St. Mary's High School junior Nick Groce verbally committed to play basketball at UMBC on Wednesday. The Division I signee is the Saints' leading scorer.
High School junior Nick Groce verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Maryland Baltimore County on Wednesday.
Groce, the Saints' leading scorer last season, picked the Retrievers over other offers from Loyola, American, James Madison and Vermont.
"When I visited the school, coach (Randy) Moore expressed to me that they'll be looking for starting point guard in two years and that I would have a good opportunity for playing time as a freshman," said Groce, who averaged 15 points, three assists and three assists for a Saints (18-10) squad that advanced to the MIAA B Conference finals.
"UMBC went to the NCAA Tournament last year and they want to do continue with that kind of success. I want to be a part of that."
Senior Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro/Bishop McNamara), junior Tyler Massey (Baltimore/Eastern Tech) and senior Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington/Notre Dame Academy) were all key members of a
Retrievers team that fell to second-seeded Georgetown,
66-47, in the first round of the Midwest region.
Groce, an Upper Marlboro resident, turned 17 on Wednesday and wanted to make his college decision before his upcoming senior year. St. Mary's lost only two players to graduation and should contend for the B Conference title again.
"Now I can just focus on getting better," said Groce, who led his team in scoring during a
58-50 setback to Mount Carmel in the league championship at Towson.
Groce will compete with the Saints, a team comprised of St. Mary's players, in the
Merrill Lynch Summer League in Annapolis this summer. He will also make tournament trips to Myrtle Beach, SC and Las Vegas with Maryland 3D, his AAU team. St. Mary's teammate Trey Quinn, Severn's Ben Montgomery and Tyler Rudd of Glen Burnie play on the same AAU squad.
After senior Josh Morgan-Green went down with a season-ending wrist injury early in the regular season, Groce was looked upon to fill the scoring void and excelled under the spotlight.
"What was most evident was that Nick was always a solid ball handler and one of the league's best on-the-ball defenders," St. Mary's coach Brian Konik said. "After he started knocking down 3-pointers and scoring at will, he separated himself as one of the top point guards in the area."
Groce shot 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc this past winter.