THE RISE AND FALL OF ST. JOHN'S-PH

August 12, 2024

FREDERICK, MD. -- Hardly anything tangible remains from the championship boys basketball program at St. John's at Prospect Hall.

The headmaster, the nationally recognized head coach, and the 15 varsity players have departed following a bitter controversy that divided the Catholic preparatory school. Uniforms from Nike, portable baskets and a collection of weight equipment are no longer available to Viking players.

Victories are also hard to find these days at the Frederick County school. A year removed from winning USA Today's national championship with a 25-0 record, St. John's is 4-8. Gone, too, are the season ticket holders -- many from outside Frederick County -- who crammed into tiny McSherry Gymnasium each winter to watch high school basketball at its finest. Tickets now are available only on a walk-up basis.

"We're back to the family and friends crowd," said first-year coach Bruce Kelley.

About the only physical reminder of St. John's former prominence hangs on the gym walls, where five banners celebrate the team's national rankings under former coach Stu Vetter. But there is no banner to honor last year's undefeated season. Its absence symbolizes the basketball program's abrupt move in a direction administrators said better fit the 169-year-old school's desire to leave the national spotlight.

By fielding more players from the Frederick area and running a program that is less independent from the rest of the school, new headmaster Richard Fairley said, St. John's is now "more in line with typical high school programs."

Vetter, the 1997-98 national coach of the year, said he thought a banner had been made. Fairley said he was unaware of it, but would have no problem hanging it with the others.

"The banners are sort of a paradox, I must admit," said Fairley, who was formerly the school's dean of students and has coached boys basketball at Sidwell Friends, Jewish Day School and Langley. "But I look at them and try to make a separation from my philosophical disagreements with coach Vetter. . . . There is more than one way to get one of those banners."

That is the approach St. John's has taken in the wake of last season's problems. Program supporters, including Vetter, alleged that the school subjected black players to racism. Critics in the Frederick community charged that coaches and players were circumventing school policies.

The result is a program with 17 players, half of what Vetter fielded last season, and five of those players split time between the varsity and junior varsity. Last Sunday against St. Mary's-Annapolis, sophomore Adama Diggs scored 17 points in 26 minutes in the junior varsity game and 13 points in 16 minutes in the varsity contest.

With eight defeats already, St. John's is only two losses shy of Vetter's six-year total. He departed with a 136-10 mark.

Kelley said he asks his players, "Would you rather be the guy cheering the all-American, or out on the court playing?" Controversy

The school's problems publicly surfaced last February when some parents argued that racism had influenced then-headmaster Thomas J. Peri's decision to expel two black students -- basketball player Damien Wilkins and Allison Mathis -- for kissing and fondling each other in a school hallway. Peri said the students were guilty of a major violation of school rules.

Wilkins's expulsion marked the second time that term Peri had disciplined a black player on the team. Parents of some team members were furious, arguing that the program was being unfairly targeted because 18 of 34 players were black.

Wilkins's father, Gerald, who played last season for the NBA's Orlando Magic, and Mathis's mother, Deborah, filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. The lawsuit was eventually dropped, but its effects contributed to mass departures.

Vetter, assistant coach Kevin Sutton and headmaster Peri, now the principal at Towson Catholic High School in Baltimore County, left by early summer.

Fifteen players from the program transferred to other schools, including all 10 possible returning varsity members. Six players followed Sutton to Montrose Christian School in Rockville, where Sutton has continued Vetter's winning tradition with a 15-1 record and No. 11 ranking.

Others who had planned to attend St. John's did not. That left the Vikings with only six players -- all from the junior varsity -- who played at the school last year.

"It was unfortunate how it ended," said Vetter, who has taken time away from coaching to run basketball camps and work on a book about how to build a successful program. "We were hired to develop an outstanding basketball program and increase enrollment. We did that."

Vetter, who compiled a 549-66 career record in 23 seasons, has a reputation for improving players' skills and their chances of being recruited by Division I colleges. Before moving to St. John's, Vetter built powerhouses at Flint Hill in Fairfax County and the now-defunct Harker Prep in Potomac.

He said he left Flint Hill because of a change in administration, and he coached at Harker Prep for two years before the school closed. Vetter cited a change in direction by the administration as his reason for leaving St. John's. Both Vetter and Fairley said the coach left on his own.

"Our goal was to build up other programs in the school, like DeMatha does," Vetter said. "That was tough to do with five headmasters in six years. And I felt for six years there was a core group of parents that really resented the fact that the basketball program was there."

