Baltimore Catholic League has two alums taken in first round of NBA draft

Mount St. Joseph High School’s Jalen Smith blocks St. Frances Academy’s Koran Moore during the 47th annual Baltimore Catholic League championship at Goucher College in Towson Mar. 4, 2018. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

In February 2018, Jalen Smith of Mount St. Joseph High School and Immanuel Quickley of The John Carroll School made history for the Baltimore Catholic League, when they gave it two of the 24 spots on the McDonald’s All-American team, the first time a league in Maryland had put players from two different schools on the most prestigious list of high school basketball players.

They were in the news again Nov. 18, when Smith was the No. 10 selection in the NBA draft, by the Phoenix Suns, and Quickley was taken with the No. 25 pick, by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Both had to wait to learn where they would begin their professional careers, as COVID-19 delayed the draft from June. Both come into the NBA after two years of all-star play at the collegiate level.

At the University of Maryland, the 6-foot-10 Smith was a first-team all-Big Ten selection, averaging 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. A 6-3 guard, Quickley made major progress in his second season at the University of Kentucky, where he averaged 16.1 points and 4.2 rebounds and was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.

Smith was a two-time BCL Player of the Year, an honor Quickley shared when they were sophomores. That was in 2016, when Quickley’s three-pointer at the buzzer lifted the Patriots to a 51-50 upset victory over the top-seeded Gaels in the BCL tournament championship game.

In 2017, Smith led Mount St. Joseph to its seventh BCL title in 14 years, with plenty of help from Darryl Morsell, now a senior at Maryland. In 2018, both Smith’s and Quickley’s teams were denied the title, which was won by St. Frances Academy.

In the NBA, they will join fellow BCL alums Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay. Smith is the latest player of renown out of Mount St. Joseph, which saw Phil Booth win two NCAA titles with Villanova University.

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

Also see:

Thanks to Coach Clatchey, Mount St. Joseph alums dot the basketball map

Baltimore Catholic League enjoying historic season

Cool senior calms St. Frances Academy in big win over John Carroll