Terrell Vinson's never been one to seek the spotlight.

Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis and Villanova were just a few of the schools that, at one time or another, recruited the St. Frances senior, who started his high school career at Montrose Christian in Rockville.

Vinson shocked nearly everyone when he shunned the bigger schools and committed to Loyola Marymount last fall. When Vinson reopened his recruitment in the winter, it seemed everyone had an opinion on his next destination.

“With recruiting, everybody’s got something to say,” Vinson said. “You just try to keep a low profile and think about what’s the best thing for yourself.”

Vinson decided Monday night that the best thing for him would be continuing his basketball career at Massachusetts. The 6-foot-7, 205-pounder committed to UMass head coach Derek Kellogg last night during an in-home visit.

Vinson, a Baltimore Sun All-Metro selection who averaged 23 points and eight rebounds as a senior, made an official visit to the Amherst campus about two weeks ago.

“I was kind of unsure [about UMass] when I went into it,” Vinson said. “But on the visit, I felt comfortable. The guys up there, they were nice. They’re some cool cats I’m about to play with.”

Vinson signed with Loyola Marymount last November, but asked out of his letter of intent in January when Lions head coach Bill Bayno resigned from his position.

When UMass first expressed interest after the release was finalized, Vinson didn’t give much thought to the Minutemen. He remembered Kellogg as an assistant coach at Memphis, where he recruited Vinson as a sophomore. But Vinson said he wasn’t in any position to give much thought to other schools.

“I mean it takes awhile for any recruiting [relationship to develop],” Vinson said. “I just got out of my letter of intent and wasn’t thinking about who I was serious about and who I wasn’t serious about.”

Vinson focused on his senior year and pushed recruiting to the background. After leading St. Frances to the MIAA A conference and Baltimore Catholic League championships, Vinson was ready to give the Minutemen a shot. At 6-7, Vinson spent much of his earlier high school career playing power forward. Kellogg sold him on playing the 3. Vinson said his relationship with Kellogg put UMass ahead of the other contenders.

“[He said to me] probably what he said to all his freshmen: come in and work hard,” Vinson said. “... He said I’m an all-around player and [he liked] my IQ for the game.”

In Amherst, Vinson will join a program that returns its leading scorer, shooting guard Ricky Harris (Calvert Hall), and welcomes transfers from UConn (Doug Wiggins), Memphis (Hashim Bailey) and Oregon State (Sean Carter).

In addition to Vinson, Kellogg landed four other recruits, all of whom are 6-5 or taller. The Minutemen finished 12-18 this season, but Vinson thinks there are enough pieces in place to turn things around in a hurry.

“They’ve got some workers on the team,” Vinson said. “[We’ll] just get ready to make a run … at the NCAA [tournament]. I know we’re pretty close to getting there.”

Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna / Jan. 27, 2009.