by Alex Schwartz

Chase Plummer '10 of St. Patrick's (NJ) garnered some more college interest this summer with his solid play for Team NJABC, but it was a school that was in the picture way back in February that picked up a verbal commitment from Plummer yesterday. UMBC is the school of choice for the 6'5 combo forward, just as Northstar Basketball predicted. "They had been recruiting me since the St. Benedict's game [on February 4th] and they have been the most persistent, have shown me the most love out of any schools, and the coaches are amazing," said Plummer on how he picked the Retrievers.

The other two schools Plummer seriously considered were Quinnipiac and Canisius. The Garden State standout feels good to have the decision behind him. "[It is] great. Now I have my senior season ahead of me. I'm one of the captains/starters for the #1 team in the country, so I'm looking forward to a national 'chip and out sixth TOC [Tournament of Champions title]," stated Chase. What does he think the team needs to do to accomplish those feats? "Stay together, play hard, and give every team [we play] the most intense 32 minutes of basketball they have ever played." It would only be fitting for Plummer's St. Pat's career to end in such a great way, as he sees some major ways the program has helped him both with his game and college-wise. "I mean, it helped me add a whole new versatility to my game, like handling, shooting, defending, and there are no better guys in the country with getting you college looks than Coach [Rae] Miller [and Head] Coach [Kevin] Boyle, [as well as] Coach Matt Pauls, who isn't a St. Pat's coach, but [did] help a lot."

Before heading off to UMBC, Plummer does have some individual goals that he would like to achieve. "To improve defensively, be a key part of my team's success, and make some kind of all-county [or] all-state team." Plummer has a chance to have a similar impact on this year's Celtics team that George Mason freshman Paris Bennett '09 did on last year's, and the two actually have somewhat similar games. Asked how he would assess the comparison to Bennett, Chase remarked, "I would take that as a compliment. I think I'm more athletic than Paris, but his skills are unmatched and he had a great high [school] career and I'm sure he will have a stellar college career, and I'm just hoping for the same."

Two other teammates of Plummer also made the college choices recently. Last week, 6'6 small forward Josh Daniell '10 of St. Patrick's (NJ) elected to go to Wagner for his college ball. The lanky shooter did not get much playing time on a loaded Celtics squad last year, but his court time is expected to increase this season. Daniell picked Wagner over Rider, which was the first school to offer him. Also, Plummer's AAU teammate with Team NJABC, Dontae Johnson '10 of The Pennington School (NJ), made his pick earlier today. A dual-sport athlete who garnered some DIII and low DI interest for basketball, Johnson committed to North Carolina State for football. Dontae, who will safety on the gridiron at the collegiate level, chose the Wolfpack over Stanford, North Carolina, Maryland, and UConn.