Most of the draftees with DMV ties will only be at Capital One Arena once because they play for Western Conference teams.
The 2023 NBA Draft has come and gone. But now that I have had some time to reflect and rest a bit before next school year, I am now getting to my brain dump on all things basketball, starting with this year’s draft picks who have ties to the Washington and Baltimore areas.
Four players have ties to the local area, whether it’s by birth, going to high school and/or college around here. Most are from … Maryland, so congratulations to our fans based in the Old Line and Free State! One is also from Northern Virginia. So let’s get right to it!
No. 8 – Jarace Walker, Pacers — The Wizards selected Walker before trading him to Indiana in exchange for BilalaCoulibaly. He was born in Baltimore, Md. but went to school in Pennsylvania and Florida before attending college at Houston. I’m listing him here just because he was born in the general Washington/Baltimore area.
No. 14 — Jordan Hawkins, Pelicans — Hawkins was born in Gaithersburg, Md. He attended Gaithersburg High School in Montgomery County before transferring to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville before going to UConn for college where he was on their 2023 national championship team.
No. 20 — Cam Whitmore, Rockets — Whitmore was born in Odenton, Md. and attended Archbishop Spaulding High School in Severn. He played his college basketball at Villanova. Anne Arundel County is more-or-less equidistant to Washington and Baltimore, so I’ll let you all fight amongst yourselves about whether you would call the county more of a D.C. or Baltimore area county.
No. 48 — Jordan Miller, Clippers — Miller was born in California but grew up in Middleburg, Va., which is in rural western Loudoun County. He graduated from Loudoun Valley High School where he won a state championship before attending George Mason for college from 2018-21. He then transferred to Miami (FL) in 2021 and spent two more years, where he got to be part of a Final Four team this past season. TAKE THAT, FAIRFAX COUNTY AND LOUDOUN “HATERS!”
With the exception of Walker, everyone else is on a Western Conference team. Should none of these players get traded, you may find it to be a bit more difficult than anticipated to see the Pelicans, Rockets and Clippers because of the local talent on these teams.