Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts described Joey Dorsey as simply an “animal” on Sunday.
Dorsey, a 6-foot-9 senior forward from Baltimore?s Douglass High, scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked seven shots tohelp Memphis advance to the Sweet Sixteen with a 77-74 win against Mississippi State.
Top-seeded Memphis (35-1) faces fifth-seeded Michigan State (27-8) on Friday night at 10 in a South Region semifinal in Houston.
“When he plays like that, our team is so much better, so much better,” Douglas-Roberts told reporters after his team defeated eighth-seeded Mississippi State. “I mean, you really can?t explain it. He was everywhere. He was helping everybody. He was great.”
Dorsey represents one of several players with area ties who have made a difference in the NCAA Tournament. And while most of the players did not advance as far as Dorsey, each left an impression that showed Maryland products can compete nationally.
Enter George Mason senior forward Will Thomas.
Two years ago, Thomas helped lead the Patriots to an improbable run to the Final Four. This season, however, the clock struck midnight for the Cinderella team from Fairfax, Va., as fifth-seeded Notre Dame bounced the 12th-seeded Patriots in the first round, 68-50. Thomas, a former Mount St. Joseph standout, scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss to conclude a season in which he averaged 15.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
“We know we won?t sneak up on anybody anymore,” Thomas said. “People are aware of who George Mason is now.”
George Mason coach Jim Larranaga understands the value of recruiting in this state, as his entire starting lineup two years ago was composed of Marylanders. His roster this season included six Marylanders, including sophomore forward Louis Birdsong, also from Mount St. Joseph. But Larranaga said no one was more valuable to the Patriots than Thomas.
“Will Thomas is to George Mason what Bill Russell was to the Boston Celtics,” Larranaga said. “The Celtics were a good NBA team before Russell arrived, but became a championship team after he got there. That?s what Will Thomas did for us.”
Georgetown sophomore DaJuan Summers also will be watching the rest of the NCAA Tournament from home. Summers, a McDonogh graduate, hoped to return to the Final Four for the second straight year. But 10th-seeded Davidson had other plans, upsetting the second-seeded Hoyas, 74-70, in the second round on Sunday.
Jack McClinton, a former standout at Calvert Hall who stars at Miami, also lost in the second round, as his 18 points were not enough for the seventh-seeded Hurricanes to defeat second seeded Texas, 75-72, on Sunday.
Summers said the Baltimore area often is overlooked nationally as a hotbed for basketball, despite the success of former Towson Catholic standout Carmelo Anthony, who led Syracuse to the NCAA title in 2003 before becoming an NBA All-Star with the Denver Nuggets.
Two other Towson Catholic alumni, Donte Greene and Malcolm Delaney, made their presence known in this year?s National Invitation Tournament. Delaney, a freshman guard, averaged 15 points a game in the Hokies? first two NIT games. Greene?s season ended Tuesday when Syracuse (21-14) lost in the NIT quarterfinals to Massachusetts, 81-77. Greene, a freshman forward, had 18 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
“I love local guys doing what they need to because their have been a number of guys who haven?t done what they could to reach the national stage,” Summers said. “I?m just proud of the guys from our area. Playing against a lot of these guys in high school only helped me prepare more for playing a Georgetown. I think the Baltimore area is right there among the best in the country for basketball. We don?t always get the recognition, but we?re proving ourselves with guys like Donte, Malcolm and Carmelo.”
