DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., doesn't have your average high school basketball program. It has, quite simply a sharp shooting, smooth-handling, defense-swarming, slam-dunking dynasty.

Led by legendary Coach Morgan Woetten, who founded that dynasty more than two decades ago, the Stags are the standard by which other high school programs are measured.

Currently the top team in the nation (as ranked by USA Today). DeMatha has won more national championships than any prep team in history.

They don't beat most average teams, they destroy them.

Every year for as long as anyone can remember, every single DeMatha player--no matter how far down on the bench--has been offered a full college basketball scholarship.

DeMatha alumni include Maryland's Adrian Branch, North Carolina State. Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenberg, and a host of hoop gods who have gone on to bigger and only slightly better things.

But two recent DeMatha grads decided to forego the big time of basketball scholarships and packed arenas. For Bob Ferry and Pat Smith, choosing Harvard has meant pursuing semi-anonymous basketball careers.

"At DeMatha, you were a big fish in a big pond," said Ferrry, the Crimson co-captain and second leading scorer. "The level of intensity is not as high here as it was there," he says, explaining that at Harvard, more emphasis is placed on academics.

Coming to Cambridge was quite an adjustment for the trailblazing whose college experience has been the opposite of most fellow DeMatha stars: he joined a college squad with players less talented than his high school teammates.

"At DeMatha, we had a lot of great athletes," the two time All Ivy Second Team selection says. "Here, we have a lot of great players."

Smith concurs. "The quality of athlete at DeMatha, for that level, was much higher," he says.

All In the Family

Ferry has basketball running through his veins. His father, Bob Ferry Sr., is general manager of the NBA's Washington Bullets, and his brother, Danny, is considered one of the top five high school prospects in the nation.

Bob was heavily recruited by North Carolina and Duke, and he did not at first seriously consider enrolling at Harvard. But Bernie McGregot '73 former assistant coach at DeMatha, told Ferry about the Crimson program, and he "put the bug in my car," the senior recalls.

Harvard Coach Frank McLaughlin then began to woo Ferry because, the coach says. "My family and Bob's family have known each other a long time." In addition, McLaughlin was familiar with the DeMatha program from his days as an assistant at Notre Dame.