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While Prince George's County has churned out an impressive number of professional athletes over the past decade, with more than two dozen currently playing in either the NFL, NBA or WNBA, the county has always produced its share of talent.

A collection of coaches rich in athletic pedigree has helped groom the latest generation of Prince George's pros.

DeMatha High School football coach Bill McGregor has seen several of his former players end up in the NFL, but he said he's never seen a higher caliber of football players in the area than there are now. But Prince George's County Schools Athletic Director Earl Hawkins, who played basketball at Gwynn Park High School and coached at Frederick Douglass and Crossland high schools, pointed to the 1980s,when the basketball talent was as deep as it is today.

Hawkins coached Walt Williams at Crossland, who went on to play at the University of Maryland and then in the NBA from 1992-2003. In the 1980s,when Hawkins was coaching, the county also featured Len Bias (Northwestern High), Michael Tate (Oxon Hill High) and Monty Williams (Potomac High). Bias went on to a stellar career at Maryland, but died of a cocaine overdose in 1986, just two days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics. Tate, one of the top recruits in the nation in 1989, was selected to play in the annual McDonald's High School All-American game, and went on to play at Georgetown and James Madison. Monty Williams went to Notre Dame and had a nine-year NBA career.

Hawkins said the county's talent is produced by quality coaching.

"It starts really early, and [children] are learning the game the correct way," Hawkins said. "The coaches that they have are very skilled, and that continues all the way through high school and college. Kids here are very knowledgeable of the game and have developed not only physically but they have developed the skills and play at a high level day in and day out."

Several current and former pro athletes either offer instructional camps in the county or are coaching full time. At the high school level, most of the county's coaches have college playing experience, and several played professionally.

Oxon Hill High School Athletic Director Robert Green, an assistant coach with the Clippers' football program, terrorized county foes as a star football and basketball player for Friendly High in the 1980s. Green went on to star for The College of William and Mary football team and played in the NFL from 1992-1997 with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings.

"The key people who have been successful always come back and contribute," Green said. "As long as you have the economic state that we currently have, sports will always be popular. For a lot of average people, athletics is a way to get out of whatever [bad] situation you're in."

Current Prince George's pro athletes The Gazette spoke with said they expect their home county to continue producing top-flight talent. But Green named one reason why he is not certain the trend will continue. He said participation in high school sports has been adversely impacted by the county's "No E rule." Enacted in the fall of 2007 at the high school level, the rule requires students to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average without any failing grades in order to be eligible for athletics. Prior to enactment of the No E Rule, the only academic requirement for athletes was to maintain a 2.0 GPA.

"I think the future is a little questionable," Green said. "Maybe things won't get better. I think the No E Rule is deterring a lot of the younger high school athletes from coming out. Also, kids have a lot more outlets. There are limitless organizations in schools nowadays that were not there when I was in school."

Hawkins said he sees the county's athletic success fueled by young athletes displaying the desire to succeed in and out of sports.

"People I run into that live in other areas of the country feel this area is very rich in athletic talent," Hawkins said. "They feel that we're so fortunate to be in an area where the kids are real focused. I just think most of these young people who are going in the draft, most have been successful athletes but also successful academically. There's no surprise why those kids are successful."

Oklahoma City Thunder forward and Seat Pleasant native Kevin Durant is an example. Despite his rapid ascension to stardom – Durant spent only one year at the University of Texas and went on to become the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 2008 – he is spending his summer in class three times a week working toward his college degree.

"I want to do stuff after basketball," Durant said. "When I said I wanted to play the game, I didn't say that I didn't want to get a degree. I thought about it and talked to my mom and basically my family is encouraging me to go do it."