Former Calvert Hall basketball coach Mark Amatucci is being reminded this week of what it was like the night before a big game.
On Sunday afternoon, Calvert Hall will dedicate its basketball court to Amatucci during a ceremony prior to the Cardinals' game against rival Loyola Blakefield at Alumni Memorial Gym. The ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m., with the game set for 3:30 and a reception to follow.
A 1970 Calvert Hall grad, Amatucci won 389 games in 19 seasons at Calvert Hall (117 wins from 1977-82; 272 wins from 1993-2007). He guided the Cardinals to three Baltimore Catholic League regular season titles and three tournament championships, and also two Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference crowns. In 2012, he was inducted into the Baltimore Catholic League Hall of Fame.
All of that has has led to Sunday's special day for Amatucci.
"It's overwhelming at this point," said Amatucci, who stopped coaching in 2007. "The only time I've ever felt like this before professionally was the night before we played DeMatha up at Cumberland to win a national championship and the night before we played Dunbar in triple overtime. Those are the only two other cases that I can remember feeling this way in terms of my emotions going into Sunday."
That's saying a lot.
In 1981, Calvert Hall beat Dunbar in three overtimes in front of a packed crowd at the Towson Center, regarded the best high school basketball game ever played in the area. The following season, the Cardinals beat DeMatha at the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament to complete a perfect 34-0 season and be named national champions by USA Today, among other publications.
Many of his former players and assistant coaches will be on hand Sunday to share the special occasion. Many others who can't make it, such as former greats Juan Dixon, Marc Wilson and Ricky Harris, took time to make congratulatory videos that will be shown during the ceremony.
"We really are a basketball family here -- I've had two families for all the years. I had my wife and children and I had my basketball and Calvert Hall," said Amatucci, a guidance counselor at the school.
"Early on, we would hang out during the summer, we would hang out every Christmas Eve and still do to this day. That to me is what is most important on this day coming up -- those guys coming back and the others making videos.
"The players and coaches made me look pretty good, and I was lucky to have [that] kind of people play in our program. So that's what I feel best about, that so many guys will be here."
In addition to dedictating the basketball court, the school also established the Mark Amatucci Scholarship for tuition assistance.