More than 25 years ago, a small private school in Kensington, Maryland became one of the most unlikely basketball talent factories in the country.
The Newport School, better known in basketball circles as Newport Prep.
For a relatively short period, an incredible collection of talent passed through its gym.
Rodney White.
Jamison Brewer.
James “Flight” White.
T.J. Thompson.
NBA lottery picks. NBA players. High-major standouts. Future NBA and college coaches.
Newport wasn't one of America's giant traditional basketball institutions. It was a small school that somehow became a destination for serious basketball talent, and for a brief period, the amount of talent concentrated inside that program was almost absurd.
Now, roughly 1,000 miles south in Weston, Florida, another small private school is beginning to raise an interesting question.
Could Sagemont Prep be the new Newport?
Matthew Able.
Kevin Thomas.
Ricky Liburd.
Three players from the same Sagemont program.
Able and Thomas are now at North Carolina. Liburd is at Michigan. All three possess legitimate professional upside, with Able already appearing in early 2027 NBA mock drafts.
And another talented generation is coming behind them.
The comparison isn't about declaring Sagemont equal to Newport.
Not yet.
It's about recognizing the pattern before everybody else does.
When Newport Prep Became a Talent Factory
To understand the comparison, you have to understand just how unusual Newport was.
The small Kensington school became nationally relevant during the late 1990s and early 2000s because of the sheer amount of basketball talent coming through its doors.
DerMarr Johnson played at Newport before finishing his prep career at Maine Central Institute and eventually starring at Cincinnati. The Atlanta Hawks selected the 6-foot-9 guard No. 6 overall in the 2000 NBA Draft.
Then came Rodney White.
White played his senior season at Newport before going to Charlotte, where he exploded as a freshman and became one of college basketball's fastest-rising prospects.
One year later, the Detroit Pistons selected him No. 9 overall in the 2001 NBA Draft.
Another Newport product, Jamison Brewer, went to Auburn before being selected in the second round of that same 2001 NBA Draft and ultimately spending four seasons in the league.
Then there was James “Flight” White, one of the most spectacular athletes of his generation.
White spent part of his high school career at Newport before becoming a McDonald's All-American, playing college basketball at Florida and Cincinnati and being selected with the 31st pick of the 2006 NBA Draft.
Today, White remains at basketball's highest level as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And Newport's impact wasn't limited to NBA players.
T.J. Thompson went from Newport to George Washington, where he became a four-year starter and First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection. Today, Thompson is an assistant coach at Rutgers.
The Newport connection is also personal for BallerTube. BallerTube co-founder Steve Solomon played at Newport during that era, giving him a firsthand perspective on what it looked like when a small school suddenly became a gathering place for high-level basketball talent.
That's what made Newport different.
It wasn't simply one great player coming through.
Talent kept following talent.
And that's where Sagemont becomes interesting.
Is It Happening Again in Weston?
Sagemont Prep isn't Newport.
At least not yet.
Newport ultimately produced multiple NBA Draft picks, including two players selected in the top 10.
That's an extraordinary standard.
Sagemont doesn't have to wait for its first NBA Draft pick. It already produced one.
Long before Matthew Able, Kevin Thomas and Ricky Liburd shared the floor in Weston, another future pro walked through Sagemont's gym.
Fab Melo.
Melo arrived at Sagemont from Brazil in 2008 and developed into one of the nation's premier high school centers. By his senior season, the 7-footer was a McDonald's All-American and one of the country's highest-rated prospects. He went on to Syracuse, where he became the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, before the Boston Celtics selected him 22nd overall in the 2012 NBA Draft.
A small private school.
An unusual concentration of basketball talent.
Players developing alongside one another.
High-major programs coming for those players.
Professional potential emerging afterward.
Then another talented group coming behind them.
That's what is beginning to make Sagemont fascinating.
Because Matthew Able, Kevin Thomas and Ricky Liburd didn't come from three different powerhouse programs.
They shared the same Sagemont environment.
And now they're scattered across two of the biggest programs in college basketball.
Matthew Able Could Be Next
If Sagemont continues a Newport-like professional pipeline, Matthew Able could become the catalyst.
The 6-foot-5 guard spent his freshman season at NC State before transferring to North Carolina.
And the NBA conversation has already begun.
Able has appeared in early 2027 NBA mock drafts, including a CBS Sports projection that placed him as high as No. 13 overall, inside the lottery.
That's important.
He's no longer simply a former Sagemont star who reached high-major college basketball.
He's becoming an actual NBA prospect.
At Sagemont, Able averaged 20.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists during his senior season while shooting 40 percent from three.
He had size.
He could create.
He could shoot.
He could score at multiple levels.
Now he gets to take that game to North Carolina.
If Able's development continues and his name is eventually called on NBA Draft night, Sagemont suddenly has its first major proof of concept.
Come through Sagemont. Develop. Compete. Leave prepared for the highest levels of basketball.
Kevin Thomas Might Have an Even Higher Ceiling
And Able won't be alone in Chapel Hill.
Kevin Thomas is joining him at North Carolina.
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman might be the biggest wild card of the three because his ceiling remains so difficult to determine.
