The Philadelphia 76ers made Markelle Fultz the top pick in last week’s NBA Draft, introducing another Washington, D.C.-area talent to the NBA hardwood.
FILE – In this Jan. 29, 2017, file photo, Washington guard Markelle Fultz (20) is shown during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, in Tucson, Ariz. Fultz is the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, June 22. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Just a few weeks after Maryland’s own Kevin Durant celebrated a championship with the Golden State Warriors and earned the Finals MVP award, another Prince George’s County-raised hooper was at the forefront of an NBA stage. Fultz’s rise from a unheralded guard at DeMatha High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., to a huge collegiate freshman campaign at the University of Washington, to top pick in the NBA draft is another notch in the belt for District basketball talent. But it is also another black mark against local college programs who have failed to secure blossoming local amateur high school talent in recent years.
Fultz, Durant, Michael Beasley and Carmelo Anthony were the last four freshmen to average over 20 points per game in NCAA competition, and they all played high school basketball in Maryland, yet none of them attended area colleges. Fultz starred for one season at University of Washington. Durant had a huge rookie campaign at the University of Texas. Anthony (Syracuse) and Beasley (Kansas State) both set records in their lone college seasons before declaring for the draft.
Maryland, Georgetown and Virginia are top basketball programs in the DMV region, but none have produced a top pick since Allen Iverson in 1996. The Washington Wizards drafted Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. third in 2013, but he was a star recruit from Missouri. The big-time talents simply aren’t playing for their hometown schools anymore—and that’s a serious problem for the area.
A NCAA study released in March found that Maryland produces the highest percentage of college basketball recruits of any state. But the top recruits are opting for out-of-state colleges, which has diluted college hoops in the area.
Watching former Gonzaga star Kris Jenkins sink the game-winning shot to power Villanova to their 2016 NCAA championship was just another dagger in the heart of local hoops fans. Would Jenkins have made a difference for Virginia in their 68-62 loss to Syracuse in the Elite Eight that same year? Probably. Syracuse had a few standouts in that game but received 11 points, six assists and four rebounds from unheralded swingman Michael Gbinije—who played his high school hoops for Benedictine High School in Richmond, Va. You can find top basketball recruits who grew up in the D.C. area at any college in the country—except colleges in the D.C. area.
There are a number of explanations as to why so much talent has escaped the District area during college recruitment. There are too many different variables to isolate one singular reason. Money? Academics? Exposure? A number of different components could factor in. Securing local talent is step one for any college coach in America, but the fact that local stars are electing to attend college far from home presents a perplexing problem for area universities. Georgetown, Virginia and Maryland are all great colleges, but they can’t seem to figure out why top talent can’t be kept at home.
