# DeMatha Catholic High School

DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for boys located in Hyattsville, Maryland, United States. Named after John of Matha, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

## History

In 1990, 21 girls from Regina High School were allowed to attend DeMatha for their final year of high school after their school closed.

## Academics

The United States Department of Education recognized DeMatha as a Blue Ribbon School in 1984 and 1991.

## Music program

According to the school's website, the music program includes "five concert bands, three choruses, three percussion ensembles, three string orchestras, six levels of music theory, and a History of Rock and Roll class" plus "two jazz ensembles, a pep band for basketball games, a gospel choir, as well as numerous small ensembles."

## Athletics

Sports Illustrated recognized DeMatha as the No. 2 high school athletic program in the United States in 2005, and again in 2007.

## Notable alumni
### Religious

* Sister Susan Rose Francois (1990), known for tweeting a daily non-violent prayer for President Trump, and for Nuns on the Bus

### Arts and entertainment

* Peter Bay (1974), conductor-music director of the Austin Symphony Orchestra
* Bob Bates (1971), designer of games for Infocom, Legend Entertainment, and Zynga

### Media

* James Brown (1969), television sportscaster, and host of The NFL Today.
* David Aldridge (1983), sports reporter affiliated with television's TNT, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
* Jason Bishop (1988) and Eric Bickel (1988), on-air hosts for The Sports Junkies morning drive-time radio show. It is heard in the Washington, D.C., area on WJFK, 106.7.

### Politics

* Adrian Boafo (2012), politician and member of Maryland House Of Delegates
* Justin Fairfax (1996), politician, attorney, and the former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
* Kevin Shea (1972), former acting Secretary of Agriculture (2021). Shea has led the USDA agency Animal Plant Health Inspection Services since 2012.
* David J. Schiappa (1980), Secretary for the Majority in the United States Senate

### Publishing

* Michael Mewshaw (1961), author
* Thomas S. Hibbs (1978), American philosopher and author, dean and president of the University of Dallas.
* Jim Nelson (1981), editor, former Editor-in-Chief of GQ magazine.

### Sports
#### Baseball

* Steve Farr (1974), former Major League Baseball relief pitcher (1984–1994).
* Matt Swope (1998), college baseball coach for the Maryland Terrapins.
* Brett Cecil (2004), former Major League Baseball pitcher.

#### Basketball

* Johnny Austin (1962), former professional basketball player in the NBA (1966–67) and ABA (1967–68).
* Bernard Williams (1965), former professional basketball player in the NBA and ABA.
* Sid Catlett (1967), former NBA player (1971–72).
* Adrian Dantley (1973), former NBA player (1976–91) and former interim NBA coach.
* Kenny Carr (1974), former NBA player (1977–87), and member of the 1976 gold medal-winning United States Olympics team.
* Mike Brey (1977), collegiate basketball coach, formerly the men's head coach for the University of Notre Dame.
* Dereck Whittenburg (1979), former men's head basketball coach at Fordham University.
* Sidney Lowe (1979), former NBA player and coach. He is a former men's head basketball coach at North Carolina State University.
* Ron Everhart (1980), college basketball coach, formerly the head coach at Northeastern University and Duquesne University.
* Adrian Branch (1981), former NBA player (1986–90). He is also a television analyst for basketball.
* Danny Ferry (1985), former NBA player with the Cleveland Cavaliers who won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs.
* Elijah Hawkins (2021), college basketball player for the Texas Tech Red Raiders
* Steve Hood (1986), former professional basketball player who played.
* Jerrod Mustaf (1988), former NBA basketball player (1990–94).
* Heath Schroyer (1990) is the former head coach of University of Wyoming.
* Kenny Blakeney (1991) is the current head coach of the Howard Bison
* Mike Jones (1991) is the current head coach of Old Dominion University and was the head coach of DeMatha from 2002 to 2021.
* Mike Pegues (1996) is a former professional basketball player and current college coach.
* Joseph Forte (1999) is a former professional basketball player, having played in the NBA and last played for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League.
* Keith Bogans (1999) is a former NBA player (2003–14).
* Jerai Grant (2007) is a professional basketball player in Europe and Australia and played collegiately at Clemson University.
* Jerian Grant (2010) is a professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic and played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame.
* Victor Oladipo (2010) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Houston Rockets and was an All-American at Indiana University.
* Quinn Cook (2010) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Sacramento Kings and played collegiately at Duke University.
* Mikael Hopkins (2011) is a professional basketball player who plays for KK Cedevita Olimpija and played collegiate at Georgetown University.
* Kameron Taylor (2011), is a professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague
* Jerami Grant (2012) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers and played collegiately at Syracuse University.
* Nate Darling (2016) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Charlotte Hornets and played collegiately at the University of Delaware.
* Markelle Fultz (2016) is a professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic, who was the first pick of the 2017 NBA draft.
* Josh Carlton (2017) is a professional basketball player who plays for Metropolitans 92 in the LNB Pro A and played collegiate basketball for the University of Houston.
* Justin Moore (2019) is an NCAA basketball player who plays at Villanova University.
* Jahmir Young (2019) is an NCAA basketball player who plays at the University of Maryland.
* Hunter Dickinson (2020) is an NCAA basketball player who plays at the University of Kansas.
* Earl Timberlake (2020) is an NCAA basketball player who plays at Bryant University.
* Jordan Hawkins (2021) is a professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans.
* Elijah Hawkins (2021) is an NCAA basketball player who plays at the University of Minnesota

