Blair’s All-Time Leading Scorer, Brian Magid, Has High Praise For MoCo Native/NBA’s Josh Hart

Brian Magid is a Montgomery County legend when it comes to basketball. Considered one of the greatest shooter ever to play in Montgomery County, he led the Blazers to the County and State Championships during his senior year in 1975. He’s the school’s all-time leading scorer.  Magid went on to play for the University of Maryland and George Washington University and was later drafted by the Indiana Pacers before playing professional basketball in Israel. Earlier this year, the Blazer legend had high praise for New York Knicks G/F and fellow MoCo native, Josh Hart.

Josh Hart grew up in Silver Spring. Prior to transferring to Sidwell Friends in D.C., he attended and played basketball at Wheaton High School. He grew up playing basketball for the Montgomery County Bearcats, where his coaches praised him for his heart at an early age. He made the varsity basketball team as a freshman at Wheaton, eventually becoming a starter in the second half of the season. Even though he transferred to Sidwell Friends and played there the last three years of his high school basketball career, his ties to MoCo remained strong. His mother has been a long-time employee at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville and his father is a retired caterer. Below, you’ll see what Brian Magid had to say:

“How about a big shout out to MoCo native Josh Hart of this year’s hot NBA playoff team, the NY Knicks. Born in Silver Spring (👊), Josh initially attended Wheaton High School (😯) before transferring to Sidwell Friends. First-team All-Met at Sidwell in 2013 before an awesome 4-yr career at Villanova, winning a national championship during his junior year in 2016. The school retired Hart’s number 3 jersey in 2022 💪💯!

Briefly (meaning no stats this time 😉):
– All Big East Rookie team as a freshman 2014
– Big East 6th Man of the Year as a soph 2015
– First team All-Big East, 3rd Team All American as a junior and Villanova national champs 2016
– First team All Big East, Big East Co-Defensive POY, Consensus First Team All-American as a senior 2017
– 2-time Big East Tourney “Most Outstanding Player” – 2015, 2017
– Won the coveted Senior Award at Villanova. Said his Coach Jay Wright:
“The Senior CLASS Award befits Josh’s career at Villanova. He is one of the most complete players in Villanova history-among our leaders in scoring, rebounding, steals and assists. Off the court he is a respected, active member of our community and of the student body and is set to graduate on time in May. He is a proud example of a student-athlete at Villanova.”

Our MoCo guy (yeah we can “claim” him 😉) is “quietly” putting together a solid NBA career. Now with his 4th team in 6 years, he seems to have found a home on the surprising Knicks, averaging 14ppg, 7 rebounds and playing his usual hard nose defense. The Garden crowd always has been drawn to so-called “lunch pail players” – think Charles Oakley, John Starks and Anthony Mason from the 1990s — and Hart’s relationship with the MSG fans already has featured multiple standing ovations and a clear appreciation of his hustling playing style. Word is the Knicks are looking to lock him up on a long term deal after the season. Good for him!

Don’t go away…the Josh Hart fun facts are genuinely gold 😉

1) Josh Hart is an EAGLE SCOUT 😳😯, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank. No mean feat…HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! 😎 He is one of only three known Eagle Scouts who have played in the NCAA’s Final Four (along with Princeton’s Bill Bradley and Stanford’s Mark Madsen). He is the only Eagle Scout to ever start on an NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship team…and one of only five Eagle Scouts to ever play in the NBA. The other two: Jon Koncak and Shawn Bradley 🤦‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

2) Josh’s great uncle was none other than 12-time Yankee All-Star catcher Elston Howard (😯), the first black player to play for the Yankees and the American League MVP in 1963. Josh also played baseball as a kid 👍.

3) At “only” 6’5”, Josh was the second best rebounder among guards in the league this year, averaging 7.9 boards per game to Luka Doncic’s 8.6. 💪

4) His career high came against the Wizards on March 12, 2022 when he dropped 44 on 15-21 FGs, 6-9 from 3, 8-8 FTs…plus 8 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals….in a 127-118 Blazer win.

Final words on being an Eagle Scout:
“It’s all about leading — leading and hard work. You don’t get Eagle Scout by just showing up. You gotta put a lot of work in. Gotta sacrifice a lot of time. Put in a lot of weekends. Doing that taught me how to get serious, put my head down, and go to work…and, just as importantly, it taught me discipline and how to listen.”

Bravo, young man 👏👏. Not too shabby for a kid from Silver Spring 💯. Let’s go Knicks!!!!”