Tim Miller had to pick his spots this summer.

The Maryland/Severna Park 3D coach pared down his team’s summer AAU schedule, thanks to scheduling conflicts and a desire to choose the best opportunities for his team to be seen.

“We knocked off some tournaments off the beaten path that didn’t showcase our team,” Miller said. “The other thing that hurts is the limited number of days the colleges can see you. A whole bunch of showcase tournaments began to overlap.

“If you can’t play -- there’s so much riding on these guys. If you’re not going to be good and you’re beat down, they only get to see them so many times. We really want them to be fresh and have enough to go.”

Miller had several players prove their worth all summer long, starting with St. Mary’s point guard Nick Groce and Loyola shooting guard Matt Rum. Miller thinks UMBC got a steal in Groce, who committed to the Retrievers in June.

“Well UMBC just got a tremendous player in Groce,” Miller said. “He’s a selfless player and he can score. He’s as good an on-the-ball defender as you’re going to find. He’s got a great feel for the game. UMBC is just jumping up and down there because they got him. ... He’s got everything you’d want in a point guard. He’s bringing the whole package to the table.”

Miller has similarly high expectations for Rum at the next level. Rum, 6 feet 3, committed to William & Mary in June.

“Rum is going to be unbelievable,” Miller said. “This kid is just a tremendous athlete, almost a freaky type of athlete. He’s got very good speed and quickness, a tremendous vertical ... he has no fear of taking people on. ... I think there’s going to be some people really, really surprised at what he’s going to be able to do in the CAA."

While Groce and Rum finished their recruitments early in the summer, several of their 3D teammates emerged as Division I players on the AAU circuit.

St. Paul’s forward Sidney McCray is receiving serious interest from St. Francis (Pa.) -- and will visit the Northeast Conference school next weekend -- in addition to Wagner and Rider.

“McCray is about 6-6 -- he’s going to be a step-out 4-man,” Miller said. “He can handle it well, shoots very well, battles very, very tenaciously. He does a lot of good things. He’s going to get there, there’s no doubt in my mind. He’ll be a DI guy, if not a DII guy getting a full ride. I’m very certain he’s a DI guy.”

Ben Montgomery, a rugged 6-foot-7 power forward/center from the Severn School, seems destined to end up at one of the country’s more prestigious academic institutions, according to Miller.

“Right now he has both Harvard and Princeton recruiting the daylights out of him,” Miller said. “Their situation is different because they’re Ivy League [and can‘t give athletic scholarships]. This fall they can provide a ‘likely to accept’ letter based on their indexes. We’re pretty certain he’ll get a likely to accept letter. ... He also had MIT call, which is a Division III school. It’s basically the best engineering school in the world, and they’ve really begun to recruit the hell out of him.”

Mount St. Joseph’s guard Matt Miller, 6 feet 2, 170 pounds, is receiving serious recruiting interest from Holy Cross, Bucknell, UMBC and Boston University. Radford and Ohio University are also monitoring Miller’s progress.

Rounding out 3D’s roster of 2009 players are Annapolis Area Christian’s Pat Lapinski, Glen Burnie’s Tyler Rudd and St. Mary’s Trey Quinn, all of whom are Division III prospects. Quinn sat out most of the summer with tendonitis, but Catholic University, Hamilton (N.Y.) and St. Mary’s have shown interest, according to Miller. Marymount (Va.), McDaniel, St. Mary’s and Navy are recruiting Rudd, while Lapinski is “getting a bunch of DIII looks,” according to Miller.

Miller and his 3D squad will be back in the gym this week. Off the court, he’ll continue to try and find the right fits for his seniors.

“We’ve had a great summer,” Miller said. “[Seeing where the players end up is] going to be interesting.”