Baltimore makes up part of the loaded DMV recruiting pipeline. CBB Review ranks the 15 best Baltimore college basketball players of all time.
Every off-season, college basketball fans wait with baited breath to see where top-level recruits will take their talents. The addition of a five or four-star recruit can make the difference between being a national title contender and just a program trying to make the field of 68. Within these rankings, there are hoops hotbeds, where talent seems to flow consistently from year-t0-year.
The DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area is one of those places, stretching from Washington D.C.’s suburbs in Virginia up to Baltimore. We’ve sifted through over 70 former (and some current) players to find the all-time Baltimore college basketball greats.
Before we get started, to be clear, this list is about players who were born in or near Baltimore, so you won’t find Brooklyn-born Carmelo Anthony on this list. He was a fantastic college player, but isn’t native to Charm City.
Baltimore College Basketball Third Team
Will Barton (Memphis, Lake Clifton High School)
Will Barton spent two seasons with the Memphis Tigers, earning 3rd-team Conference USA honors as a freshman before being the league’s player of the year in his sophomore year. He averaged 18 points per game on his way to earning that honor. He was a highly-touted recruit who stepped in to try and continue the dominance that Memphis had early in the millennium.
Barton scored just over 1,000 career points in two seasons, averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game overall. He helped the Tigers make two NCAA Tournament appearances and was drafted in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft by Portland. He is a current member of the Denver Nuggets.
Muggsy Bogues (Wake Forest, Dunbar High School)
Muggsy Bogues may best be known for his small stature, coming in as the shortest player in modern college basketball at five foot-three. However, he didn’t let his size hold him back in being one of the best point guards in ACC history at Wake Forest. Bogues led the league in assists in steals in both 1984-85 and 1985-86. He is also largely credited for defending Duke’s Johnny Dawkins when his 51-game streak of scoring in double-figures was snapped.
Bogues left the Demon Deacons as their all-time leader in steals and assists, and he had at least 200 assists in three of his seasons, something only Chris Paul has done at the school since. He averaged 6.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game for his career and earned a spot on the ACC’s first team in 1987. For all of his individual success, Wake Forest only made one NCAA Tournament appearance during his time there. Bogues was drafted in the first round by Washington in 1987.
Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech, Towson Catholic)
Malcolm Delaney was a star for Virginia Tech during his time with the Hokies. He was a fantastic and durable scorer who could earn his way to the free-throw line, and he led the ACC in scoring as a senior. His outstanding play earned him three appearances as an All-ACC member, including first-team honors in both 2009-10 and 2010-11.
For his career, Delaney was an all-around player, averaging 16.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and four assists per game. The unfortunate part was that he never got to showcase his talent in the NCAA Tournament. He played during the Seth Greenberg era at Virginia Tech, where the Hokies were always on the bubble and ended up in the NIT. Delaney went undrafted in 2011, but has gone on to a successful overseas career in Europe.
Shawnta Rogers (George Washington, Lake Clifton High School)
Shawnta Rogers etched himself into the record books at George Washington by the time he was finished there. He continues to hold the program’s career records for assists and steals, and holds the single-season records for those two stats as well as made threes. His 103 steals during his senior season also led the NCAA that year. His senior season was one of the best in Atlantic 10 history, earning him the league’s player of the year, still the only Colonial player to earn that award.
Rogers averaged 14.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.7 steals per game for his career. He was an All-A10 honoree for three seasons, and he helped guide the program to three NCAA appearances and one NIT appearance. Like Malcolm Delaney, he went undrafted but went on to overseas success in France, Italy, and Belgium.
Gene Shue (Maryland, Towson Catholic)
Gene Shue is the first of a few Maryland Terrapins that will appear on this list. He is credited with helping Maryland basketball ascend to the ACC after spending time in the Southern Conference. He was part of firsts in the Maryland program, including the first 20-win season and first national ranking. Shue broke all of the Terps’ scoring records at the time, and did all of this while only playing on scholarship as a senior.
