Anne Arundel County may start to see the results of increased summer league play and conditioning over the last couple years.
The Class 4A League may be more competitive from top to
bottom than in any time over the past decade.
Camps and summer leagues have also improved the 3A-2A League, whose four teams -- 3A Broadneck, and 2A schools, Northeast, Southern and South River -- were very active out of season.
The private schools, Severn, St. Mary's and Archbishop Spalding, are not governed by as many out-of-season rules as schools of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association and keep practically their entire teams together in the summer.
"It's not going to be a three-team [Annapolis, Arundel and Glen Burnie] league," says Annapolis coach John Brady. "From what I saw this summer and been hearing, everybody has improved."
Lenny Barber, a 6-foot-8 senior center, was a spot player as a junior. He worked hard with weights and his game and earned a scholarship to UMBC.
Barber, believed to be the first county player to sign early, played in more than 50 summer league games.
"Wearing those strength shoes and dedicating himself to plyometrics and playing all those games, Lenny can now jump off a chair, hit the floor and go right back up and dunk it," said Brady. "He has made himself a Division I player with all his hard work."
Brady also has seen remarkable improvement in second-team All-County forward Ronnie Johnson and guard Teshawn Cooper. Johnson and Cooper teamed with Barber to lead Gunther's Annapolis summer team to an upset of DeMatha in the High Point (Prince George's) League playoffs.
North County should be at the top of the list of improved teams. Meade, Severna Park and Chesapeake should not to be overlooked.
Bogle took his Gophers to the Final Four at College Park for the first time in 26 years last season and attributes much of his team's success to increased summer play. He says an indoor facility is needed rather than playing on the outdoor courts.
"I've been hearing that Catonsville Community College might offer a summer indoor league next year, and that would be closer and good for our county teams," said Bogle, who cites junior Desmond Dailey as an example of what the extra work can do.
Arundel coach Gerald Moore has run summer AAU teams for years and has seen the results with his players Bakari Ward, Andy Vermillion and Marquise Farmer.
Old Mill's Paul Bunting and Chesapeake's John Spinnenweber figure that their programs have prospered from summer leagues as well as sending players to camps in Delaware.
Meade coach Butch Young is disappointed that his players didn't win a summer league game, but he says, "It's great they played, because you can only get better."
Severna Park coach Paul Pellicani is encouraged despite last season's 2-20 record.
"It used to be at Severna Park that the kids picked up a basketball in November and put it down in March," said Pellicani. "No more. Our kids played in three leagues apiece, and I can see the difference in court awareness. We've got kids dedicated to basketball, and that only makes it better for everybody."
There is no question that Broadneck's Jason Smith, Southern's Chatney Howard and South River's Corey Davis and Russell Tongue became great players because of summer play. Smith is a two-time All-County player and All-Metro selection as a junior, and while he probably will play big-time college football, his summer exposure has piqued the interest of college basketball coaches.
Broadneck coach Ken Kazmarek insists that his players participate out of season, and his successful 10-year run at the Cape St. Claire school is indicative of that.
Southern's Tom Albright would love for his team to play 365 days a year and always has been a proponent of summer play. Howard was All-Metro and Player of the Year the past two seasons as a result.
Ken Dunn's assistant, Jack Jordan, has run a summer team at Truxtun Park in Annapolis for several years, and the Seahawks' high school program has benefited. Davis and Tongue are two good examples, and the team's chemistry has improved.
Severn's Wayne Fowler moved from the ranks of summer coach to high school varsity coach and has aided immensely in the development of such players as Ahamisi Simms, John Vereen, Jay Lonnie Booth and Dennard Melton.
The extra work has put Fowler's Admirals in position to compete in the MIAA A Conference.
But probably the best example of all is Duke freshman point guard, Steve Wojciechowski of Severna Park.