The Baltimore Catholic League (BCL), locally known as the Catholic League is a competitive basketball association composed of private Catholic high schools in the

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

geographic area.

History

The BCL was founded in 1972, after the Baltimore high school basketball season culminated in the MSA Championship game, Mt. St. Joseph High School defeated Dunbar High School. This game went on to be known as one of the most remarkable and controversial games in Baltimore high school basketball history. The impetus for the creation of the BCL arrived in the off-season. The goal was to make a separate division from the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA), which was the league for all high school athletics in the Baltimore area, public or private. The BCL created a division that was strictly for Baltimore area Catholic High Schools. It is alleged that the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) was the model for the BCL. The BCL was originally composed of most of the schools in the list below, with the most recent additions being The John Carroll School in the 2010–11 season, and

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

in the 2011–12 season. Archbishop Curley High School, a founding member of the league, left the BCL in 1997. The Cardinal Gibbons School (which closed in 2010) has the most BCL championships to date. The late O. Ray Mullis, former head coach at Cardinal Gibbons, has the most all-time wins of any coach in Baltimore City history (621 wins), while simultaneously claiming the most BCL championships (6). Other notable coaches in the league included Mark Amatucci, formerly of Calvert Hall College, who won a national championship in the early 80s, Cokey Robertson, formerly of

St. Maria Goretti High School Saint Maria Goretti Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic day school located in Hagerstown, Maryland. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, within the tri-state areas of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia ...

, Pat Clatchey of

Mount Saint Joseph Mount Saint Joseph may refer to: Communities * Mount Saint Joseph, Ohio, United States, an unincorporated community in central Delhi Township, Hamilton County Educational institutions Australia * Mount Saint Joseph, Milperra, an independent Cath ...

, William Wells formerly of St. Frances Academy, Jerry Savage formerly of Loyola Blakefield, and Dan Popera formerly of Archbishop Curley High School.

Scheduling

The league works in cooperation with the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Seven of the 8 teams participate in the MIAA A Conference, which results in each team playing each other twice, once home and once away.

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is the only member of the BCL that does not participate in the MIAA. After the conclusion of the season, the BCL sponsors a league tournament held at Loyola College's Reitz Arena. The event usually occurs after the MIAA Conference Championship with all 8 teams of the league participating. It is a single-elimination tournament with 4 quarterfinal matchups, 2 semi-final games, and a championship game. The Junior Varsity (JV) teams also play in the tournament, but held at the home of the higher seed for each game.

BCL Game of the Week

Beginning with the 2006–2007 season, RC Sports Productions broadcasts a Baltimore Catholic League Game of the Week on Fox 1370 Sports Radio (formerly V1370) WVIE in Pikesville, Baltimore.

Participating schools

* St. Frances Academy * Calvert Hall College High School * Loyola Blakefield *

Archbishop Spalding High School Archbishop Spalding High School is a private, Catholic co-educational high school located in Severn, Maryland, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Most of its students live in Annapolis, Crownsville, Arnold, Pasad ...

Mount Saint Joseph College Mount Saint Joseph College (commonly MSJ or Mount Saint Joe) is a Catholic college preparatory school and secondary school / high school for young men from ninth to twelfth grade sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers and founded in 1876. It is locat ...

* The John Carroll School * Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School *Former members:

Towson Catholic Towson Catholic High School was a private Catholic, co-educational high school in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, whose closing was announced in July 2009. At its peak enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 400 children atten ...

and Cardinal Gibbons School both closed in 2009 and 2010, respectively; Archbishop Curley High School left the league in 1997.