Shue averaged 18.5 points per game for his career and was a first-team All-ACC selection for 1953-54. He is considered the first-ever high-profile draft prospect to come from Maryland, going in the first round to Philadelphia in 1954. He had a successful pro career as a player and a coach, including two NBA Coach of the Year honors.
Baltimore College Basketball Second Team
Keith Booth (Maryland, Dunbar High School)
Keith Booth is often recognized as the recruit that opened up the Baltimore pipeline once again to the Maryland program. He scored close 1,800 points for his career and is still the Terps’ all-time leader in made free throws. He was twice an All-ACC selection, including a first-team honor for 1996-97. Booth was also a third-team AP All-American that year. Furthermore, he was also a two-time selection to the All-ACC Tournament team.
Booth averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for his career. He was a key piece of four NCAA Tournament teams, helping Gary Williams keep Maryland in the national spotlight. Booth was a first round pick by Chicago in the 1997 NBA Draft. He went on to spend some time coaching both at Maryland at local Baltimore high schools after his playing days.
Sam Cassell (Florida State, Dunbar High School)
Sam Cassell joined the Seminoles for two years after starting out at San Jacinto Community College. He made an instant impact, leading the ACC in steals his first year in Tallahassee and forming the highest scoring and rebounding duo with teammate Bob Sura as a senior. Cassell was a second team All-ACC selection in both of his seasons at Florida State. He was on two NCAA Tournament teams, including an Elite Eight team in 1993.
Cassell averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.3 steals per game durings his two year Seminole career. He went on to be a first round pick by Houston, spending 16 solid years in the NBA. Cassell currently works as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Quintin Dailey (San Francisco, Cardinal Gibbons)
Quintin Dailey was a scoring machine during his time at San Francisco. He chose the Dons out of tons of high-major offers and turned that into two straight WCC Player of the Year awards and a consensus All-American selection in 1982. He is second all-time at San Francisco in points scored with 1,841, and his 755 points in his senior were a school record.
Dailey averaged an insane 20.5 points per game for his career, with career averages of 4.8 rebounds and three assists per game as well. He helped guide the Dons to two NCAA appearances and was a first round pick by Chicago in 1982. Dailey’s success didn’t come without a cloud, as he was accused of attempted rape and receiving payments for a job he didn’t do in the months following his senior season. He later tried to help troubled youth after his playing days and passed away from heart disease in 2010.
Rudy Gay (Connecticut, Archbishop Spalding)
Rudy Gay spent two seasons at UConn, winning Big East Freshman of the Year in 2005 before being a Naismith Award finalist in 2006. His spectacular sophomore season included being named to the All-Washington D.C. Regional Team in the NCAA Tournament and being a consensus second-team All-American. Gay had a real shot at leading the Huskies to a national title if not for George Mason’s Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2006.
Gay averaged 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks for his Husky career. Connecticut made the NCAA Tournament in each of his seasons, including the aforementioned Elite Eight in 2006. He was a first round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2006 and is currently a member of the San Antonio Spurs.
Marcus Hatten (St. John’s, Mergenthaler VoTech)
Marcus Hatten is another player that took the junior college route before ending up at St. John’s for two seasons. Hatten was a two-time selection to the Big East’s first team, and his spectacular performance throughout the 2003 NIT earned him the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. He’s also remembered for hitting game-winning free-throws to defeat Duke on the game’s biggest stage in Madison Square Garden.
Hatten averaged an impressive 21.2 points per game in his two seasons with the Red Storm. However, he had a well-rounded game, averaging 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 3.1 steals per game as well. St. John’s did make the 2002 NCAA Tournament also before their NIT Championship with Hatten as a member in 2003. He is another player on this list that went undrafted but found success abroad.
