New Terps Basketball Assistant Has Ties to Laurel

Dalonte Hill is coming all the way from Kansas - no Dorothy or Wizard of Oz jokes please - to be an assistant basketball at the University of Maryland, the school announced this morning.

But the former associate head coach at Kansas State has deep ties in Prince George's County, including Laurel.

Hill grew up in Landover and played high school hoops in the late 1990s at Laurel Baptist Academy, a school that was housed at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club in downtown Laurel but has since closed its doors. Hill ended his prep career at The Newport School in Montgomery County, another school that is no longer around.

After playing in college at Charlotte, a Division I program, Hill ended his carer as a senior at Division II Bowie State.

Greg Goings, the sports information director at Bowie State, told Patch on Tuesday that Hill played in 10 games, with nine starts, for Bowie State during the 2001-02 season and averaged 9.8 points per game. Hill battled knee problems in college.

His coach at Bowie State was Luke D'Alessio, now an assistant under former Maryland assistant Jimmy Patsos at Loyola of Baltimore.

As a senior for Bowie State he averaged 5.7 rebounds per game as the Bulldogs went 19-9 overall. He returned to Charlotte and got his bachelor's degree in sociology.

Hill was later an assistant coach at Charlotte and among the players he recruited to the 49ers was Eddie Basden, a former standout at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt. Basden was the 2005 Conference USA player of the year and later played in the NBA during the 2005-06 season with the Chicago Bulls and in March joined a team in Greece.

Hill is known for recruiting Michael Beasley, who spent part of his youth in Prince George's County, to Kansas State. After a strong freshman season Beasley headed to the NBA and is now with Milwaukee.

Hill will join the staff of head coach Mark Turgeon with the Terps. Turgeon takes over for Gary Williams, who retired after 22 seasons at his alma mater.

Maryland announced the addition of Hill to the staff Friday morning. 

“It was great to be able to bring Dalonte home,” Turgeon said in a statement from the school. “He is a terrific recruiter and will be a great addition to our staff. His relationships on the east coast will be huge for the growth of our program.”

Great year for Laurel High baseball

A rain shower came through Greenbelt on Thursday afternoon and that delayed the start of Laurel's baseball game against county foe Roosevelt in the regional semifinals. As they waited for the field to get ready, Laurel players milled around the dugout and several wore blue T-shirts that read "Believe."

That was a good motto this season for Laurel, which had one of the best seasons in school history. The Spartans, who lost 11-0 on Thursday to Roosevelt, were 13-6 this season.

The Spartans, in regular-season play, beat county powers Bowie and Roosevelt - perhaps the first time that has happened in school history, head coach Bryan Harris told Patch before Thursday's game. Harris, while waiting for the field to be ready Thursday, said that the experience this year's seniors gained as freshman carried through their prep careers.

Laurel was 15-5 in 2008. Three of the top players for Laurel this year were David Carmen, Alex Hanavin and Anthony Nicome. Harris said on Thursday that Nicome plans to play Division II college baseball in Ohio for Tiffin University. The Dragons of Tiffin were 13-35 overall this season and had no Maryland residents on the roster. Nicome was a top power hitter for Laurel this year.

Laurel High Softball Ends Year

The Laurel High softball team played at Bowie High on Thursday in the regional playoffs and lost, 16-1. That ends the season for the Spartans, who were led on offensive by senior outfielder/pitcher and four-year player Becca Jayne.

Bowie scored 12 runs in the first inning, according to Laurel coach Julie Provino. The Spartans ended the season 9-11 overall.

Jayne hit .617 during regular-season play with 33 RBIs, Candance Williams hit .500 and freshman Bria Wallace hit .469. Senior Sarah Allsop was seven of 10 in the playoffs while Kevia Walker-Humphries was five out of 10 with three RBIs.

Pallotti Baseball in State Tourney

The St. Vincent Pallotti baseball team will play on Tuesday at 5 p.m. against DeMatha Catholic in the state private school tournament at Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, according to head coach Pat Courtemanche. The Panthers were knocked out of the MIAA B conference tourney with a 9-8 loss on Thursday to Boys' Latin. Pallotti is 18-12 overall.

Johnny Maloney and Eddie Johnson had two hits each for Pallotti on Thursday and Maloney also drove in two runs. Steve Martin scored twice and Matt DeFrank drew three walks and scored three times. Corey Dirks was the starting pitcher for the Panthers and Maloney finished up the game.

Pallotti scored one run in the last of the seventh but fell one run short of tying the game.

Laurel Resident Headed to Terps

Dominique Davis, who lives in the Laurel section of Anne Arundel County, is headed to the University of Maryland on a partial track scholarship. Davis is a senior at Arundel High after she attended Meade High as a freshman and sophomore.

She was given permission by county schools to attend Arundel even though she lives in Laurel, she told Patch this week. She is strong in the high jump and other events. "I fell in love with it," she said of running track at Meade. Davis is slated to take part in the Anne Arundel County championships on Saturday.