Which Maryland commitment impressed you most this summer?

Well Mincy was out with an injury, so I didn’t have a chance to see her, but obviously she’s impressive. ... She’s just a really, really big-time scorer, with great size for the position and great quickness for the position. And she’s tough.

But Alyssa Thomas, by far, I think is the prize. Mincy is also a prize, but I think the one that makes the biggest impact on the program will be Thomas.

What makes Thomas so special?

Just her versatility and size. At 6-1, she can pretty much play five positions; she can defend all five positions. She has a strong build and is just a complete basketball player. She has a great understanding of the game, and [knows] how to play every position on the floor. She has great athleticism and is a very good decision-maker. She’s a really complete basketball player who also happens to be a very good athlete as well.

Do any of the three commitments remind you of anyone in particular?

I think there’s going to be some comparisons drawn between Marissa Coleman and Thomas simply because of her size. And physically, they’re somewhat similar in build. But one’s a righty and one’s a lefty. Whereas Marissa’s probably more of a dominant scorer, Thomas is more of a complete basketball player and I think her versatility is greater than Marissa’s. But I think Marissa’s ability to score the basketball is probably greater at this point. I think that’s mainly because Marissa was a scorer, whereas Thomas is an all-around player. She’ll fill the stat sheet in every possible category: assists, points, rebounds, steals, and she’ll probably have a blocked shot or two.

As a group, how does Maryland’s class stack up nationally?

It really depends on the total numbers. If they’re set with three commitments in comparison to any other program that may commit to sign three players, I think they maybe rank in the top three-to-five in the country for what they needed to address. I think they’ve done a wonderful job in terms of that. Depending on their overall depth of the other schools that sign five or six, they may end up being in the top five or six recruiting classes. But just overall, for what they got out of the needs they had, I think it would be a top three recruiting class. Because Mincy and Thomas, at the end of the day, will both be top 20 prospects, whereas Cloud is probably a borderline top 100 player. But anytime you can land two top 20 prospects, that automatically gets you in the top five, and with what they needed to address, that puts them in the three-to-five range.

Who else is Maryland looking at for the 2010 class?

It was my understanding that they were looking at shoring up their frontline and trying to get another post player. Who that post player is, I’m not sure. I don’t know who that would be.

Is Maryland still a hot name on the recruiting trail?

Oh, no doubt about it. I think anytime you get a national championship under your belt in recent years, I think any prospect in the country is going to entertain an offer from Maryland. So they’re recruiting nationally now. I don’t think they’re confined to the metro D.C. area. They’ve stepped into the northeast. [You’ve seen them go into] Jersey and Pennsylvania, and these are national-level players that they can get that are somewhat close to home. Coach [Brenda] Frese has done a remarkable job. She’s one of the hardest working head coaches in terms of recruiting in the country. The overall [impressions] of the student-athlete on Maryland is that it’s a top five, top 10 program that plays in arguably one of the top two or three conferences in women’s basketball. Girls get to play in front of big crowds on a nightly basis, and that’s always attractive.

How do you think Maryland will fare this year, considering the losses of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman, plus the transfers of Marah Strickland and Drey Mingo?

I see them being competitive in a league where every [top] program lost a significant contributor. Duke, Florida State, North Carolina -- all of those programs have lost a significant player. I think what now will show is that next-tier recruit who will be asked to step in the shoes of a departing all-conference caliber player, whether that be Coleman or Toliver at Maryland, or [Rashanda] McCants at North Carolina, or Chante Black at Duke. What’s going to be asked now is [for some younger players] to come in and make a contribution. From there, you’ll just have to see which freshman emerges as a perennial all-league player. I think Dara Taylor ... is capable of coming in and being able to be serviceable at the point guard position right away. And [Lynetta] Kizer could have a breakout sophomore year. I think she could possibly be all-league as a sophomore. I think right now, the league is really up in the air. It’s just a matter of what those returning players are able to bring to the table right away.