Baltimore College Basketball First Team
Juan Dixon (Maryland, Calvert Hall)
Juan Dixon is considered one of the best players in Maryland history and is the Terps’ all-time leading scorer with 2,269 points, surpassing another great in Len Bias. Dixon was a three-time first-team ACC selection and was the league’s player of the year for 2001-02. He was also a consensus first-team All-American that season. Dixon also holds Maryland’s career made threes and NCAA Tournament points records.
Dixon averaged 16.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for his career as well as being a career 38.9 percent three-point shooter. He led Maryland to their first-ever Final Four appearance and National Championship. He cemented his legacy by being named the 2002 Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Dixon was a first round pick by Washington in 2002 and spent time as an assistant coach at Maryland. He is currently the head coach at Coppin State.
Reggie Lewis (Northeastern, Dunbar High School)
Reggie Lewis may be the best player in Northeastern history. He helped the program capture four straight conference titles and was the East Coast Athletic Conference’s Northern Division Player of the Year for three straight years from 1985-1987. He earned the Rookie of the Year honor the year before. Lewis is the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer and ended his career ninth in NCAA history. His 24.1 points per game as a sophomore is a single-season school record.
Lewis’ scoring prowess led him to average 22.2 points per game for his career. He also averaged close to two steals per game. He helped Northeastern to four NCAA Tournaments and only six league losses during that span. He was a first round pick by Boston in 1987 and was a key member of the Celtics before passing away unexpectedly of a heart condition in 1993.
Rodney Monroe (NC State, St. Maria Goretti)
Rodney Monroe left NC State holding numerous school records, including still being the all-time leading scorer with 2,551 career points. He’s also the leader in made field goals and made threes. His three-point shooting also has him holding the single-game and single-season record for made threes for the Wolfpack. Monroe was only the second player in school history to score 2,000 career points, and he averaged an insane 27 points per game as a senior.
Monroe averaged 20.6 points per game for his career and has an incredulous career shooting percentage beyond the arc of 43.6 percent. He was a two-time All-ACC first-team selection and was the ACC’s Player of the Year in 1990-91. Monroe helped NC State make three NCAA appearances and was a second round pick of Atlanta in 1991. However, most of his career success came overseas before becoming a coach in the Charlotte area.
Marvin Webster (Morgan State, Edmondson High School)
Marvin Webster vaulted Morgan State into national prominence shortly before their move to Division I. He was known as “The Human Eraser” for his phenomenal shot-blocking abilities. Webster still holds the Bears’ all-time records for points, rebounds, blocks, and field-goal percentage. He was the MEAC’s Player of the Year from 1973-1975 as well as Division II’s Player of the Year in 1973-74 after averaging 21 points and 22.4 rebounds per game that season.
Webster averaged 17.5 points and 19.9 rebounds per game for his career and helped Morgan State capture the 1974 Division II National Championship. The Bears also made the 1975 Division II Tournament. He was drafted in the first round by Atlanta and played 12 years between the ABA and NBA. Webster passed away from a heart attack in 2009.
Reggie Williams (Georgetown, Dunbar High School)
Reggie Williams is one of just four players in Georgetown’s storied history to score more than 2,000 career points. He also left the Hoyas in the top five in career steals and rebounds. Williams was a two-time selection to the Big East’s first-team and was the league’s player of the year in 1986-87. He was also a consensus first-team All-American that season. Williams was a key contributor on the 1984 national title team, including scoring 19 points in the championship game against Houston.
Williams averaged 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game for his college career. Georgetown made the NCAA Tournament in all four of his seasons there, including the 1984 national title. The Hoyas compiled a 122-19 record while Williams played for them and was known for helping Georgetown complete comeback victories. He was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Clippers in 1987 and spent 10 seasons in the NBA before coaching high school ball back in Baltimore for a few years.
[…] This time, we’ve gone through close to 100 Philadelphia college basketball players to find the very best throughout history. It wasn’t easy, and there are certainly going to be some arguments over potential snubs. Again, this is a reminder that this is all about players who were born in Philadelphia, and not transplants. You can also check out our prior piece on Baltimore’s all-time college greats. […]