Junior Ebby Asamoah and Senior Davis Long are preparing to play in the biggest game of their lives later this afternoon. The two Montgomery County natives and Delaware Blue Hens players will take on #2 seed Villanova at 2:45 this afternoon.

Asamoah is a Magruder High School graduate. Asamoah has started 19 games this year, averaging 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Some highlights from his time at Magruder:

• First team 3A/4A All-State and Washington Post honorable mention All-Metro selection as a senior at Magruder High School
• Named first team All-County
• Averaged 18.0 points and 9.9 rebounds a year ago
• Scored 36 points in a win over Rockville
• 2018 Maryland Elite All-Star

Long is a Sherwood High School graduate. The 6’2 senior guard comes off the bench for the Blue Hens and has seen action in a few games this year. Some highlights from his time at Sherwood:

• Three-year starter at Sherwood High School
• 2018 McDonald’s All-American nominee
• Named 2018 Montgomery County All-Star
• 2018 Buffalo Wild Wings Classic selection
• Washington Post top free throw shooter in the DMV in 2017-18 (95%)
• Scored a career-high 32 points twice as a junior
• Averaged 23.5 points in the Maryland state playoffs
• Set the school record by hitting 10 three-pointers in a game

Asamoah, Long, and the Blue Hens are 15.5 point underdogs against the Villanova Wildcats and will look to pull off an upset Friday in a South Region first-round matchup at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS).

Many are talking about Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett’s fake slide during his 58 yard touchdown run, but an ACC record was broken by former Northwest standout A.J. Woods in Saturday’s ACC Championship game.

With Wake Forest trailing by 10 and driving down the field early in the fourth quarter, Woods intercepted a deep ball at at the Pitt 25 and returned it 73 yards to the 2 yard line.

This was the junior defensive back’s first interception of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, sealing the game as Pitt went on to win 45-21.

Woods was a two-way standout at Northwest under Coach Mike Neubeiser. During his senior year he had 35 tackles, 17 passes defended, two forced fumbles and two blocked punts as a cornerback. As a wide receiver, he averaged 21.6 yards per reception (14 catches for 303 yards) with five touchdown and helped Northwest to a 9-3 record and the Maryland 4A regional finals.

Woods was rated the No. 9 overall prospect in Maryland by ESPN and No. 25 by Rivals and 247Sports.

The play can be seen below:

Longest INT return (73 yards) in the history of the @ACCFootball Champ! 🏆

HUGE play by @AjWoods09 💨

Watch 📺 ABC#H2P » #BeatWake pic.twitter.com/lN0AA2GNPq

— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) December 5, 2021

You may have seen the term “NIL,” which stands for “name, image, and likeness.” Rule changes have allowed college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness.

Kentucky’s star pass rusher, Josh Paschal, took advantage of this as he was hired by pediatric dentist Dr. Danny Steckler to hilariously help communicate the importance of oral health.

Paschal is a Prince George’s County native who attended school and played football at Good Counsel in Olney, where he was ranked among the top defensive ends in the country.

In the commercial, he knocks a sugary beverage out of a child’s hand in the opening scene and yells, “Don’t be bringing these sugar-coated lies into my house,” while wagging his finger in the child’s face.

He also reaches through a car window to grab sugary snacks from an unsuspecting driver who says he isn’t even going to the dentist (but likely will be soon after his encounter with the pass rusher).

It hasn’t been all fun and games for Paschal, who has overcome plenty in his NCAA football career. After a strong freshman season in 2017, he was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma lesion that was discovered on his foot, in August of 2018.

It was a rare, aggressive form of skin cancer called acral lentiginous melanoma, or ALM. And it needed to be treated immediately. Josh had multiple surgeries on his foot to remove the cancerous growth and replace the damaged tissue.

On November 17, 2018, barely four months removed from the operating room, Josh suited up for the final home game of the season. The rest is history, as he has made a name for himself and is likely to be drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Featured photo courtesy of ESPN

Take a look at the commercial below:

It’s been great working with Steckler Pediatric Dentistry (@kykidsdentist) and the kids in the community with their oral health! I am the #DefenderOfDecay! @creativecaddie #ad pic.twitter.com/HT8OGg2Bx2

— Joshua Paschal (@JPaschalx) November 23, 2021

Christian Veilleux was a two-year letterman for head coach Patrick Cilento at the Bullis School in Potomac. Today, the freshman quarterback entered the game for Penn State after starter Sean Clifford was injured in the first quarter.

Prior to this game, Veilleux last threw a pass in a live game in November 2019, but he was still able to provide the spark the struggling Penn State offense needed. He threw for three touchdowns and 235 yards after the offense produced 32 yards and one first down on its first four possessions, prior to Veilleux entering the game.

Veilleux was named the 2019 Interstate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year when he was at Bullis (the team did not have a 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

He was rated a four-star recruit by ESPN, the No. 20 pro-style quarterback overall, and the No. 16 prospect out of Maryland by 247Sports before coming to Penn State.

No word on who will start at quarterback for Penn State next week when the Nittany Lions travel to Michigan State to take on the Spartans.

Julie Kaufman (2001 Graduate of Damascus High School) and Antoine White (2007 Graduate of Whitman High School) Help Guide Mount St. Mary’s Women to NCAA Tournament

Julie Kaufman grew up in Damascus and was a student-athlete at Damascus High School, where she graduated from in 2001. She played basketball at Catawba in North Carolina, where she won two championships.

Kaufman got into into coaching as a graduate assistant at Hood, before moving on to Shepherd, Seton Hill and Niagara prior to coming to Mount St. Mary’s.

She has the title of Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, and told us the dmv is a huge part of their recruiting area.”Having played basketball in Damascus and knowing a lot of coaches throughout the county has helped with our recruiting success.”

Mount Saint Mary’s Associate Head Coach, Antoine White, is also from MoCo. He graduated from Whitman High School in 2007 where he later coached JV basketball.

He also attended and played for Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball coach, Dan Engelstad (also a Whitman graduate), at Vermont.

Mount St. Mary’s, the 15 seed, will play against 2nd seed Maryland in the Women’s NCAA tournament on Monday, March 22nd at 4pm.

Dan Englestad, Bethesda Native, Guides Mount St. Mary’s to the NCAA Tournament

Dan Engelstad was born and raised in Bethesda. He was a three-sport student athlete (basketball, baseball, and football) at Walt Whitman and graduated from the school in 2003.

He was named the 22nd head coach in Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball program history on May 9, 2018.

After high school, Engelstad attended St. Mary’s College (Maryland) and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, graduating in 2007. He served as a team captain (2004-07) for the Seahawks basketball team and graduated as the school’s all-time leader with 419 career assists.

This year, as head coach of the Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball team, the school won their conference tournament and earned a birth into the NCAA tournament.

One of his assistant coaches is Matt Miller, a former MCPS P.E. and health teacher who has coached the boy’s basketball teams at Churchill and Wheaton High Schools.

Mount St. Mary’s will be playing at 5:10pm on Thursday in a “First Four” game against Texas Southern.