LOVERRO: Brown, Bailey and Branch head new D.C. Hall of Fame class

The Washington metro area is a hotbed for basketball talent. Those who have grown up in the DMV know that, at its heart, this is a basketball town.

Now, if you arrived here yesterday, you might have a hard time believing that.

After all, the NBA franchise in town is so invisible, after years — decades, really — of incompetence that they might as well be called the Witness Protection Wizards.

Big-time college basketball has fallen on hard times as well. Maryland is struggling to return to prominence and Georgetown has collapsed.

You can find all the proof you need of the area’s hoops legacy, though, at the Washington D.C. Basketball Hall of Fame.

On Sunday, the hall’s organizers will gather at the Congressional Country Club to induct the 2024 class – a group that includes nationally renowned figures and local legends.

One of this year’s standouts is broadcaster James Brown, host of “The NFL Today,” the CBS pregame show and a special correspondent for CBS News.

He is a high-profile figure who has won many awards and honors over his career, but to be honored in the place where it all began for him has special meaning.

“There’s no place like home,” Brown said.

Brown was a two-time All-Met in 1967 and 1968 at DeMatha High School and selected by Parade magazine as a high school All-American. He went on to Harvard and became a three-time All-Ivy League selection there.

In 1973, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth round.

Instead, he went into sports broadcasting and in 1984 he was offered a television broadcasting job covering Washington Bullets games as well as an analyst job for “The NBA on CBS.”

He later moved on to an anchor position at WDVM-TV (later WUSA) in Washington and became an announcer and interviewer at CBS Sports. In 1994, Brown became the host of the “NFL on Fox” pregame show. He has had many other top-level broadcasting jobs.

Brown has never forgotten the mentor who set him on his basketball path, the late DeMatha coach, Morgan Wooten, who preceded Brown into the hall.

“I was prepared for life by the lessons I learned playing basketball in Washington,” he said. “The lessons that he taught me I have used in the game of life.

“I’m honored to be included with such great figures in D.C. basketball.”

Here are those fellow inductees to be honored Sunday:

Thurl Bailey: A standout All-Met player in 1979 at Bladensburg High School, Bailey later won the NCAA national championship with North Carolina State in the 1983 “miracle run.” That year, he led the Wolfpack in scoring and rebounding. Bailey was taken at No. 7 in the NBA draft and played professional ball for 16 years. Twice he finished second in the voting for the NBA’s “Sixth Man of the Year.”

Frank Bolden: An outstanding coach at Cardoza High School in the 1950s and 1960s, Bolden compiled a 174-53 record with five inter-high championships and two City Championships. Bolden received dozens of citations and awards for his work with the community youth.

Adrian Branch: Named All-Metro twice, in 1980 and 1981, while playing for DeMatha, Branch was selected by Parade magazine as a High School All-American. He played at the University of Maryland from 1981 to 1985. In 1984 he led the Terrapins to the ACC championship and finished his career as the second all-time leading scorer. Branch was taken in the second round by the Chicago Bulls in 1985 and played a reserve role on the Lakers NBA champions in 1987.

Donald Huff: He became in 1974 the first Black high school sports reporter hired by the Washington Post. He worked as sports editor for the Post for 23 years. The paper created an award in his honor — the Donald Huff Award — to recognize contributions to local athletics by individuals often rarely credited for their efforts.

Johnny Jones: He was one of two Black players who integrated the DeMatha Catholic High School basketball program in 1961. Jones was a two-time All-Metro pick and was a catalyst for DeMatha’s first city title in 1962. Jones played one season in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and won a championship ring when the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1968 Finals. He later played for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association.

Chris Knoche: A former player and head coach at American University who has worked in radio and television for the past 25 years, Knoche is in his 15th season as the color analyst for the Maryland Terrapins radio broadcasts.

Stacey Robinson: He was All-Prince Georges County in 1973 and 1974, All-Met at Dunbar High School in 1975, a Garfinkel five-star camp MVP, and Parade magazine High School All-American. Robinson was selected to play in the second Capital Classic All-Star Game. He was also invited to participate in the Seamco Basketball Classic in New York, which was the U.S. All-Stars vs. New York-New Jersey All-Stars, and led all players with 26 points.

Penny Toler: Named All-Met for three consecutive years, from 1981 to 1983, at St. Anthony’s High School, she attended San Diego State before transferring, then led Long Beach State to two Final Four appearances. She played in Europe for eight seasons before playing in the inaugural season of the WNBA. Later, as the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks from 2001 to 2019, she won three WNBA titles.

Tony Upson: A prolific scorer at D.C. Teachers College, in 1965 & 66 he led local college teams in scoring two years in a row and, in 1966, he had a 32.6 average. He returned to coach in 1969 and led D.C. Teachers to an 18-3 record and the Maryland Inter-collegiate Conference Championship.

• You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.