Glory days of high school basketball on Maryland's Eastern Shore chronicled in new book

In the world of high school basketball in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area of the east coast, teams and players on Maryland's Eastern Shore often times go overlooked, cut off from the rest of the competition due to geography. But there is a rich hoops history in the basketball community here, and there is also a recently released book that chronicles it from its beginnings all the way through to modern day.

"High School Basketball on Maryland's Eastern Shore: A Shore Hoops History," released in 2022 by Mitchell Northam, captures the stories of the many legends that have come from the Eastern Shore's hardwood. Whether it be the state championship teams, individual players who would go on to represent the Eastern Shore at the highest college and professional levels, or the all-time great games that still live on in the memories of players, coaches and fans to this day, Northam's book captures it all.

For Northam, an Eastern Shore native from Federalsburg, writing a book on Eastern Shore basketball was an idea that had been rattling around in his head for awhile since he had began covering high school sports for The Daily Times in college.

"Throughout all those years, watching and covering high school basketball around here I'd get the chance to sit with coach (Butch) Waller, David Byrd and all these other people and hear all these stories about coaches and players and some of the really great teams that had been around here," Northam said in an interview with The Daily Times during December's Governor's Challenge. "So in the back of my head, I was always kind of like 'This could be a book.' "

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A two-year journey amid COVID-19 pandemic

The idea to dive into the deep history of local basketball on the shore was one that he had been holding onto for a while, and extra free time during the COVID-19 Pandemic provided the opportunity to fully do the deep research and initially virtual interviews that would make up the book. And a two-year journey that would include more in-person interviews, deep dives into old newspaper clippings and school yearbooks, and visits to schools across the Eastern Shore culminated in the release of his book.

Each chapter of Northam's book is set up like a typical magazine feature or profile, diving into the individual players, coaches, all-time great teams and landmark events that have given Eastern Shore hoops its identity. Whether it be a look into legendary Wi-Hi boys basketball head coach Butch Waller's history, remembering the amateur and professional careers of all-time great boys and girls basketball players from the shore like Kelley Gibson, Tia Jackson, Andre Collins and Sherron Mills, or writing about historic games like the 1976 state final matchup between Pocomoke and Colonel Richardson, there is plenty of history for both die-hard followers and novices when it comes to local high school basketball to savor.

And Northam's book also brings Eastern Shore hoops history into the present day, with interviews from recent Stephen Decatur and Virginia Tech star Keve Aluma at the ACC Tournament closing out the book in its final chapter.

Paul Butler, current Director of Communications for Wicomico County Public Schools and former local news anchor, wrote the forward for the book, and was honored to be apart of it, while also learning new things that he never knew.

"It was really amazing for me because I'm an Eastern Shore native and played basketball here," Butler said in an interview. "I watched it growing up, and just to see all the history from way back to today, it's just an amazing compilation that Mitchell put together. And to be apart of that for me was just an honor."

A goal of preserving Shore basketball history

Northam's overall goal was to both make Eastern Shore basketball history more accessible and to give the rich history of this often overlooked area of Maryland its due. And since the release of the book last year, when people reach out to him about it, there is a feeling that those goals have been accomplished.

"It's been really cool now that it's been out to hear from people here at the tournament, or when it first went on sale I got a couple emails and text messages from coaches, players and some people I've never even heard of just saying 'Thank You' for writing the book," Northam said. "And that was my goal really, was to just kind of help preserve this history.

"If you wanted to learn about high school basketball on the shore before this book, you would basically have to do what I did, spending a lot of time looking at newspapers.com and looking at yearbooks and talking to some of these older guys like Butch and David Byrd and some other people who unfortunately aren't with us anymore. I got the chance to interview Merrill Morgan last summer and he just passed away recently. This book is the last interview he ever gave and he won more than 500 games at Colonel Richardson. So that was my goal, to kind of help preserve the history and help give the shore its due a little bit."

The release of the book didn't come without its own hiccups. According to Northam, the publisher he was originally working with wanted to cut two-thirds of it because it was too long compared to the lengths of the book they usually publish. But after the research work he put in and the interviews he did to fully capture Eastern Shore hoops lore, he decided to amicably split ways with the publisher and self-publish the book to ensure everyone's stories were told.

"Me being from here, I understand that people from around here just don't get their stories told that often. So I felt like I had a duty to fight for the length of this book and to tell some stories. And I had some pride in it ... I Interviewed all these people, and all these people talk time out of their days to talk to me, and I just felt like they deserved to have their stories told."

Note: You can find Northam's "High School Basketball on Maryland's Eastern Shore" here.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Glory days of high school basketball on Eastern Shore chronicled in book