The son of a Maryland basketball great will soon be donning a Terps uniform himself.
Nicholas Blake – the son of 2002 national champion, 2003 All-ACC first-team selection and 13-year NBA veteran Steve Blake – has committed to Maryland.
Blake is a 6-2 guard who played at Olympia High School in Orlando, where his dad served as an assistant coach last season. He is not ranked by 247Sports. His younger brother, Jamison, is a 6-foot sophomore guard at Olympia as well.
“Nick had a great senior season! Can’t wait to watch him play in college. The boy can really shoot!” Steve Blake Tweeted earlier this year.
Olympia went 18-11 during the 2024-25 season. In 28 games, Blake averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.6 steals per game and shot 39% from the field, 38% from three (76-for-198) and 69% from the free-throw line. Of his 261 total field-goal attempts, 75.9% of them were three-pointers.
His impending commitment was reported for InsideMDsports VIP subscribers last week. Via Jeff Ermann:
Steve Blake didn’t land a job at Maryland, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be around the program. I’m hearing Maryland will add his son, Nicholas Blake, to the roster for next season. It’s unknown if the younger Blake will be on scholarship or a walk-on, but his father probably isn’t sweating it after earning more than $36 million in his long NBA career.
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On his NCSA college recruiting profile, Blake touched on both his basketball lineage and his game in his personal statement.
“Growing up with a dad in the NBA I have always been around basketball and developed a deep love of the game at an early age. I have almost always had a ball in my hand and have been blessed to be coached by my dad for years to help me get to where I am today,” he wrote. “I am gritty and hardworking with a competitive attitude willing to do whatever it takes on both ends of the court. I can guard multiple positions, and while I am a very good 3 point shooter, I also enjoy attacking the basket to create shots for my teammates.”
Blake’s father is one of the most accomplished players in Maryland history. As a four-year starter under Gary Williams, steve Blake ran the point for the Terps during their back-to-back Final Fours, including the 2002 National Championship team. The first NCAA player to record 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds, and 200 steals, he ranks first in school history and sixth in NCAA history in career assists (972).
Selected 38th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2003 NBA Draft, he spent 14 years in the league, including a run as the Los Angeles Lakers’ point guard alongside legendary guard Kobe Bryant.
“Not cool with @SteveBlake5 being gone AT ALL One of my closest teammates and psycho competitor GS picked up gem,” Bryant Tweeted when Blake was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2014.
