Prince George’s County Basketball Stars Set To Battle in ACC Tournament Semifinals

Prince George’s County strikes again!

For years now, Prince George’s County (or P.G County for short) has been a hotbed of prep basketball talent. If you don’t already know the legend, the NBA is full of players who either played for teams in the D.C. suburb or grew up in the county. The list is too long to get into but some highlights include Kevin Durant, who lived and played locally in PG, as well as fellow NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo, former No. 2-pick Michael Beasley, and both Grant brothers (Jerami and Jerian).

On Friday night, the county will be on center-stage again. Nigel Johnson (Virginia) and Marcquise Reed (Clemson) will square off in the ACC Tournament Semifinals. Johnson, the Cavaliers sixth-man, graduated from Riverdale Baptist, while Reed, the Tigers’ leading scorer, did the same from Capitol Christian. Both teams compete in the same division, the Capital Beltway League, which also features the school where Durant started his career — National Christian.

While Reed was born and raised in Prince George’s County, Johnson migrated over after growing up in nearby Loudoun County, VA. Like the Grant brothers, who found themselves in the DMV area because their father, Harvey, played for the local NBA team (Bullets/Wizards), Johnson grew up in DMV thanks to his father, Sidney, who was a member of the Washington Redskins. It should be noted that Sidney won a Super Bowl (XXVI) with the Redskins during the 1991 NFL season.

The two P.G standouts, both of whom are point guards, ironically, racked up the accolades in their high school days and had Division-1 coaches drooling. From there, though, neither player would stick with the school that initially brought them in. Instead, their paths following P.G were long, winding, and unpredictable.

Reed, who started out at Robert Morris — a small D-1 in Pittsburgh — played his way up to the big leagues after a stellar freshman season with the Colonials. But after arriving at Clemson, he went from superstar to reserve. Last year, he didn’t start one game with the Tigers although he was in the regular rotation. Once this year began, however, he put his name on the map. He’s started every single game so far, leading the team in minutes, points, and steals. It’s fair to pinpoint Reed as the main reason why the Tigers, an NIT team last year, are nationally ranked going into Friday’s game.

On the flip side, Johnson started out in big-time D-1 at Kansas State. Yet, unlike Reed, sustained success didn’t come for Johnson until he transferred to Rutgers for the 2016-17 season. Nigel was the second-leading scorer for the 15-win Scarlet Knights last year but wanted to be on the biggest stage before his college career ended. After getting his degree in the spring, he was eligible to play right away wherever he wanted. Tony Bennett, Virginia’s head coach, came calling and took Nigel in as his first-ever grad-transfer player. Nigel, playing for his home-state school, has been a key player in Bennett’s short rotation all season.

Now, the two find themselves here, in the ACC Tournament. And in a week or so, the NCAA Tournament. For Johnson, it will be the culmination of a three-part D-1 journey –one that will finally end with a trip to the Big Dance. As for Reed, he went to the NCAA Tournament with Robert Morris in 2014-15 but they never had a real chance. This time, with Clemson, it’ll be a whole different story.

Virginia, with their 29-2 record, is the favorite to win the conference tournament. Most likely, they’ll be the chalk when the big brackets come out. Even if they lose against Clemson, a No. 1 seed awaits. The Tigers, currently ranked 19th in the nation, have wins over several ranked teams and will probably get a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the Big Dance. With that said, a win over the Cavaliers could bump Clemson even higher.

Even though they missed each other by a year in the Capitol Beltway League (Johnson, 2012-13; Marcquise, 2013-14), it’s awesome to see another chapter in Prince George’s County hoops’ lore. And while this could be their final showdown in college, don’t be surprised if they meet again at the professional level. After all, they’re from P.G, and that’s what dudes from P.G do.

ESPN published a really cool story about hoops in P.G County back in 2008. You can read it here. Also, in addition to taking care of my baby (SlackieBrown), I cover sports for the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Last summer, I had the chance to spend time with Nigel Johnson. You can read my story here.