Baltimore Catholic League has first change in leadership in 25 years

The Baltimore Catholic League announced Oct. 24 it will have a new commissioner for the first time in 25 years.

The BCL, in its 55th season of sponsoring high school basketball in the region, announced a transition in leadership as Jack Degele, league commissioner since 2000, stepped down from the position at a BCL Board of Directors meeting Oct.17. The BCL board unanimously elected 2014 BCL Hall of Famer Mark Rohde Sr. to succeed Degele as the league’s fourth commissioner.

Rohde, the BCL’s assistant commissioner the past three seasons, is an accomplished Baltimore business leader who serves on several Catholic education-affiliated boards and ministry committees, assumes his new duties immediately.

Degele will continue to assist the league at its events, be a liaison to college coaches who scout the BCL’s student athletes and serve as a game observer.

“I am honored and humbled to be named the fourth commissioner of the Baltimore Catholic League,” Rohde said in a news release. “First, I want to thank Jack Degele for his incredible selflessness, ingenuity, heroism and passion in leading and stewarding the BCL over the last 25 years. What he has done, what he has accomplished on behalf of the BCL member schools and the lives of BCL student athletes he has positively impacted is amazing and legendary.

Degele, a 1965 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, has been a part of the Baltimore-area high school and college basketball scene for decades as a coach, referee and observer after playing for both MSJ and the University of Baltimore. He took over as BCL commissioner for the 2000-01 season after the late Loyola head coach and athletic director Jerry Savage recommended him to succeed Mark Russo. His long service to the BCL was recognized by the league during the 2025 BCL Tournament championship game.

“I am grateful to have been in this role for 25 years and to work with so many tremendous coaches, athletic directors, administrators and heads of schools,” Degele said in a media release. “The BCL is in great hands with Mark Rohde taking over, and I look forward to continuing the long relationships I’ve had with so many in the basketball community. The BCL is one of the great high school leagues in the country, and everyone involved down through the years have played a part in building that tradition.”

During Degele’s tenure, he helped stabilize the BCL during a period of change, welcoming three schools to full membership – The John Carroll School in Bel Air (2010-11), Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex (2011-12) and St. Mary’s School in Annapolis (2025-26) – extending the league’s current footprint from Bel Air in Harford County to Annapolis in Anne Arundel County.

During his 25 seasons, the league had some of its greatest team and individual success as 10 schools finished their seasons ranked as the No. 1 team by the Baltimore Sun, 16 players were Baltimore Sun All-Metro Players of the Year, five players were McDonald’s All Americans, seven players were Gatorade Maryland Players of the Year, 10 BCL-affiliated players were selected in the NBA draft (including eight in the first round) and 10 BCL teams were ranked in various final national prep polls.

He also implemented a more structured business plan, and he added league bylaws and a board of directors.

Rohde has a long affiliation with the Baltimore Catholic League, starting as a decorated student-athlete at Loyola Blakefield. He began to lead the BCL’s sponsorship sales and alumni relations efforts for the annual BCL Tournament in 2010, before Degele made him the league’s first assistant commissioner prior to the 2022-23 season. He continues to spearhead the sponsorship programs for the BCLT and the BCL Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Rohde serves as a member of several boards and ministry committees, including the Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic Schools Board (since July 2023), the Mercy High School Board of Trustees (July 2025), the O’Dwyer Retreat Center Board of Directors (July 2025), the Nothing Wasted Ministry Leadership Committee at the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley (2018) and as a mentor at Innovation Works (August 2025). He also served on the Loyola Blakefield Board of Trustees (2018-24). Since 2011, he has served as tri-chair of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation’s annual College Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon.

Rohde attended what is now Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, where he was a basketball standout from 1972 to 1976. As a four-year starter, he scored 1,103 points and pulled down almost 900 rebounds during a career that included a pair of All-Mason-Dixon Conference selections. 

The BCL is comprised of eight Catholic high schools in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County – Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, The John Carroll School in Bel Air, Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Mount St. Joseph High School, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, St. Frances Academy in Baltimore and St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis. The league, founded for the 1971-72 school year, is one of the most prestigious boys high school basketball leagues in the country. Many alumni have gone on to star in college basketball at all levels and several have played in the NBA. 

The league’s website can be found at bclbasketball.com and the BCL can also be followed on X/Twitter and Instagram (@bclbasketball).

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