Okay let's drop them all at UM, Dupree, Goins, Pearman and Burney. Let's go out and pick up Painter, Spurlock, Quintrell Thomas, and Born Ready and then let's start hangin' banners...

Matt, I have always thought that we won't get Lance and it definitely appears we won't with your latest reports. If that is the case, are we going to get Vinson, and/or go after Painter? If we get Vinson, how can we go after Painter? Thanks as always.

Okay let's drop them all at UM, Dupree, Goins, Pearman and Burney. Let's go out and pick up Painter, Spurlock, Quintrell Thomas, and Born Ready and then let's start hangin' banners..

one can only dream

I hope Lance is still considering Maryland.
I wonder what Bill Self said last night if the Stephensons asked why he didn't mention the fact that Kansas is already over the scholarship limit even without Lance Stephenson's commitment. Even without Lance's commitment, Bill Self has to find someone willing to leave the team just to keep the commitments he already has.

If Xavier Henry, the number one shooting/lead guard in the class, signs with Kansas as most Kansas boosters believe he will, then even without Lance's commitment Bill Self has to find TWO players willing to leave the team just to keep the commitments he then would have. By the way Demarcus Cousins just took the Kentucky offer putting them over the limit. That leaves only Kansas for Xavier Henry.

If John Wall, the number one point guard according to scout.com, accepts Bill Self's personally offered scholarship, then Bill Self would have to find THREE players willing to leave Kansas just to keep the commitments he then would have. By the way John Wall was deciding between Kansas and Memphis. However, with Coach Calipari leaving Memphis that leaves only Kansas for Wall.

This still does not include Lance in the picture. Let's see... to sumarize at this point, Kansas would have both the number 1 point guard and the number 1 shooting/lead guard in this year's recruiting class even without Lance Stephenson. So tell me again what position Bill Self sees Lance playing at Kansas? Now if all those players commit, and Lance also commits, BILL SELF WOULD HAVE TO FIND FOUR PLAYERS WILLING TO LEAVE KANSAS TO SIGN ALL THOSE PLAYERS. What could Bill Self possibly say to explain the scholarship situation? I mean just look at it. It is completely ridiculous. Of course not all those players would be foolish enough to sign on at Kansas, but you never know. THE FACT THAT BILL SELF Says the same pitch to so many McDonalds All Americans who all aspire to be NBA point/lead guards makes Bill Self's "personal" visit to the Stephensons seem so fake. If Bill Self isn't after all those other players why doesn't he just publically renounce the scholarship offers for the other players? Yeah,,,, he won't. There is your answer.

It is stunning the hubris that Bill Self exhibits. How does he think he's going to pull this off? It seems to fit his personallity when you consider his response to effectively admitting he violated NCAA recruiting violations. He just minimized the whole thing as if it were nothing. I hope the NCAA rules committee comes to its senses and realizes this as strong a case as you will ever find for loss of institutional control. Bill Self is just making a mockery of the NCAA regulations and its regulators. He doesn't think they will do anything to stop him. Click this link to see the background on the current NCAA investigation into Bill Self's latest recruiting violation. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3846492 If the NCAA rules committe does nothing, they are effectively saying that all programs can do what Kansas is doing.

The funny thing is ESPN is reporting that no one on Kansas has declared for the draft. That means they are already over the limit.

Yes it is true, Kansas won the NCAA title two years ago. They got to the sweet 16 this year. That is pretty good. Kansas will be in the conversation for another NCAA title if only because of the talent that is on the team. The question for Lance is, what role will he have on that Kansas team? How is he going to get playing time? Would he ever play point/lead guard at Kansas? Would he actually just ride the bench?

Maryland has also won a NCAA title. They haven't been in the conversation for title since that year. HOWEVER, MARYLAND JUST BEAT BOTH TEAMS THAT WERE IN THIS YEARS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Maryland beat Michigan State 80 to 62. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=283320127 Maryland beat North Carolina 88 to 85 OT. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290520120 Maryland also beat Wake Forest (75 to 64) that was ranked number one this year. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290720154 In fact, Maryland played teams that were ranked number one at some point during the season SIX times. Maryland played a much more difficult schedule this year than Kansas, and will virtually every year because of Duke and Carolina. With Lance on the team, Maryland will be that much better. All the close games that Maryland lost this season, will become victories next year. Maryland would get a better seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland would have to be considered a contender.

At Maryland, Lance would be the ONLY McDonalds All American on the team. Lance definitely has a better chance of getting playing time at the position he wants to play because he'll be the only McDonalds All American at that spot. Maryland is more of a transistion team than Kansas. Lance's versatile athletic skills would be better show cased at Maryland. At Maryland, Lance would not have to be a glorified ball ball for Cole Aldrich. Lance's team mate, Padget will be at Maryland. This means there will be a player that he is already comfortable playing with on the squad. Gary Williams is a great coach that is even recognized by his peers as one of the best. Gary William has already won an NCAA title. Gary Williams has already produced NBA Lottery Picks, Walt "The Wizard" Williams, and Steve "Francise" Francis who were tall lead guards. Lance has an opportunity at Maryland to play on a team that would be a contender and where he would be the only McDonalds All American so that his skills will be showcased. He would play for a coach that is a proven NCAA winner who has already produce two NBA lottery picks at the position Lance aspires to play. Lance Stephenson definitely will have a better shot at realizing his dreams of becoming a NBA Lead guard at Maryland than at Kansas.

"It is stunning the hubris that Bill Self exhibits. How does he think he's going to pull this off? It seems to fit his personallity when you consider his response to effectively admitting he violated NCAA recruiting" regulations.

