Weekly recruiting roundup
The word on Will Barton's game is officially out.
The Lake Clifton shooting guard and Maryland target is now the No. 10 player in the country according to Scout.com’s class of 2010 rankings, which were released earlier this week.
Speaking of jumps: Will Barton. Maybe everyone should have seen this coming? Either way, his state championship at Lake Clifton was legit and so was his exhilarating performance at the Boo Williams earlier this month.
Other Maryland targets on Scout.com’s top 75 list include: Walbrook small forward Roscoe Smith (17), Long Island, N.Y., power forward Tobias Harris (31) and Miller School (Va.) small forward Mychal Parker (32). Maryland shooting guard commitment Terrence Ross checked in at No. 68 on the list.
Barton, Smith, Ross, Parker and a host of other Maryland targets will take part in Saturday’s I-95 Elite Challenge at St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore. The four all-star games pit Baltimore’s best against D.C.-area players. The class of 2013 game tips off at 3 p.m. The 2010 contest starts at 7 p.m. Click here for rosters and additional info on the event.
• New Virginia coach Tony Bennett is making the AAU rounds in the Old Dominion state, with Mychal Parker’s program near the top of his list.
Standouts in [Tony] Squire's program include Mychal Parker, a 6-5 junior at the Miller School near Charlottesville. U.Va. is among the schools pursuing Parker.
• Maryland power forward target DeShawn Painter updated The Virginian-Pilot on his recruitment this week.
Painter visited Virginia Tech last weekend. He’s scheduled to visit N.C. State this weekend and Maryland May 8.
“Florida just wasn’t the best fit for me,” he said Wednesday night. “I’m just trying to find the right fit and stay close to home, near my family, so they can actually see me play.”
• There appears to be no end in sight in the Lance Stephenson recruitment. The Brooklyn (N.Y.) Lincoln shooting guard is still figuring things out, according to SNY.tv’s Adam Zagoria.
“They’re not close to making any type of decision. It’s not even close,” said a source with direct knowledge who had communicated with the Stephenson family. “There’s no timetable.”
Arizona’s the latest school to try and get involved in the Stephenson sweepstakes, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
There's also an outside chance that the Wildcats will get a look from top-10 wing Lance Stephenson of New York.
• Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News has a few additional tidbits on the Stephenson recruitment.
The longer the Lance Stephenson sweepstakes goes on, the less we like St. John's chances to land the 6-6 McDonald's All-American from Lincoln. We know Lance's people contacted Kentucky after Xavier Henry chose Kansas over the Cats and Memphis and Arizona are also involved, along with Maryland.
Football recruiting
• Ralph Friedgen and the Maryland staff have apparently been spending a lot of time around the DeMatha football program. According to The Washington Post’s Josh Barr, Maryland has offered eight Stags players.
"We've never had anything like this before," [DeMatha coach Bill] McGregor said. "Truthfully, if you get one or two from the University of Maryland, that's a lot."
The Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan is also involved with several DeMatha juniors.
Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha is one of the top talent-producing programs on the East Coast. U-M went to the school last week and offered four prospects: safeties Jeff Knox, Lorenzo Waters and Michael Coley and offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio.
Kouandjio’s younger brother Cyrus, a 2011 prospect, picked up an offer from the Terps recently.
“Maryland just offered me a verbal today,” Kouandjio said. “They are like five minutes away from my house. I like that there are players I know up at Maryland, Pete DeSouza and Kenny Tate.
“I actually visit there twice a month.”
• Pittsburgh Penn Hills wide receiver Brandon Ifill told ESPN.com last week that the Terps are at the top of his list.
"I really liked Maryland," Ifill said. "I was really impressed with what I saw. I was impressed with the coaching staff and the campus. Right now my favorite would probably be Maryland."
• Magruder wide receiver Karim Jones took a recent trip to College Park, according to Rivals.com.
“I went to Wake Forest, Maryland and Towson,” he said. “They were all great.
“Wake Forest made the biggest impression on me because I was sold on their graduation rates for the players.
• PennLive.com reports that State College, Pa., offensive tackle Jack Deboef sports an offer from the Terps.
Offensive lineman Jack Deboef owns five offers: Maryland, NC State, Purdue, Temple, and Buffalo have offered the 6'8, 265-pound lineman. Iowa, Penn State, and West Virginia are also showing interest in Deboef, who runs a 5.3 40-yard dash, Rivals.com reports.