#### Football

* Tom Forrest (1969) is a former offensive guard for the NFL's Chicago Bears (1974).
* Jeff Komlo (1975) is a former quarterback for the Detroit Lions.
* Mike Johnson (1980) is a former All-Pro NFL linebacker (1986–1995).
* Tony Paige (1980) is a former NFL player (1984–1992).
* Steve Smith (1982) is a former NFL running back (1987–1995).
* JB Brown (1985) is a former NFL cornerback (1989–99).
* Bobby Houston (1985) is a former NFL linebacker (1990–98).
* Andrew Bayes (1996) is a former All-American punter at East Carolina University.
* Brian Westbrook (1997) is a former running back for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles (2002–10).
* John Owens (1998) is a former NFL tight end (2002–2010).
* Cameron Wake (2000) is a former defensive end and two-time CFL Defensive Player of the Year.
* Dennard Wilson (2000) is the defensive coordinator for the NFL's Tennessee Titans
* Quinn Ojinnaka (2002) is a former offensive lineman (2006–2012) and now a professional wrestler under the name "Moose" for Impact Wrestling.
* Byron Westbrook (2002) is a former defensive back for the NFL's Washington Redskins (2007–2011).
* Josh Wilson (2003) is a former defensive back for the NFL's Detroit Lions.
* Edwin Williams (2004) is a former offensive lineman for the NFL's Chicago Bears.
* Rodney McLeod (2008) is a safety for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.
* Arie Kouandjio (2010) is a former offensive lineman for the NFL's Washington Redskins.
* Cyrus Kouandjio (2011) is a former offensive lineman for the NFL's Denver Broncos.
* Ja'Whaun Bentley (2014), linebacker for the NFL's New England Patriots.
* John Lovett (2014), fullback for the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
* Cam Phillips(2014), wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills
* D. J. Turner (2016), wide receiver for the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders
* Tino Ellis(2016), cornerback for the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
* Chase Young (2017), 2020 Heisman Trophy finalist, drafted 2nd overall in the 2020 NFL draft, defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers.
* Anthony McFarland (2017), running back for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers
* Olu Oluwatimi (2017), center for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks
* Nick Cross (2019), safety for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts
* DeMarcco Hellams (2019), safety for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons
* Josh Wallace (2019), cornerback for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams
* MarShawn Lloyd (2020), running back for the NFL's Green Bay Packers
* Kevin Winston Jr. (2022), Safety for the Penn State Nittany Lions

#### Lacrosse

* Paul Rabil (2004) is a retired professional lacrosse player and co-founder/president of the Premier Lacrosse League.
* Garrett Leadmon(2018) is a professional lacrosse player for the Maryland Whipsnakes
* Garrett Degnon(2018) is a professional lacrosse player

#### NASCAR

* Coy Gibbs (1991) was a former NASCAR driver, former assistant coach for the Washington Redskins, and was the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross. He is the son of former Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs.

#### Soccer

* Jordan Graye (2005) is a professional soccer player for the Major League Soccer team Houston Dynamo.
* Drew Yates (2006) is a professional soccer player for the USL Harrisburg City Islanders.
* Bill Hamid (2008) is a professional soccer player for the Major League Soccer team D.C. United.
* Chris Odoi-Atsem (2013) is a professional soccer player for the Major League Soccer team D.C. United.
* Keegan Meyer (2015) is a professional soccer player for USL League One side New England Revolution II.

#### Track and field

* Derek Mills (1990) is an Olympic gold medalist in track and field at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
* Caleb Dean (2019) is an NCAA National Champion in the 60m Hurdles and the 400m Hurdles.

## Notable staff

* Morgan Wootten is the school's former basketball coach. He coached the team to five national championships and in 2000, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
* Eddie Fogler was an assistant basketball coach under Wootten for the 1970–1971 school year.