Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
Archbishop Spalding Boys Basketball Coach Josh Pratt knows what an NBA player looks like. He coached two of them from the Baltimore area: Donte Greene and Rudy Gay. Greene played four years in the league for the Sacramento Kings and Gay finished up his 14th season in August with the San Antonio Spurs.
Pratt thinks he sees similar potential in 6-foot-7, 210-pound junior standout Cam Whitmore, which Rivals.com ranks as the nation’s 97th best player in the class of 2022.
Whitmore, a guard/forward, has been offered 16 scholarships, including from three schools that finished last season in the Associated Press Top-25 poll: Maryland, Creighton, and Seton Hall. Additionally, Florida and Connecticut have offered free rides.
“His goal is to play in major Division I college basketball and the NBA,” Pratt explains. “I think he could. He wants to be one of the better players in the state and the country. He is doing everything right. In 25 years of coaching, he is one of the most athletic players I have been around other than Gay and Greene.”
Whitmore makes acrobatic dunks, sinks three pointers, and blows by defenders with regularity. Those are among the things that have attracted college coaches to Whitmore, who also plays for Team Melo, a squad that competes up and down the East Coast in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
The 16-year-old Whitmore expects to commit to a college in the fall. He says Syracuse is his closest thing to a favorite program since Team Melo is named after former NBA star Carmelo Anthony.
He has yet to compile a list of top choices and hopes to make some visits in 2021. “It has to be a really good school and the best fit for me,” says Whitmore, who carries a 3.2 grade average and is interested in majoring in sports medicine. “I have to have a very good relationship with the coaches, be able to play at the school, and like the team’s style of play.”
Whitmore regularly gets texts, calls, and emails from head and assistant coaches from around the country. Whitmore’s father, Myron, has been heavily involved in the recruiting process. “It’s been exciting and a joy ride,” Myron says. “Too see the coaches on TV and actually talk to them is daunting. The reaching out from coaches may increase. Coaches who have reached out and have interest may not have offered him a scholarship. And some coaches have not gotten a chance to see him play.”
That’s due to the pandemic and Whitmore suffering a leg injury in 2018. Whitmore had to sit his freshman year at Spalding and sat out playing for Team Melo in 2019 because of the injury. And, of course, the 2020 season was cut short because of the pandemic.
Still, Whitmore played two seasons for Team Melo, which got him exposure and helped develop his skills. “They are one of the top tier programs in the nation,” Myron says of Team Melo. At Spalding, Whitmore should have a better junior season than sophomore campaign, since he won’t be coming off an injury.
Whitmore averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists per game last winter. He really came on late in the season. Whitmore scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in an 89-85 upset of Gilman in mid-February in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference quarterfinal game. In early February, he totaled 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists when Spalding bested the top-ranked team in the area, Mount St. Joseph, 67-56.
Whitmore is a tough player to defend. “I can go to the basket, get my defender off balance, and finish,” he says. “I am a good passer, I can defend, finish around the rim with contact, and play multiple positions.”
Pratt is also involved in the recruiting process of Whitmore. “A lot of coaches will call me and say, ‘Does he love basketball?’” he recalls. “He really does. He will do anything to make himself a better player.”
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