Blueprint Proves Difficult to Follow

Small Schools Struggle to Build Big Programs Without Cutting Corners

In the shadows of FedEx Field in Landover sits a small school that wants to grow. Jericho Christian Academy, with fewer than 400 students in first through 12th grades, occupies a modest, two-story blue-roofed building tucked into a corner of the sprawling Jericho City of Praise complex.

With a 10,000-seat church and a congregation approximately twice that size, Jericho officials plan to build a basketball powerhouse that could earn the school a national reputation. "We want to give this school enough recognition and bring in more students," said Craig Mitchell, Jericho's athletic director. "It starts with athletics."

About 30 miles to the south, in White Plains, sits another small school that wants to grow. Southern Maryland Christian Academy was founded in 1985 in an office building in Waldorf but now occupies a 25-acre campus where about 400 students take part in a pre-kindergarten through high school program. The school also wanted to create a powerful basketball team that would boost the school's profile and enrollment.

And it did. Twice. For the second time in the last two years, administrators at the school are reconsidering whether to have a high-profile basketball team. Having disbanded the team in 2004, only to restart it this past season, the school's officials are concerned that all five starters were held back a year and that three would be playing as fifth-year seniors next season. And they were shocked to learn from a reporter that the team is sponsored by a major shoe company.

"I love my basketball," SMCA headmaster Colleen Gaines said. "I would like to have a team that represents the school. I love sports, but I don't think it is the thing that should be running the school."

Over the past three months, The Washington Post has reported on the challenges encountered by some small private schools that turned to basketball as a way to boost enrollment and prestige. They all wound up making a risky trade-off: accept academically at-risk basketball stars, often needing an extra year or two in high school to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, in exchange for the publicity that their success on the court can bring.

"Once [schools] see there's a formula, other schools are going to try to replicate it, and that's where the problems come in," said Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University.

The deal soured in some cases, The Post found. Administrators at two small Christian schools in Philadelphia said they fired basketball coach Darryl Schofield after he created nationally recognized teams with players who rarely went to class. The principal at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., admitted she lost control of her school's powerful basketball program after she turned it over to a coach. When he subsequently left, he took most of the players -- and the school's uniforms -- with him to another small California private school.

Jericho officials say they are confident they can avoid these pitfalls; Southern Maryland Christian's coach is one of two finalists to take over the team.

For decades, private schools seeking an improved image needed only to look at DeMatha for a model. Under Coach Morgan Wootten, the small private school in Hyattsville became a household name thanks to a basketball team that became a national powerhouse. Coach Stu Vetter followed a similar blueprint to build renowned teams at such previously obscure places as Flint Hill, Harker Prep and St. John's-Prospect Hall before taking over at nationally ranked Montrose Christian. But after Vetter left, Flint Hill and Prospect Hall abandoned pursuing big-time basketball teams, and Harker closed in 1992 because of financial difficulties.

"It's amazing that people think it's that easy, that after a little success, people think you can do it overnight," DeMatha Coach Mike Jones said. "There's no quick fix and I'm not talking about cheating. I'm talking about cutting corners."

A Growth Opportunity

In 2000, Southern Maryland Christian was a school little known outside Charles County. Gaines hired Dale Becraft, a veteran coach and teacher in Southern Maryland, to build a top-flight basketball program. Becraft's stated goal: a top 20 team in the Washington area within five years -- even though SMCA does not have a gymnasium.