Rick -- I'm not sure if they'll go after Painter. I think Vinson likes UMass, but I suppose there's still a chance he ends up at UM.

Matt,

Your response is like the local weather forecast..it is going to be sunny but it still may still rain. Do we have any inside information on the recruiting of the above players mentioned? Why do we rely on so many outside sources? Specifically, why do you constantly quote Adam Zagoria, do you not have more information on our own program than that guy? Can't Gary or someone on his staff let you know what's going on with Stephenson and if we are still in the mix? Sorry Matt, I like your reporting but I am often baffled of how little knowledge our local press has with what our recruiting plans. Stoggins was a thing out of the blue and no one on your staff even knew we were after this guy. I think Debbie Yow is the only other person who know less about our recruiting efforts then the Sun staff.

Given that Lance has said he's a big Steve Francis fan, I'm wondering if Gary will call Steve for a favor. I think having him meet Lance could be a selling point, as he's be able to tell him what playing at Maryland is like.

Rob:

Neither Williams nor anyone on his staff may discuss Stephenson's recruitment. Doing so would be an NCAA violation.

John:

Pearman will not have a scholarship for next season. His was simply a year-to-year consideration and it has already been claimed by Padgett/Williams (i.e., the other available scholarship besides Neal's.)

Matt:

What have you specifically heard about Vinson's preference for UMass over Maryland, et al.? All I've ever heard regarding his preference since his decommitment to LMU is that he "likes" Maryland, with the true hold-up being the lack of an available scholarship. Of course, that was a while ago.

Finally, and although it is a recent development, do you have any news regarding Maryland's chances at or interest in the 2010 PF from Baltimore that just decommitted from Xavier? I understand that he is a pretty highly ranked recruit.

Rob -- schools cannot comment about any recruits. The information mainly comes from the recruit or their people. It's not like Lance has a PR dept. that Matt can call. Obviously this Adam Z guy has access, my guess is it is pretty exclusive. Matt talks directly to a number of recruits and cites sources for other info. With regard to Stoglin, web sites dedictated to recruiting didn't know about it either.

Rob -- Terp'n Texas and Skin covered the issue with college staffs discussing recruiting (thanks guys). Zags is really connected in NYC and has great info, and the roundup is all about compiling other sources of information. I'm a sports producer first, recruiting writer second, so most of the work I do for The Sun is behind the scenes on the web site. The majority of the writing and reporting I do is from home, off the clock. If you're looking for more recruiting info, I'd recommend checking out TerpCenter.com or TerrapinTimes.com. Both are great sites.

Terp'n Texas -- Vinson has a really good relationship with Derek Kellogg at UMass. Kellogg recruited him while he was an assistant at Memphis, so they've known each other awhile. I'm not saying Vinson will definitely go there, because Maryland makes a ton of sense and it was his childhood favorite. But Vinson committed to Loyola Marymount in the first place in part because of a preexisting relationship with the coach, and the opportunity to be the man from day one. UMass offers similar opportunities. Still, it wouldn't shock me if he ends up at Maryland either. As for Latham, he'll wait to see who Xavier hires. Maryland didn't offer him the first time around, but a source from City said they are one of many schools to have called since Sean Miller left for Arizona. Click here for a wrap on Latham's junior year.

Not sure if it means much, but ESPN.com has Maryland as the frontrunner for Vinson's commitment. I hope we get him because we need someone to turn this program around.

Thanks for the feedback and that makes sense. I did not know if our program was more closely guarded about our recruiting efforts . I also did not know that was the case that UM staff could not even say if we were in the mix or not on some particular guys. How does Scout.com update their recruiting info., by talking directly to the players or from sources? Thanks for the clarity TNT, Skin and Matt.

Do you have any info on Roscoe Smith? Is he still leaning toward UNC?

Maryland's recruiting prowess or even lack thereoff always surprises me...it always seems our recruits seem to come out from no where....always expect the unexpected with the Terps

We can't land everybody. I say go after and sign the kids that "WANT" to play at MD, "WANT" to wear the Terp colors,"WAMT" an education from MD,"WANT" to play for GW. Let the other undecided wishy washy recruits go elsewhere for a year, try the NBA and get cut or not drafted. Our Team and University will be better off for it.

I hope he goes to UM. We want Xavier Henry at Kansas. He's way better.

It appears the door to Kansas has closed on Stephenson. The Jayhawks have no scholarships to offer.

I'm still not sold that he's going to St. John's. I believe the Terps are still in the mix.

A lot of the time these so-called "insiders" are wrong. It's not like they are eating dinner with the Stephenson every night or talking to his parents 3 times a day.

COLE AND SHERRON BOTH ELECTED NOT TO GO PRO (If you are a Kansas player, you might want to stay out of Bill Self's office for a while.)

Hey Terp fans, here's an update.
Kansas was actually two over the scholarship limit without any new commitments. http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=3928144. However, (as was pointed out to me) after meeting with Bill Self, two Kansas players,Tyrone Appleton and Quintrell Thomas, have elected (with Bill Self's strong approval) to ask for releases so that they can transfer. http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040909aaa.html

This means that Kansas is at the scholarship limit. Unless someone else transfers from Kansas or goes Pro, KANSAS HAS NO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE.

The thought was that Cole Aldrich and or Sherron Collins (Kansas' star point guard) was going to go pro. This would open up one or two more scholarships.

Unfortunately for any recruit hoping to go to Kansas, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins HAVE BOTH ELECTED NOT TO GO PRO AND WILL BE RETURNING FOR ANOTHER YEAR. http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/041309aaa.htm.

IT APPEARS KANSAS IS NO LONGER AN OPTION for any new recruit, unless Bill Self starts calling more players into his office.