Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007
It’s nice to have options. And as Garvey Young recently went about making his decision on where to attend college next year, he had plenty of options, including possibly pushing the decision back until later in the school year.
But Young, a senior at Georgetown Prep, didn’t want to wait, he was perfectly happy with the options he had and perfectly happy to commit his future to the University of Vermont and its men’s basketball program.
‘‘Senior year is pretty hectic,” Young, a 6-foot-4 combination guard, said. ‘‘You’re always worried about where you’re going to be playing next year. I just wanted to make the decision early and it feels great. I’m blessed to have a great opportunity to play Division-I basketball at a great school.”
Young, had bigger, more prestigious programs interested in him — Georgetown, Boston College, Clemson, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State — but none had scholarship offers on the table. Each was taking a wait-and-see approach. Some smaller Division-I schools (including William & Mary, Richmond, Lehigh, St. Bonaventure, Holy Cross and UNC-Wilmington) did make offers. And ultimately, after taking a visit to the campus of Vermont (with a student population of about 9,000) located in Burlington on the shores of Lake Champlain, Young chose the Catamounts.
‘‘It just felt like a great fit, academically and athletically,” Young said. ‘‘I was looking for a small college town that is very supportive of their basketball team. Vermont is that. And, the campus is beautiful, right on the lake.”
If Young (a Washington, D.C. resident) had waited, maybe a bigger offer would have come — he is ranked as a three-star (out of a possible five) recruit by the recruiting Web site rivals.com — but that’s not necessarily what he wanted. The versatile, two-time first-team All-Gazette selection, who averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals a game last year, was more interested in the entire college experience, not just the basketball program. At Vermont he’ll be able to get into their business school as a freshman and he’ll have a good chance to play right away with two senior guards set to graduate. Plus, Burlington is a short, direct flight from D.C. so he can get home quickly and his parents can easily get to his games.
And though it’s considered a mid-major in the world of college basketball, Vermont made the NCAA Tournament three straight years from 2003-05 as champions of the America East Conference, and qualified for the NIT last year with a 25-8 record, narrowly missing out on the NCAAs after finishing first in the conference during the regular season, but losing by a point to Albany in the tournament championship game. So Young will be playing at a high level.
The Catamounts are coached by Mike Lonergan, who has connections to the area — he was the coach at Division III Catholic (D.C.) University for 12 years and was an assistant at Maryland during the 2004-05 season. Lonergan has also received a local commitment from 6-8 forward Jordan Clarke from Good Counsel.
‘‘I think [Vermont’s] getting a tremendous player,” said Georgetown Prep basketball coach Dwayne Bryant of Young. ‘‘They’re getting a major D-I-caliber player, I think he’s seriously big-time. I think Mike Lonergan knows he stole one. I think he knows he got a great kid with a great family who’s a great player.”
Notes: Young will become the seventh Division-I scholarship winner for the Little Hoyas in the nine years Bryant has been the head coach — Young, Roy Hibbert (Georgetown), Davis Nwanko (Vanderbilt), Aaron Bond (Davidson), Jack Namvou (Bucknell), Aris Williams (Valparaiso⁄now at South Florida) and Brendan McGann (Army). Donovan Woodson is on scholarship at Division II Florida Tech, making the total number of scholarship players eight from Prep during Bryant’s tenure.
