Future Maryland men’s basketball guard Jahnathan Lamothe is coming off a championship campaign in his senior year of high school as he prepares to make the move to College Park.
Lamothe, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound combo guard from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, is a consensus four-star recruit. In late February, the Baltimore native won the MIAA A Conference championship with St. Frances to cap off a brilliant season for him and his team. In late April, he played his final game as a high schooler in the 50th annual Capital Classic in D.C.
The future Terp surpassed the 1,000-point mark on his high school career this past season, and Lamothe has taken note of his individual improvement from his junior to senior year.
“I had a lot of off games [as a junior]. I had some good and some bad games, but this year I felt like I learned pretty good,” Lamothe said on Glenn Clark Radio April 26. “This year, I had a lot of good games. I led in assists, rebounds, and then I was like top three in scoring, so I just felt like I did everything to help win. Just doing it day in and day out.”
On his senior night, Lamothe broke a single-game school record by scoring 57 points against John Carroll, including 16 (!) 3-pointers. Since most people will never know what it is like to hit the half-century mark in a regulation basketball game, Lamothe took the time to explain the feeling.
“Scoring 57 points, it just felt like the rim was huge, like everything I shot was going to go in,” Lamothe said. “My teammates just kept finding me and that second half I had like 40 points. I had a lot of threes. In the first half I made about four threes. I’m like, ‘OK, I’m feeling it this game.’ And they just kept finding me. It was our last home game, so just being able to go out with a bang was just the biggest part for me. I just kept making threes and it just felt good.”
Lamothe signed his letter of intent with Maryland in June 2022, well before the Terps began their 2022-23 season that ended with a NCAA Tournament appearance. He was recruited by head coach Kevin Willard and assistant Tony Skinn, both new to Maryland at the time. Skinn has since become the head coach at George Mason.
Despite not knowing exactly how the team would look, Lamothe expressed his confidence in what the program was building before any results came.
“I was really excited. I committed there because I knew the way Coach Willard plays and just the way that he builds a culture that was going to be good, so it wasn’t a surprise to me how their season went,” Lamothe said. “So, I’m just really excited to come in and help get even further in the tournament and win Big Ten titles and all that stuff.”
Maryland has struggled at times to keep homegrown talent in recent years. Lamothe was a highly-touted recruit with 21 offers (according to 247Sports), but he was certain that he wanted to be a Terrapin.
“I made it clear that Maryland was my school. That’s the school I’m focused on going forward and I want to make my impact there,” Lamothe said.
Some key players from the Terps season are returning to the team next year, including leading scorer Jahmir Young, forward Donta Scott and center Julian Reese. Reese and Lamothe were teammates at one point in high school, and Lamothe said that they have kept in touch since.
The prospect of winning big in college alongside his fellow Baltimore native has Lamothe excited about what it would mean for the state of Maryland.
“I think that’ll definitely be good for Baltimore. You see how big everyone was behind Angel? Just bringing that to Maryland and also St. Frances,” said Lamothe, referring to Angel Reese’s title at LSU. “I just can’t wait to see how special [that would be].”
Lamothe participated in the Capital Classic in D.C. on April 29. The annual game features some of the best hoops players associated with the area on one team, and players from the rest of the country on the other team.
The Capital Classic has featured some stellar alumni since its debut in 1974. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, just to name a few, are some of the players who have participated in the game.
Lamothe was joined by two of his future Terrapin teammates on the Capital All-Stars in Braden Pierce and Jamie Kaiser, both from IMG Academy (Fla.). Lamothe and Kaiser played together for Team Durant on the Nike EYBL circuit.
“Most of the guys in the game I know,” Lamothe said. “Me and Braden sat together at the Nebraska game, so we just chopped it up as our first time meeting. So that’s a relationship that’s building and I’m glad to be able to play with him before I get to campus.”
For more from Lamothe, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jahnathan Lamothe