Former Dunbar Star, Excelled at St. Mary’s, Overseas Stops
Severn, MD (December 1, 2012) – The Bay Area Shuckers are not resting on their 2-0 start and this week signed Camontae Griffin, a former star at Dunbar High School and an All-Region performer at St. Mary’s who will be entering his third pro season after stops overseas the last two years.
“Camontae has been successful at every level he has played. He also brings a wealth of experience having played professionally in Columbia and Venezuela. He is a proven scorer and we feel he will give us a boost as we strive for the championship this season,” said Shuckers General Manager John Wolfe.
Griffin first gained notoriety in local basketball circles with Dunbar High School of Baltimore as part of a Poets squad that won back-to-back Maryland 1A State titles in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. Following his senior season he moved onto the Community College of Baltimore County – Catonsville (CCBC-Catonsville).
For the Cardinals in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 he was a 2007 All-National Junior College Athletic Association Region XX Second Team selection, a 2007 All-Maryland Junior College Conference First Team honoree and was named to MD JUCO All-Tournament Team while finishing 22nd nationally in both assists (185, 6.2 assists per game) and three-point field goal percentage (.435, 40-92).
Following his junior college success he transferred to Division 2 Shaw University, where after just five games he suffered a season ending shoulder injury and was granted a medical redshirt.
In 2008-2009 he transferred to St. Mary’s College of Maryland and quickly racked up accolades. He was named to the D3hoops.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team, was selected All-Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) First Team and was named the Pride of Maryland Tournament MVP, was picked for the Penn State Behrend All-Tournament Team and was a three-time PrestoSports/Provident Bank Pride of Maryland Player of the Week and a two-time CAC Player of the Week . He led the Seahawks and rated second in the conference with a 20.4 scoring average and finished fifth in the CAC in free throw percentage (.782) and steals (1.72 per game) while ranking 10th in assists (2.96 per game). He had a season-high 31 points vs. Marymount.
In 2009-2010 he led the Seahawks and the CAC in scoring with 21.6 points per game, while ranking second on St. Mary’s and sixth in the conference in assists with 2.9 per game. He also led the Seahawks in free throw percentage and finished third in the conference with a .839 percentage and ranked second in the CAC in steals with 2.1 per game while topping St. Mary’s.
He also set a career mark and topped the CAC in 2009-2010 with a 51 point effort against Hood College on November 22, 2009. For his efforts he was named Conference Player of the Week five times, All Conference, All-Region, and led his team to the Division 3 Sweet 16.
In 2010-2011 he made his professional debut with the Maryland Greenhawks of the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) before shifting to the Beltway Bombers where he averaged 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Following completion of the ACPBL season he was signed by Indervalle of the Columbian Basketball Federation where he averaged 23.8 points per game.
In December 2011 he returned to the Beltway Bombers before moving overseas again, this time suiting up for Gigantes de Guayana of the top flight Venezuelan Liga Professional de Baloncesto where he posted 8.6 points and 3 assists per game. He also later played for Intervalle again in 2012 before finishing out the 2011-2012 basketball campaign with Hormigueros de Bucaramanga of the Columbia Basketball Federation.
The Bay Area Shuckers are members of the American Professional Basketball League (APBL). The APBL is a 16-team professional league with clubs from Virginia in the south to the Hudson Valley of New York in the north and with teams in the major metropolitan areas of Washington D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York, New York. The Shuckers are members of the Colonial Division with the NOVA Hawks, West Virginia Monarchs, and the Winchester (Virginia) Storm.
The Shuckers season continues on Sunday December 2nd at 1:00 PM when they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on the Metropolitan All-Stars (3-1). The Shuckers return home on Saturday, December 8th at 7:00 PM to face the North Jersey Pros (1-1). All Shuckers home games tip-off at 7:00 PM and are played at the Annapolis Area Christian School (AACS) in Severn, Maryland. For more information on the Bay Area Shuckers please visit www.BayAreaShuckers.com.
