Van Whitfield has written best-selling books. He’s appeared on national television and radio. He’s written scripts for TV shows. His latest work, an as-yet untitled autobiography of former Washington mayor Marion Barry, promises to be anything but boring.
There’s something else Whitfield does well — recruit basketball players.
That talent, that he first demonstrated in the AAU ranks, landed Whitfield at Southern Maryland Christian last year where he led the Charles County private school to a 27-6 record and a No. 10 rank in the nation (according to hoopsusa.com).
This year, Whitfield is at Progressive Christian Academy, starting a basketball program from scratch. From the look of things Monday night at Bladensburg in the championship game of the High Flight Summer League, there will be few growing pains for the Camp Springs private school.
“The biggest attraction is that it’s a state accredited school,” said Whitfield. “It’s also got a gym.”
Behind the dominating inside play of Virginia Tech-bound Gus Gilchrist, who produced eight of his 15 points in the final two minutes, PCA subdued Bladensburg, 53-49.
Wearing the uniforms of Whitfield’s AAU team, D.C. Storm, Progressive got off to a slow start and had trouble shaking the pesky host squad, but along the way showed a wealth of quickness and skill. While Gilchrist, a transfer from Friendly, had 12 rebounds and seven blocks, guards Jerimiah Bowman (10 points), Gary Artis (seven points) and Jasper Williams (seven points), all transfers from Southern Maryland Christian, set the tone for PCA, defending aggressively and penetrating the lane.
In additionto bringing several top players from Southern Maryland, Whitfield has landed talented transfers 6-5 Eric Moore (Friendly) and 6-9 Julian Armstrong (Thomas Stone).
Roscoe Davis, a 6-10 junior who played last year at Douglass, has been with PCA this summer, but was unavailable last night due to an injury. Whitfield has also had discussions with Mike Beasley (Kansas State), a 6-9 senior who is considered one of the top five players in his class and has left Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
» Note: Bladensburg was led by Jeff Mack (19 points), who notched a rare 4-point play to tie it with 2 minutes left. Bladensburg 6-7 junior Wallace Judge battled Gilchrist inside, scoring 14 of his 17 points after intermission.