When Vetter left, he took the team's uniforms and equipment that were either under his contract from Nike or owned by Stu Vetter Sports Inc. The former coach said he bought the school a baseball pitching machine, a machine that marks fields and outdoor baskets that remain at St. John's.

Fairley acknowledged the equipment taken by Vetter belonged to the coach, but "that was part of the problem all along," he said. "We had a program almost running separately from the rest of the department."

Kelley, who was an assistant coach at American University from 1990 to 1997, was hired from the Potomac School to replace Vetter and also become the dean of students. Unlike Vetter, who was a full-time coach, Kelley teaches math and computer sciences. New Breed of Recruit

Jami Green, a junior point guard who leads the team in scoring, nearly left because of the change in the program. Green said he considered transferring back to Frederick High School, where he spent his freshman year.

"I wasn't sure colleges would still see me here, and honestly, I'm still not sure," Green said. "But my parents thought St. John's was the best place I could get a Catholic education."

Green is the type of player administrators are looking to attract: a student from the Frederick area who might not have had the chance to play at St. John's in the past because of the talent level.

"I think there was a general lack of interest in the community about St. John's," Fairley said, referring to crowds dominated by out-of-town fans. "There was this sense that we were a national program, recruiting kids from outside the area, and people couldn't relate to that."

Because of the transfers and an already low enrollment in the 1999 senior class, St. John's population dropped from 242 students last year to 227. Fairley said he expects to have about 260 students for the 1999-2000 school year because of a larger incoming freshman class.

For now, though, the decreased enrollment has had a direct impact on the basketball team. Kelley said he has remained patient with his 17 players, a majority of whom have little basketball experience.

"It's frustrating, no question," Kelley said. "I believe we will turn this around and get this program going. Of course, winning is relative. I heard someone say maybe we'll be number one in the county instead of number one in the country. I like that thought."

Green, one of the last links to the championship days, said he glances at the banners during practices and games. He thinks of his friends who transferred, the victories no longer easy to attain and the national attention that has disappeared. "Basically, it's the end of a dynasty," he said. "Now we move on." Starting Over Fifteen members of the boys basketball program last year at St. John's at Prospect Hall have since transferred. Many are doing well at other schools this season, including six who play at No. 11 Montrose Christian. Player

Hgt. Yr. Pos. Average Koki Adasi

6-2 Jr. F 8.0 ppg Justin Amick

Woodward Academy (Ga.)5-10 Jr. G 12.0 ppg Kevin Bigelow Boonsboro

6-3 Soph.F 3.3 ppg Jason Conley

Montrose Christian 6-4 Sr. G 18.4 ppg Mohammed Diakite Montrose Christian 6-11 Jr. C 10.0 ppg Anthony Green Seneca Valley

6-3 Sr. G 16.0 ppg Sebastian Hermenier*Newport School

6-5 Jr. F -- Marvin Lewis

Montrose Christian 6-3 Jr. G 16.0 ppg Joe Mathis

Montrose Christian 5-8 Jr. G 4.8 ppg Rob Monroe

Montrose Christian 5-9 Jr. G 10.7 ppg Brent Newman** Montrose Christian 5-11 Soph.G 15.0 ppg Joe Smallwood Urbana

6-3 Sr. F 2.0 ppg Shaun Taylor

5-10 Sr. G 15.1 ppg Sherrod Teasley Notre Dame

6-5 Jr. G 16.7 ppg Damien Wilkins Dr. Phillips (Fla.) 6-7 Sr. F 21.0 ppg *Has not played because of a fractured thumb; **Plays on the junior varsity Off the Charts For six years Stu Vetter turned St. John's at Prospect Hall, a small Catholic preparatory school in Frederick, Md., into one of the nation's best basketball teams. Here is how St. John's fared under Vetter and its record this season without him. 1992-93: 23-2, No. 8 by USA Today 1993-94: 20-3, No. 17 by USA Today 1994-95: 22-1, No. 2 by USA Today 1995-96: 21-3, No. 7 by USA Today 1996-97: 25-1, No. 3 by USA Today 1997-98: 25-0, No. 1 by USA Today 1998-99: 4-8, not ranked CAPTION: Bruce Kelley, left, inherited no players from undefeated team that won USA Today's national title under Stu Vetter. ec CAPTION: Once one of the hottest tickets in Frederick, Md., Vikings basketball is now a "family and friends crowd," according to first-year coach Bruce Kelley. ec

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