Last year John Carroll sent three seniors to Division I basketball programs -- guard Mike Maczko (New Jersey Institute of Technology), center Jakub Kusmieruk (Central Florida) and power forward Josh Wiegand (Loyola).

The Patriots’ 2009 class could equal or better that number, according to head coach Tony Martin.

Isaiah Philmore, a 6-foot-7 forward and three-star player according to Rivals.com, recently trimmed his list to nine schools, all of which have offered. Those nine are George Washington, Oklahoma State, South Florida, Providence, St. Joseph’s, Temple, UMass, Central Florida and Michigan.

“A lot of schools have tried to get in on him late in the summer, but he made the decision pretty early on that schools that came in late, he wasn’t going to entertain,” Martin said. “He wanted a manageable number of schools to evaluate.”

Schools within driving distance (St. Joseph’s, Temple, and George Washington), have already or will soon receive unofficial visits from Philmore. He also plans on taking official visits to Central Florida, Oklahoma State and South Florida. Providence, UMass and Michigan are under consideration for Philmore’s final two official visits.

Forward Wyatt Smith, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound “man-child” has garnered several DI looks after a successful summer on the AAU circuit, Martin said.

“Wyatt’s had a great summer. He played for Team Melo and has obviously been all over the country this summer,” Martin said. “... He has a wide range of schools [recruiting him]. George Mason was just in Saturday to take a look at him. It’s a combination of too many schools to list and no official offers yet. But there’s not a question he’s going to be a Division I scholarship athlete.”

Erick Smith, a 6-foot-3 guard and returning captain, picked up an offer from Bryant University in Rhode Island last weekend. Bryant was Smith’s first scholarship offer, but is not the only DI school to express interest in him.

“Cornell is heavily involved, and they obviously went to the [NCAA tournament this year] and have a lot to offer,” Martin said. “The Naval Academy has recruited him for over a year. And a number of other mid-major schools are in the mix. He will take an official to Bryant at the end of this month. And he’s also decided to sign early.”

Martin thinks Raphael Jordan, a 6-foot-1 guard, is a likely DI player as well.

“He’s going to take an official at Philadelphia University, one of the best DII programs on the East Coast,” Martin said. “... And a host of mid-majors are looking at him, most recently Stony Brook (N.Y.). Much like Wyatt and Erick, there’s just a long list of schools. Hopefully it’ll shake itself out between now and November 3rd.”

John Carroll’s other seniors, forward Dan Brooks, guard Dejan Gaspic, guard Ryan McQuaid and guard Craig Ryan, are likely small-college players. Gaspic, a member of Croatia’s junior national team, could play at a higher level, but his progress was stunted after breaking both wrists against Calvert Hall during a midseason matchup last year.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility [of playing college basketball] for any of the eight guys,” Martin said. “But four of them [in Division I] would be a lot.”

Baltimore Sun photo of Isaiah Philmore by Elizabeth Malby / Dec. 11, 2007