Thomas already possesses things coaches can't teach.
Length.
Explosiveness.
Power.
Vertical athleticism.
Defensive versatility.
He's capable of affecting a game without needing 20 shots.
But Thomas is still developing.
That's what makes his trajectory so intriguing.
If the shooting, ball handling and decision-making continue catching up with his physical tools, Thomas could become a completely different player over the next several years.
And now he'll be developing inside North Carolina.
Daily competition.
High-major coaching.
Strength and conditioning.
National television.
NBA scouts.
There isn't nearly as much NBA Draft attention surrounding Thomas today as there is Able.
But when you're 6-foot-6 with his athletic profile and still have substantial room to develop?
There may not be an obvious ceiling yet.
Ricky Liburd's Opportunity May Be Arriving
Then there's Ricky Liburd.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard spent last season developing at Michigan while the Wolverines went on to win the national championship.
Now his opportunity may be arriving.
Michigan entered the season expecting highly touted freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. to become an important piece of its roster. But McCoy suffered a right ACL injury during Michigan's European tour and will miss the 2026-27 season.
It's a devastating break for McCoy.
It also changes Michigan's rotation.
Minutes are available.
Roles have to be reconsidered.
And Liburd now has an opportunity to compete for meaningful playing time and potentially even a starting role.
Those around Sagemont already know what Ricky can do when the opportunity is there.
In Sagemont's 2025 state championship victory, Liburd delivered 29 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Now he's older, stronger and coming off an entire developmental season inside a national championship college program.
If Liburd breaks through at Michigan, Sagemont could suddenly have three former teammates making noise simultaneously at North Carolina and Michigan.
That's not normal.
Especially for a school Sagemont's size.
The Championships Are Proof, Not the Story
Yes, Sagemont has won four consecutive state championships.
That's impressive.
But that's not what makes this story fascinating.
The banners are evidence that the environment works.
The talent is the story.
Able.
Thomas.
Liburd.
Three players developing together and ultimately reaching two of college basketball's biggest programs.
The question now isn't simply whether Sagemont can win another championship.
It's whether those three represent a special group that happened to come together once, or the beginning of something repeatable.
Because if another wave follows them?
Then we're talking about something entirely different.
Now AJ Braziel Gets the Keys
That's why the timing of Andre “AJ” Braziel becoming Sagemont Prep's new head coach is so interesting.
David Roe has transitioned into his new role as Sagemont Prep's Upper Campus Principal, but the basketball program isn't being handed to an outsider.
Braziel was already part of it.
He served as an assistant coach and skills trainer inside the program and was around the development of the talent that helped establish Sagemont's current reputation.
Now he's running the entire operation.
And that matters because player development is central to this story.
Sagemont doesn't need to become known simply as a place where talented players assemble and win high school games.
The bigger opportunity is becoming known as a place where players get better.
Where a talented middle-school player becomes a high-major recruit.
Where a high-major recruit becomes a college contributor.
Where a college contributor becomes an NBA prospect.
That's how Newport became Newport.
The names coming out of that little Maryland school eventually became its recruiting pitch.
Now Sagemont has the beginnings of its own list.
Able. Thomas. Liburd.
Braziel, along with assistant coach Jules Penn, now has the opportunity to add names underneath them.
Talent Attracts Talent
This is where things can accelerate quickly.
Young basketball players watch older players.
Parents watch development.
Trainers watch opportunities.
College coaches remember where players came from.
Imagine being a talented eighth or ninth grader in South Florida right now.
You walk into Sagemont and see Matthew Able at North Carolina with NBA Draft buzz.
You see Kevin Thomas wearing Carolina blue.
You see Ricky Liburd at Michigan.
You see the championships.
You see the college opportunities.
And then you see a head coach whose background is heavily connected to individual player development.
Suddenly, being the small school doesn't matter.
The basketball résumé becomes bigger than the enrollment.
That's essentially what happened at Newport.
Talent arrived.
Talent developed.
Talent succeeded.
And more talent followed.
That's Why “The New Newport?” Is Worth Asking
Sagemont still has a long way to go before anyone can definitively compare its professional résumé to Newport's.
Newport produced actual NBA players.
Two top-10 NBA Draft picks.
Multiple professionals.
Coaches who remain at high levels of basketball decades later.
Sagemont's current generation still has to write the rest of its story.
But that's precisely what makes this moment interesting.
You're seeing the possibility before you know the ending.
Able could become an NBA Draft pick.
Thomas could develop into an NBA prospect.
Liburd could break through at Michigan.
And somewhere inside Sagemont's current roster could be another player whose name we're barely discussing today.
That's how these things begin.
More than 25 years ago, a small private school in Kensington, Maryland became home to an almost ridiculous collection of basketball talent.
Newport Prep proved that a small school could produce enormous basketball talent in a remarkably short period of time.
Now another small school, this time in Weston, Florida, is beginning to show some of those same characteristics.
The championships are nice.
But watch the players.
Watch where they're going.
Watch how they're developing.
And most importantly, watch who comes next.
Because if Able, Thomas and Liburd are only the beginning, the question won't sound nearly as crazy a few years from now.
Is Sagemont Prep the new Newport?
