Jamar Coke was a relative unknown outside of his native Canada. Sure the 5-foot-11 point guard from Cathedral High in Hamilton, Ontario, has been a dominant player domestically, but he’s still trying to generate interest from Division I schools.
Coke, an all-region player who averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists this season, has feelers from junior colleges, Niagara (N.Y.) County and Iowa Western, but that’s it.
“Unless something else happens, I’ll visit Iowa Western and see what my options are,” Coke said.
Last weekend Coke took a step closer to his dream of playing Division I basketball when he put on a show at the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament in Frostburg, Md. The Cathedral Gaels went 1-2 at the 50th annual eight-team Catholic school tournament, finishing seventh, and Coke was named second team all-ACIT.
Coke totaled 68 points, including 27 in the third-place consolation game, a 87-47 victory over host Bishop Walsh (Cumberland, Md.), last Saturday. It was the second straight year that a Cathedral player won the ACIT scoring title. Last year Dwayne Harvey (now at New Mexico State) netted 72 points, averaging 24 in the tournament. Joining Coke on the second team were Mikael Hopkins of DeMatha; Notre Dame-bound Eric Atkins and Ryley Beaumont, both of Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore); and Trey Davis of Benedictine (Richmond, Va.).
Jamar Coke, who led the Gaels in scoring in all three tournament games, scored a game-high 27 points. He also led all players with seven assists and five steals.
