I feel like I have written enough about the team to explore some of the players now…
Quick, guess the leading scorer for DeMatha through the first ten games of the 2011-2012 season?
If your answer wasn’t Marcellous Bell then you were wrong. Seriously on a team that features a balanced scoring attack I think that it is really saying something because unlike last year he isn’t even starting every game. That’s right, Marcellous Bell’s playing time has diminished this year and his production has gone up.
I don’t know if it is because he switched his number from #11 to #1 or what, but the senior has been torching opponents with his deadly shooting this season. Marcellous is the prototypical DeMatha guard able to adapt his play even if that means accommodating younger guards trying to learn the system or sharing the system with peers. This DeMatha team boasts its five top players hovering around 10 points per game in one of the most balanced scoring attacks in ages. In a complete program like DeMatha kids like Marcellous Bell are essential to the continued success.
Marcellous Bell has had a share in that success as a three year varsity player at DeMatha that has already committed to attend Binghamton University next year. (Yeah, that’s him in the middle between Jerami Grant who signed with Syracuse and James Robinson who is going to University of Pittsburgh.) Right now he is averaging just over 13 points per game and his senior leadership and confidence has a profound effect in the locker room.
For every James Brown, Adrian Dantley, Danny Ferry and their likes there are countless players that play their roles to perfection and achieve team accolades that does more to advance the DeMatha name. Looking at the history of the school there really aren’t that many tremendously talented players –the types that come along only once a generation, that have graced the DeMatha hallways. Kobe and LeBron didn’t go there, but rather DeMatha has relied on coachable players like Bell who overachieve.
In the Soulja Boy era, players willing to “buy in” to the system are hard to come by let alone kids that respond positively in that sort of competitive environment. As DeMatha has demonstrated in the past, it isn’t the place for everybody and certainly not just kids looking for a quick pay day because they might excel on the hardwood or gridiron. God and family are still the top priorities for DeMatha kids in a tradition that was passed from Morgan Wootten to other former system players turned current DeMatha Head Coaches Elijah Brooks and Mike Jones, football and basketball respectively.
DeMatha Catholic High School for Boys is a special place. To the best of my knowledge there is only one high school in America that has produced 5 captains of the Harvard University basketball team. (James Brown ’69, Bob Ferry ’81, Pat Smith ’82, Mike Gielen ’85, and Tim Hill ’95 –in case you were wondering.) Smart, team basketball is a recipe for longevity when there have been many flashes in the pan and kids like Marcellous Bell are the main ingredient.
The Chronicles of Six 