Gray, who just completed his freshman season at Clemson.
* Sign of the times: Dunbar's 1991-92 national basketball championship team will be honored with a hand-painted billboard bulletin that will be unveiled March 27 at 3:30 p.m. in the 3000 block of Orleans Street.
The billboard is sponsored by the Poet Followers, and the space is being donated by Penn Advertising.
* All dressed up: Dunbar coach Pete Pompey is noted as one of the area's best-dressed coaches (along with his assistant Paul Holmes), but give Severn coach Jim Doyle and Overlea coach Doug Eisenhauer credit for their attire and sense of humor in their championship games.
In the Metro Classic on March 1 at the Baltimore Arena, Doyle sported a tuxedo, and in the state Class 2A final Saturday at Maryland's Cole Field House, Eisenhauer did the same.
Alas, there apparently is no advantage gained by dressing better than the opposition because both Severn and Overlea lost in their championship games.
* All-star girls: Several of the area's top girls basketball players will participate in the Maryland Women's Basketball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game Sunday at Cole Field House at 4 p.m.
Included on the "Free Staters" are: Stephanie Rohe (Mercy), Carie James (North Harford), Krista Fulton (Howard), Jennifer Chapman (Broadneck) and Maryland recruit Dawn Sloan from Allegany County's Westmar.
The "Old Liners" team includes: Randall Goldsborough (St. Mary's), Tanissa Dorsey (Glenelg), Melanie Vogel (Institute of Notre Dame), Lisa Migrock (Mount de Sales), Sarah Bannat (Broadneck) and Lisa Roberts (Annapolis).
Seniors from every school in the state were eligible, but they had to be nominated by a member of the MWBCA. The teams will be coached by Bruce Springer of Broadneck and Ron Perrell of Elizabeth Seton (D.C)., although it has not been decided which team each will coach.
At halftime, the MWBCA Academic All-Maryland Team will be honored. Seniors and juniors were eligible, and selections were based upon overall ratings of academics and basketball skills.
Included on that team is: Migrock (3.84 GPA on a 4.0 scale), Sloan (3.80), Mount Hebron's Erica McCauley (3.83 GPA), Howard's Camille Powell (4.00) and St. Mary's Amelia Mikula (4.04 on a 4.5 scale).
Tickets for the event are $3 for adults, $2 for students and $1 for children 12 and under. All profits go to the Special Olympics of Maryland.
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Oops: We reported yesterday that Dulaney junior Amanda White won the 3,200-meter race in a record 10 minutes, 24.74 seconds Sunday at the National Scholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University.
The distance of that race was actually two miles (3,225.8 meters), making White's feat even more impressive. She also placed second in the mile run in 4:56.85.
Also at same meet, Old Mill's boys 800 relay team -- Derek Johnson, Rocky McMillan, Corey Dorsey, Rufus Beard -- placed fourth.
Dorsey also placed seventh in the long jump at 21 feet, 9 inches.
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Patriot games: Old Mill's winter programs had a remarkablseason, capturing three state titles and five regional titles.
Beginning with indoor track, coached by Ron Evans, the boys and girls squads won county and Class 4A Region IV titles, with the boys winning the Class 4A state title and the girls placing fourth.
On the mats, the Mike Hampe-coached Patriots captured an unprecedented fourth straight Class 4A-3A state title, qualifying a state-record 12 wrestlers for the meet and edging Charles County's McDonough, 116-99.5. The Patriots also broke county (229 points) and Region IV (267) scoring records along the way.
While Hampe helped Old Mill to keep the wrestling title in Anne Arundel County for the fifth straight year -- Broadneck won in 1988 -- the Pat Chance-coached Old Mill girls basketball team kept the state title in the county for the fourth straight season.
The top-ranked girls (25-1) defeated Bowie for their second consecutive Class 4A crown. Broadneck won the 4A title the two previous seasons.
In boys' basketball, the Patriots captured their first Region IV title with a victory over Meade, before losing to Paint Branch in the state semifinals.
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Crusaders head for the mountains: Cardinal Gibbons, the Catholic League regular-season champion, will begin play in the Alhambra Tournament at Frostburg State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against Roman Catholic (Pa.).
In other quarterfinals on Thursday, Bishop McGinnis (N.C.) meets St. John's (D.C.) at 4 p.m., DeMatha (Hyattsville) meets Cardinal Dougherty (Pa.) at 7 p.m., and Cathedral (Canada) takes on Bishop Walsh (Cumberland) at 8:30 p.m.
If Gibbons advances to the semifinals, the Crusaders will meet the winner of Bishop McGinnis/St. John's at 7 p.m. Friday.
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Overtime: The first-team selections for the Association of Independent Schools All-Star Soccer team are: Annette Wold, Friends; Christina Coroneos, McDonogh; Kara Cristaldi, McDonogh; Heather Grau, Notre Dame Prep; Rachel Mack, Notre Dame Prep; Ann Brach, Maryvale; Alison Schroeder, McDonogh; Deborah Hantman, McDonogh; Becky Mann, Notre Dame Prep; Jeanne Lekin, Roland Park; Becca Slingluff, Roland Park; Ingrid Brody, Bryn Mawr; and Maggie Kissinger, Bryn Mawr. . . . The Broadneck Bruin Athletic Booster's Club is sponsoring a performance by the HUBCAPS, March 22, at the Earleigh Heights Fire Hall to help with the completion of the school's new field house. For more information, call (410) 757-9473 or (410) 757-7027.