It would have been easy for Robby Carmody to leave Mars and play for a private or a prep school.

What burgeoning basketball star, particularly one as gifted as the 6-foot-4 senior guard, wouldn’t want to have a 7-footer in the post and sharp shooters all around him to take the pressure off?

What basketball player worth his weight in sneakers would want to have to grind against junk defenses and players face-guarding and hounding him all over the court night in and night out?

Or opposing fans heckling him? Or opponents pushing the boundaries of physicality in an attempt to rattle him?

Well, Robby Carmody for one. He wanted to dunk in his home gym, not some strange one.

“It’s been so rewarding,” Carmody said, smiling. “If I go to a prep school, I don’t know anyone. Playing basketball, you get to know people. You grow a bond with people. It’s just not going to be the same at a prep school as it would be with a group of kids you ran around with in the woods at 4 years old.”

Carmody has been a known commodity for years.

A Notre Dame recruit, he could dunk a basketball in the eighth grade.

As a senior, Carmody is averaging 31 points and 14.3 rebounds per game and was named the state boys player of the year while helping the Planets reach the PIAA championship game — this time in 5A — for the second time in three seasons.

That’s why the speculation was so strong that he would eventually bolt for a prep or private school.

Except Carmody didn’t want that.

There’s another reason why.

His brother, Michael, is a sophomore on the team and had 16 big points in the semifinal win against Milton Hershey. His father, Rob, is the Planets’ head basketball coach.

“It’s been a heck of a ride with my dad and all my teammates,” Carmody said. “Michael played amazing. He might have won us that game (against Milton Hershey). He kept us in there. I’ve grown up with all these kids. I’m glad I got to do it with these guys.”

Mars’ run of success in the “Robby Era” hasn’t been all Robby Carmody.

Players like Andrew Recchia, Cade Hetzler, Michael Carmody and Brandon Caruso have shown they’re stellar players in their own right.

“It doesn’t say Robby Carmody on our jerseys,” said Rob Carmody. “It says Mars and (Robby) believes in that. That’s why he stayed here and didn’t go to prep school. He wanted to stay here and fight and that’s why I appreciate what he’s done.

“You can’t be a championship team in the state of Pennsylvania in 5A with one guy. We have talented athletes. Robby kind of overshadows that sometimes because of what he’s done, but he doesn’t want that. He wants to be a part of a team.”

And that team is one win away from capping the season with a state title.

“It’s been really special I’ve gotten to do it all here,” Robby Carmody said. “I got to grow as a person and a player here with my family and my friends.”

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.