Brendan Bald
By Pat O'Malley
Photo by Larry French
Severna Park High School
Basketball
Bald has joined his older brother Brad in earning a D-I college basketball scholarship, which is exceptional for one family. Brad is a 6’8 freshman at UNC-Wilmington after taking Anne Arundel County Player of the Year and second team All-Metro honors last season and receiving his scholarship from the Seahawks. Brendan was also on the All-County team and committed to the University of Vermont in late September. “Vermont offered me in July and I decided they were the best fit for me,” says the 6’5 Brendan, who is a shooting guard with a versatile upside to his game. “I really didn’t want to go to the same school as Brad and loved everything about Vermont from the campus to the coaches, players, students and the atmosphere of the town (Burlington).” The Catamounts play in the America East Conference where UMBC is defending champion and Bald expects to get a chance to play right away next year. “Coach Lonergan (Mike) recruited by brother pretty hard and saw me play too. Then he saw me play during the summer (with D.C. Triple Threat AAU team. He told me I would compete for playing time right away. I’m going to work hard all my senior year and this summer,” says Bald, who penetrates, can dunk, take it outside on the perimeter, rebound, dish it off and play defense. “I’m going to work hard on my shot from long range because they moved back (distance) on the college three-pointer, my ball handling and strength.” Bald had offers from a host of D-1 schools such as UMBC, American U., Colgate, Rider, and North Florida. A total of 15 schools in all made him offers. “UMBC was in my top three, and I loved the coaching staff, but I didn’t like the fact they were only about 20 minutes away,” says Bald. “I wanted to get away.” Severna Park coach Paul Pellicani says that Bald, “should be a tremendous player at the next level,” and compared him to former Kentucky and NBA star Rex Chapman. “Brendan will be a rock star up there,” said Pellicani. Bald, who has a 3.0 GPA and scored a 1,570 on his SAT, is the son of Annapolis lawyer, Jeff Bald, who played at Severna Park, Randolph-Macon, and Georgia, and Sharon Bald.
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nov 08
lawrence french
pat omalley
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