Coaches at AACC encourage high school student athletes to play for their teams to better themselves as people and players.

Jim Griffiths, head coach of Women’s Cross Country and Women’s Lacrosse, said his recruiting strategy includes contacting the local high school coaches to see which recruits would be interested in playing for the college.

“Finding out who might be interested in attending the community college, who isn’t set on going to a four-year college, getting their contact information and going from there,” Griffiths said, is his goal.

Griffiths said he offers recruits a chance to play at a higher level.

“With lacrosse, it’s an opportunity to play at a high level and to be recruited following their experience here,” Griffiths said. “We sent a ton of girls to four-year schools to play. Our main thing is an opportunity to play at a highly successful program and opportunities that will present themselves, as far as moving on goes, after you play here.”


Joe Snowden, head coach of Men’s Basketball, said he goes all over the county and offers other things that don’t have monetary value.


“At the Division III level, we don’t have money to give,” Snowden said. “But we have a lot of hope and prosperity to give. The one thing I tell them is the educational side of AACC, a really great school for education.”


Men’s Basketball forward Marcus Dentley said former basketball coach Tom Smith told him AACC is a good place to get his name out there.

“Playing junior college basketball is a great way to put your name out there for other four-year schools, not just for basketball but so you can also transfer and pursue your degree,” Dentley said. “Another thing he said was that I could be a part of something pretty special for two years and grow as a player and he’s right.”

A few Division III four-year schools contacted Dentley in high school to play basketball for them. However, Dentley said looking back on it, he made the right choice playing at AACC.

“I made the right choice … I’m a better player than before,” Dentley said. “They push me a lot here to get better so I’ll be ready for the next level, without a doubt.”

Men’s Basketball point guard Larry Stevenson said he called Smith, who invited Stevenson to a workout.
“[Smith] said he really liked my game and that he wants me to be his starting guard that season,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson also said he made the right choice coming to AACC and playing for the Riverhawks.

Athletic director Duane Herr said the coaches and staff of AACC athletics want to create a strong relationship with Anne Arundel County Public School coaches.

“We host several high school summer or fall leagues to build a network with the community,” Herr said.

“We stay current with all recruiting policy and educate coaches so that we guarantee compliance. A large percentage of our athletes are from Anne Arundel County but we also have students from other counties within Maryland and from several other states.”

Herr said the college’s goal is to help the players they recruit from high school grow and achieve their goals, whether that is to play at a four-year school after AACC or focus on their educational goals.