Basketball star Kodye Pugh, an All-Metro first-team junior from Boys' Latin, is transferring to New Jersey's Blair Academy for his senior season.
In leading the Lakers (24-6) to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship last season, the 6-foot-7 small forward averaged 20.2 points and 10.1 rebounds — recording double-doubles in 14 games.
The heavily recruited Pugh, who has scholarship offers from Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, and South Carolina, among others, is excited about the prospect of playing at Blair, which is a perennial New Jersey power. He will enroll at the boarding school in September. He plans to reclassify so that he'll be a member of the 2017 graduating class, giving him two years to play at Blair.
This past season, Blair finished 19-7, won the Mid-Atlantic Prep League and fell to St. Benedict's in New Jersey Prep A state championship game.
"It's a great honor to play at Blair," Pugh said. "It's an amazing school and coach [Joe] Mantegna is an amazing coach. He's had a lot of success with players and I think playing there will prepare me for college so I can make an impact as soon as I step on the floor."
Pugh said he'll always cherish his time at Boys' Latin. After starting his high school career at Archbishop Spalding, he was a Laker the past two years.
"Boys' Latin was very important to my growth," Pugh said. "Playing there taught me how to be a leader and play team ball, which is my ultimate goal. We all achieved the goal we wanted [in winning the B championship] and every individual improved as we went."
Glenn.graham@baltsun.com
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