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The Baltimore City College basketball team, known as the "Knights", or formerly, the "Collegians", "Castlemen", and "Alamedans", has represented Baltimore City College, the city of Baltimore's flagship public college preparatory school, for more than 100 years. One of the earliest recorded results in program history is a one-point overtime road loss to the University of Maryland Terrapins (then known as the Maryland Agricultural College Aggies) on January 25, 1913. In 1919, the school was invited to join the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) as a founding member and won MSA A-Conference championships in 1922, 1923, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1969.
Contents
- MSA era 1919 1993
- MPSSAA era 1993 present
- Knights in the NCAA
- First Team All Metro Players
- 2013 2014 Most Wins in School History
- 1966 1967 Back to Back Undefeated Seasons and MSA Championships
- 1965 1966 First Undefeated Season in School History
- References
City College joined its current athletic association, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), in 1993. City has won three MPSSAA state championships (2009, 2010, 2014) and is one of just five programs in Maryland that have won three or more boys basketball state titles since 2000. The Knights have nine straight MPSSAA regional semifinal (round of 16) appearances since 2008. Baltimore City College has finished the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Baltimore Sun metro boys basketball poll and ranked among the top-20 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 boys basketball poll twice since 2010. B.C.C. ranked third among all Baltimore-area high schools -- public, private, and parochial -- with five former players on NCAA Division I rosters during the 2013-2014 seasons. The program boasts eight First Team All-Metro players since 2007, second most among all Baltimore-area high schools in 2014. Three City College boys basketball teams have completed undefeated seasons: 1966, 1967, and 2014.
Daryl Wade, son of former Dunbar High School and University of Maryland head coach Bob Wade, is the current City College boys basketball coach. Wade was named head coach in 1995 and again in 2011 when he replaced then-coach Mike Daniel. Coach Wade, who has averaged 21 wins per season in his second stint at City, has guided the Knights to four MPSSAA state tournament semifinal appearances (1997, 1998, 1999, 2014) and the 2014 MPSSAA 3A state championship. Daryl Wade was named Baltimore Sun All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2014.
† Ranking from the USA Today Super 25 National Boys Basketball Poll
‡ Ranking from the Baltimore Sun Top-15 Metro Boys Basketball Poll
MSA era (1919-1993)
Baltimore City College began competing in the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) in 1919 when it was invited to join as a founding member. The Knights captured MSA championships in 1922, 1923, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1967, and 1969. Between 1960 and 1968, head coach George Howard “Jerry” Phipps led the Knights to a record of 133-27 (.831), five MSA championships (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1967), and a 40-game consecutive win streak between 1966 and 1967. City's 1967 team posted an undefeated season, the second of back-to-back perfect seasons, and was led to the MSA championship by team captain Leonard Hamm, who later became commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department. Eugene Parker, who in 1954 became the first Black faculty member in City College history, replaced Phipps as head coach in 1969 and guided the Knights to the MSA championship. In all, City College won thirteen MSA basketball titles. After 75 years of membership, the school withdrew from the MSA to join the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) in 1993.
MPSSAA era (1993-present)
Baltimore City College has won three MPSSAA state championships (2009, 2010, and 2014). City is one of just five schools in Maryland that have won three or more boys basketball state titles since 2000. The Knights have advanced to the MPSSAA state tournament semifinals six times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2010, and 2014), third most all-time among Baltimore City League teams. Since 2007, the Knights have earned berths in every MPSSAA state tournament and has posted seven 20+ win seasons.
Wayne Cook took over as head boys basketball coach in 1989 and led the Knights to the school's final Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) victory in 1993. Following 10-10 finish in 1994, Daryl Wade replaced Cook as head boys basketball coach in 1995. In his second season at the helm, Coach Wade led the Knights to the first Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) state tournament semifinal appearance in school history in 1997, the school's fourth year as a MPSSAA member. Coach Wade led City College boys basketball to two additional trips to the MPSSAA state semifinals in 1998 and 1999 before leaving the program to coach at nearby Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in 2000.