Categories: Weekly recruiting roundup
Comments
Matt-
Any word of the Steve Goins transfer situation? I've seen a bunch of rumors but they all seem to cite the same source.
Posted by: jtangelo | May 1, 2009 12:32 PM
Shocker..Zagsblog has MD out of the running again for Stephenson, it states our stuctured system and the UA event leading to a possible recruiting problem as LS's reasons not to come to UMD. Adam Zagoria, you are a dumbazz. All of my sources say you SUCK!
Now that Barton is a top 10 recruit, does that take us out of the picture? It has been said that he is leaning heavily towards Kentucky now. Any word?
Barton, Smith, Parker, Painter and Harris...Be a Terp!
Posted by: Rob | May 1, 2009 2:32 PM
jtangelo -- I've seen the Goins reports but the school hasn't commented yet as far as I know. InsideMDSports.com and TerrapinTimes.com have both reported it, and they're usually on the money.
Rob -- I'm sure UM will keep battling for Barton. I'll try and catch up with him at the I-95 Challenge tomorrow.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | May 1, 2009 4:04 PM
matt- what does your gut say on Painter? I think the Terps would be so much better off if they added painter and lost Vasquez. I know GV was the only reason the terps did anything last year, but, with a couple capable big men, and Mosley growing offensively, they are much better going with Bowie on point, a pass first PG, to get it too the bigs and Let Mosley and Hayes work the perimeter bouncing off screens. Then everyone will be in on the offense and they should be much better.
Also, Ross is huge, no doubt, I think his rating will increase after his Senior year into the top 35 or so. Just look at that windmill dunk clip on youtube. That is a pure super atheltic dunk, the kind of stuff MD has not had since Wilcox. However, I think the terps HAVE to land 1 of the other local studs of that class. It would put them back in the National top 5 and be huge for the next recruiting decade.
Smith would actually probably be better for them now that they have Ross, but, Ross and Barton together with Bowie as a senior running point, could be an amazing 1.2.3.
I just don't know if I have the faith in the Coaches recruiting yet, despite landing Ross.
What do you think?
Posted by: Ryan | May 2, 2009 8:42 AM
Ryan -- Painter sounds like a Terps/Hokies battle, but I can't say I have a gut feeling either way. I think Vasquez coming back would be best for the program, certainly in the short term. I'd agree with you on UM needing to land one more marquee guy for the 2010 class. It would be nice if he were local, but you wouldn't complain if it were someone like Tobias Harris or Mychal Parker. Either of those two would be ideal. I think the staff is working really hard and doing everything in its power to ensure a strong class. Whether those efforts are rewarded remains to be seen, but the staff is doing what you'd want them to do.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | May 2, 2009 4:34 PM
Matt,
Just wanted to see if you had a chance to talk to Barton and Smith? Thanks for the updates and staying on top of this for us. It must be turning into a full time job. Do you think something big is about to happen at UMD?
Barton, Smith, Harris, and Parker...be a Terp!
Posted by: Rob | May 2, 2009 6:28 PM
Rob -- Thanks for the kind words. It's definitely been busy around here. I did speak with Smith and Barton, although Smith didn't say too much regarding schools. I don't get the sense that something big is brewing, but the Ross commitment came out of nowhere, so you never know.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | May 2, 2009 9:21 PM
Terps need another good guard like Barton for future. Any word on where Goins is going?
Posted by: Max | May 4, 2009 11:31 AM
The vacillating saga of Lance Stephenson defines in a nutshell why he may not be a good choice for the Terps.
However, no matter what anyone says, I think Maryland has a decent shot at him anyway.
I would totally dismiss any of Zags' meanderings however. Remember, a few weeks he was basically insinuating that Stephenson was a lock for St. John's.
Matt, I think you do a great job here on this blog, but I think you are putting too much stock in Zagoria.
Posted by: Charles | May 4, 2009 11:32 AM
Way to go Karim Jones.
Someone who actually feels graduation is important.
Go to Wake. MD. doesen't graduate players.
Posted by: Dave Keith | May 10, 2009 7:56 AM
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11735696
According to this article most schools are backing away from Stephenson.
Posted by: JW | May 11, 2009 1:17 PM
I'm not sure if this is true, but Arizona has withdrawn its offer to Stephenson. I'm starting to think maybe he got in some sort of trouble with the law. Maybe it's still in due process and schools are waiting for the result.
Posted by: Charles | May 12, 2009 12:44 PM