Friday's Midnight (Attendee) Madness

Ron Bailey, Publisher

The annual right of passage, Midnight Madness, is amongst us.

October 16, 2009 - Okay, tonight is the evening in which Division I programs host their yearly Midnight Madness celebration, or some variation of it; schools can undertake official practice efforts, replete with head coach participation. The event, made famous reportedly by former University of Maryland coach and current Hall of Famer, Lefty Drisell, has become a rite of passage nationally.

Concurrent to a team presenting itself, schools use Midnight Madness as a valuable recruiting tool, for it provides prospective student athletes with an opportunity to see a program more intimately than say, simply attending a game; sometimes fanfare and revelry has an attractive effect.

To that end, and via intensive research completed by mining high school and AAU contacts (thanks peeps), following are lists of the kids many local programs expect on many local campuses tonight. Of course this is ultimately speculative, and as such plans can change on the drop of a dime, so don't blame this writer if a player doesn't show or attends somewhere else. Also apologies are extended to anyone omitted.

Contact the various schools for event specifics. Of interest is the decision by UVA and American not to engage in Midnight Madness - the Wahoos for one are keeping it 'old school'.

Guys scheduled to attend Morgan State, Georgetown, Duke, Eastern Shore, Maryland, George Washington, Notre Dame and Xavier tonight, are presented here.

Morgan State (Baltimore, MD)

Donte Holmes - St. Frances Academy (MD), Class of 2010
Sam Cassell, Jr. - St. Frances Academy (MD), Class of 2011

Donte Holmes of St. Frances Academy.

Jimmy Hamilton - Milford Mill (MD) - Class of 2010
Anthony Goode - Milford Mill (MD) - Class of 2010
DeVaughn Usher - Digital Harbor(MD) - Class of 2010
Stanton Kidd - Edmondson (MD) - Class of 2010

Georgetown (Washington, DC)

Markel Starks - Georgetown Prep (MD), Class of 2010 (committed)
Nate Lubick - St. Mark's (MA), Class of 2010 (committed)

Nate Britt III is one of several young players scheduled to attend G'Town's Midnight Madness.

Rakeem Christmas - Academy of the New Church, Class of 2011
Jordan Omogbuhin - National Christian (MD), Class of 2011
Kris Jenkins - Gonzaga (DC), Class of 2013
Will Feurgeson - O'Connell (VA), Class of 2013
BeeJay Anya - DeMatha (MD), Class of 2013
Nate Britt III - Gonzaga (DC), Class of 2013

Duke (Durham, NC)

Tyler Thornton - Gonzaga (DC), Class of 2010 (committed)

Josh Hairston (white), at this year's NBAPA Top 100 Camp

Josh Hairston - Montrose Chrstian (MD), Class of 2010 (committed)

UMES (Princess Anne, MD)

Cahli Thomas - Gonzaga (DC), Class of 2011

Cahli Thomas shooting in open gym.

Eric Savage - Old Mill (MD), Class of 2011
Devon Gibson - NIA (NJ), Class of 2010

George Washington (Washington, DC)

Will Sheehey - Sagemont (FL), Class of 2010

Maryland (College Park, MD)

Quinn Cook - DeMatha (MD), Class of 2011
Daquan Cook - St. Frances Academy (MD), Class of 2012

B'Mo's Daquan Cook will likely be at Maryland for Midnight Madness.

Julian Debose - St. John's (MD), Class of 2011

Miscellaneous

Wayne Sparrow - St. Frances (MD), Class of 2010, headed to Richmond (committed)
Greg Lewis - St. Frances (MD), Class of 2011, headed to Xavier

Mikael Hopkins will watch the Golden Domers dunk tonight.

Mikael Hopkins - DeMatha (MD), Class of 2011, headed to Notre Dame
Jerian Grant - DeMatha (MD), Class of 2010, headed to Notre Dame (committed)