In 2006, longtime Towson Catholic High School coach Mike Daniel was named head coach at Baltimore City College. In his first two seasons, Coach Daniel led Baltimore City College to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a 20-5 win-loss record in 2007 and a 20-4 mark in 2008. In just his third season, Coach Daniel guided the team to the MPSSAA state tournament championship in 2009, the first boys basketball state title in school history. After guiding the Knights to the second of back-to-back MPSSAA state championships, a 24-3 record, and a No. 1 ranking in the final Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll, Mike Daniel was named All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2010. In 2011, City College ended its season with a mark of 16-9, ranked No 6. in the Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll, and with a loss to Edmondson-Westside High School in the MPSSAA regional semifinals. Coach Daniel left the program at the conclusion of the 2011 season to take over as head coach at Severn High School in suburban Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
At the start of the 2011-2012 season, current head coach Daryl Wade joined the program at Baltimore City College for the second time. The 2012 team finished the season with a record of 21-6 and lost in the MPSSAA regional semifinals to Patterson High School, which went on to capture the state championship. In 2013, the Knights compiled a 20-6 record and a No. 8 ranking in the final Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll, but fell in the MPSSAA regional final again to the eventual state champions. With an undefeated record of 27-0, the Knights finished the 2014 season as the No. 18-ranked team in the United States in the final USA Today Super 25 and Student Sports Fab 50 national boys basketball polls. City College began the 2015 season ranked No. 10 in the Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll. The Knights' 30-game win streak, which spanned two seasons, ended in the school's Baltimore City League opener against arch-rival Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, the Engineers' first win over City College in nearly 10 years. B.C.C. finished the 2015 season with its 8th consecutive berth in the regional semifinals (round of 16) of the MPSSAA state tournament and final record of 17-7.
Knights in the NCAA
In 2013, City College ranked third among all Baltimore-area high schools with five former players on current NCAA Division I rosters. Nick Faust, a member of two B.C.C. state championship teams, was named to the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman team at Maryland. Former small forward C.J. Fair, who helped lead City College to a 25-4 record and the MPSSAA Class 2A regional semifinals as a sophomore, was named 2013 ACC Preseason Player of the Year at Syracuse. Former forward Charles Tapper played basketball and football at City College and was a First Team All-Big 12 Conference defensive end for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2013. Will Barton, a current member of the NBA's Denver Nuggets, was a shooting guard at City College before ultimately finishing his high school basketball career at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. Barton was the Conference USA men's basketball Player of the Year in 2011 and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA Draft.
In recent years, several former boys basketball student-athletes have accepted scholarship offers to play basketball at NCAA Division I schools in recent years. That list includes:
First-Team All-Metro Players
Baltimore City College ranks second among all Baltimore-area high schools -- public, private, and parochial -- with eight first-team All-Metro selections since 2007. In 2014, three players were selected to the All-Metro first team, a single-season school record.
First-Team All-Metro Selections (Selected by the Baltimore Sun)
2013-2014: Most Wins in School History
With a record of 22-0, the 2014 Knights won the Baltimore City Division I basketball championship and posted the school's first undefeated regular season since 1967. The Knights entered the MPSSAA 3A state basketball tournament as the top-seeded team in the East region. On March 15, 2014, the Knights defeated Westlake High School (Maryland) in the MPSSAA finals to win the 3A state championship, finishing the season 27-0. The Knights set a school record with 27 wins in a single season. In so doing, City College completed its third perfect season in school history and became the first Baltimore City League team since the 2008-2009 season to post an undefeated record. City finished the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll for the second time in four years. The Knights finished ranked No. 18 nationally in the final USA Today Super 25 and Student Sports Fab 50 boys basketball polls, the second highest ranking of any team in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
1966-1967: Back-to-Back Undefeated Seasons and MSA Championships
In 1967, City College completed its second of two consecutive undefeated seasons under Coach Jerry Phipps. The Knights finished the season ranked No. 1 in the final Baltimore Sun boys basketball poll and won the second of back-to-back MSA championships. Leonard Hamm, who later became commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, was team captain.
1965-1966: First Undefeated Season in School History
The top-ranked Knights finished the season with a record of 20-0 and beat perennial power Dunbar High School twice during the 1965-66 season. City College was coached by Jerry Phipps and led by Lee Dedmon, who became an All-Atlantic Coast Conference center at North Carolina.