Jon Schmidt's basketball prowess is such that the 6-foot-7 senior will play the sport at Brown University next winter.
It's how the 2011 Baltimore Messenger Athlete of the Year handled his other sports — soccer and lacrosse — that shows what a well-rounded athlete he is.
Just ask soccer coach John Docherty, who said he sensed that Schmidt was more or less using the sport to keep in shape for basketball.
"That really didn't bother me," Docherty said. "But no one worked harder than he did. He was always first in sprints, and that showed his leadership. For a senior to do that, it set an example for everyone else."
Although Schmidt admits that soccer isn't his "bread-and-butter sport," he still managed to produce two goals and as many assists as a reserve striker for the 9-3 Quakers, who fell to Boys' Latin, 2-0, in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference semifinal in November.
Basketball, though, is a different story for a player with enough skills to also play for the Baltimore Nike Elite AAU squadr, which featured the University of Maryland's top recruit, Nick Faust.
"He doesn't even know how good he is," said first-year Friends coach Bill Pace after Schmidt dropped 27 points — 17 in the final quarter — on Archbishop Curley in a 63-59 mid-December setback "He has great hands and he's very fast. He's learning to use his God-given body better all the time."
Rivals found out how good he was after trying to contain his moves on the perimeter or stop his deft finishing touch in transition.
He did a little of both when Friends shocked Gilman, 57-53, to pull off the first Quaker win ever in the history of the Finney Athletic Center. He scored 16 points in the triumph, prompting plenty of praise from Gilman coach Owen Daly.
"He's a great player and, more importantly, a really unselfish player who makes the players around him better," Daly said. "Our game plan against him was to make it as hard as possible for him to get the ball. Specifically, we tried to keep him from getting it around the foul line or along the baseline. In both those positions, he is very dangerous attacking the basket."
Yet Schmidt saved his best for last, spearheading a rally for the ages that ended with a pulsating 54-53 verdict over Severn in the season finale at the "Quaker Dome." He scored 27 points in the February encounter as the hosts overcame a 19-point deficit to squeeze past the Admirals.
"Coach Pace talked to us all season about never giving up," Schmidt said. "And it all sunk in that game. We didn't want to stop fighting, and we made all the little plays that added up."
Although the Quakers finished with a mere six wins, Schmidt, who also considered Loyola University Maryland, remains enthusiastic about the sport and his senior season.
"We had some good wins," he said. "We tried to steal some wins against the good teams. Gilman had more talent and better athletes than we did, but we saw they weren't together that game and we were able to steal one."
As proficient as he is in basketball, some observers believe Schmidt has the skills to play Division-I lacrosse as well.
"At a coach's meeting, one coach of another team told me that Jon isn't just the best defenseman in the conference, he's the best player," Friends coach Jon Garman said.
It's not difficult to imagine the advantage Schmidt would have wielding a 6-foot pole with his already long reach.
Yet he modestly defers to his fellow senior close defenders, Matt Collins and Michael John, as being the key to the B Conference champions' backline.
"It was easy to stand out when I wasn't (defending) the No. 1 guy (on the other team)," Schmidt said. "Those guys and (senior goalie) J.D. Robinson made me look good all the time."
He might have even looked better had he transferred to another school in the area with more athletic chops.
Still, that was never an issue for Schmidt, whose sister, Jen, also attended Friends.
"I like being at Friends," he said. "I always wanted to be here. It's a good fit for me."