'The Rock' Gives Players A Chance to Show Off
Competitive Summer League Attracts Collegiate Attention

By Stephen F. Ball
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, July 17, 2008

University of Tennessee assistant coach Steve Forbes sprawls across the bleachers at High Point as players from some of the area's top high school basketball teams sprint up and down the court.

Forbes, whose team is coming off a 31-win season and a trip to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, scribbles notes and reminders on a roster sheet, stopping only to answer the frequent vibrations of his cellphone, leaving the gym for only the most important calls.

He is spending a sweltering July evening in a high school gym with no air conditioning for a reason. Forbes, along with other college coaches and assorted hoops junkies, is in Beltsville to see what many consider the most competitive high school summer league in the Washington area.

Now in its 15th year, "The Rock" is a 26-team league that holds its games at High Point and features some of the top programs in the area, including DeMatha, Gonzaga, Carroll and Georgetown Prep. The league, which is holding its championship game tonight at 7, has featured five games a night for four nights a week since early June with teams made up primarily of juniors and sophomores.

"With so little time to really get out there and see everybody, you really can't afford to waste time in places that don't produce," said Forbes, who under NCAA rules is not allowed to comment on specific players. "As a coach, it's just as important to recruit programs as it is players. Good programs usually produce good players, and even if you don't get this one, you might get the next one."

While many top-tier players focus their attention on AAU leagues and camps sponsored by shoe companies, recruiters feel that leagues such as "The Rock" give them the most authentic view of a player's current ability and future prospects. And for players including Talib Zanna of Bishop McNamara, there is also plenty of pride at stake.

"I like summer league better because it gives me a chance to work with my coaches," said Zanna, who will be a senior next year. "The best part is that we can do strength conditioning. AAU is just games. I'm here for these games to make my coach proud and win as a team. AAU is just about trying to get a scholarship."

"The Rock" features teams from Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard counties. Director Al Moraz, in his fifth year running the league, determines which teams will provide the highest level of competition and the best returning players in the region.

"Each year there are very good teams that we have to turn away," Moraz said. "This year there were about 10 teams that logistically, we just couldn't fit into the league."

Nevertheless, on any given night during the open period, college recruiters can be spotted in small groups throughout the bleachers. According to Moraz, at least 40 collegiate representatives attended the league's all-star game last week.

Like Forbes at Tennessee, Rob O'Driscoll, an assistant at James Madison, comes to "The Rock" to see and be seen. A member of new Dukes coach Matt Brady's staff, O'Driscoll frequents this and other local leagues to cultivate relationships with area coaches and players.

"Being at James Madison, being so close to D.C., it's always important to know the D.C. players," O'Driscoll said. "Coach Brady just got the job there a few months ago and we're really trying to make a point to get out in D.C."

While "The Rock" offers a great recruiting source for colleges and exposure for players, the high school teams benefit as well.

For a team stocked with young players, good summer league competition breeds better players for the upcoming season. For St. John's Coach Paul DeStefano, whose team has one senior returning, the high level of competition could not be more valuable.

"We look forward to playing in this competition every year. The competition here is tremendous," DeStefano said after a league victory over Laurel. "Every night that we come here will help our team. For our young kids to get this type of experience is great. This league will always be here. It's a mainstay in this community."

DeStefano said his team alone could eventually yield four or five Division I players. After the first two first-round playoff games Monday, Forbes could identify roughly five or six Division I-caliber players.

"They might not be guys we'd go after," Forbes said. "It's hard to project young kids because most of the kids here are pretty young. But I think if you go back and look in the next few years, you'll see a lot of these kids on someone's roster throughout the United States."