Notable BCL alumni

Many former BCL players later played collegiate basketball at NCAA Division I schools, with some advancing to the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

: Towson Catholic Owls * Donté Greene, '07 - NBA Sacramento Kings, NCAA Syracuse Orange * Carmelo Anthony, '02 - NBA

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, NCAA Syracuse Orange via Oak Hill Academy (Virginia) * Malcolm Delaney, '07 - NCAA Virginia Tech Hokies Calvert Hall Cardinals *

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, '98 - NBA Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards, NCAA Maryland Terrapins * Duane Ferrell, '84 - NBA Atlanta Hawks,

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and

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, NCAA Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets * Gary Neal, '02 - NBA San Antonio Spurs, NCAA La Salle Explorers and Towson Tigers *

Jack McClinton Jack Paul McClinton (born January 19, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. McClinton played shooting guard for the University of Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team. He was selected in the second round by the San Anto ...

, '02 - selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the

2009 NBA Draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

.,McDonald, Jeff (June 26, 2009). - "NBA DRAFT; SPURS ADD THREE; Spurs see Blair as steal". - ''

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''. NCAA Miami Hurricanes *

Damion Lee Damion Lee (born October 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for three years at Drexel University and transferred to Louisville f ...

, '10 - NCAA Louisville Cardinals, Drexel Dragons Spalding Cavaliers * Rudy Gay, '04 - NBA Memphis Grizzlies, NCAA UConn Huskies *

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, '99 - NBA Cleveland Cavaliers Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders * Norman Black, '75 - NBA Detroit Pistons, NCAA Saint Joseph's College *

Dylon Cormier Dylon Cormier (born September 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player. Cormier usually plays as shooting guard. He played collegiate for Loyola of Maryland from 2011 to 2014. Professional career In September 2014, Cormier signed ...

, '10 - , NCAA Loyola Greyhounds *

Quintin Dailey Quintin "Q" Dailey (January 22, 1961 – November 8, 2010) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard who played collegiately at the University of San Francisco, he later went on to a career in the NBA, playing for the Chicago ...

, '79 - NBA Chicago Bulls,

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and Seattle SuperSonics, NCAA San Francisco Dons *

Steve Wojciechowski Steven Michael Wojciechowski (born August 11, 1976), also known as Wojo, is an American basketball coach and former player who was the head coach at Marquette University for seven seasons. He previously played and coached under head coach Mike K ...

, '94 - NCAA

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Blue Devils, former Head Coach at Marquette University Archbishop Curley Friars *

Kwame Evans Kwame Gumo "KJ" Evans Jr. (born August 2, 2004) is an American college basketball player for the Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference. High school career Evans attends Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. He transferred to Montverde from Bal ...

(played at Curley from 1987 to 1989) - NCAA George Washington University Colonials - made 3 trips to the NCAA Tournament ('93, '94, and '96) with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1993. Evans currently ranks fifth on GW's all-time scoring list and was inducted into the university's athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. Goretti Gaels * Rodney Monroe, '87 - NBA Atlanta Hawks, NCAA NC State Wolfpack *

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, '01 - NCAA St. Francis Red Flash *

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, '03 - NCAA

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Bulldogs * Gene Johnson, '06 - NCAA

Morgan State Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

Bears *

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, '08 - Semi-Pro Washington Generals, NCAA Washington College Shoremen Mount Saint Joseph Gaels * Torrey Butler, '99 - NCAA Coastal Carolina * Will Thomas, '04 - NCAA George Mason Patriots * Henry Sims, '08 - NBA

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

, NCAA Georgetown University * Phil Booth, '14 - NCAA Villanova Wildcats * Jalen Smith, '18 - NCAA Maryland Terrapins St. Frances Panthers * Devin Gray, '91 - NBA Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. NCAA Clemson * Sean Mosley, '08 - NCAA Maryland Terrapins * Mark Karcher, '97 - NBA

, NCAA Temple Owls *

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, '16 - NCAA North Carolina Central University

References

{{reflist

External links

MIAA SPORTSBCL Official SiteSportsmajors.comLoyola Blakefield BasketballBMore HoopsMid-Atlantic HoopsArchbishop Spalding Basketball
Maryland high school sports conferences Basketball in Maryland Basketball leagues in the United States High school basketball competitions in the United States Catholic Church in Maryland Catholic sports organizations