Weekly recruiting roundup
St. Anthony (N.J.) forwards Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier both piqued the interest of the Maryland staff this summer.
Now Collier is apparently mulling a visit to College Park while Pankey has already scheduled an official trip for Maryland Madness on Oct. 16.
[New Heights AAU coach Jeff] Rivera said Pankey’s list included Maryland, Drexel, Houston, Rice, Hofstra and Oregon State.
• Adam Zagoria reports that Dix Hills, N.Y., power forward Tobias Harris plans on visiting Maryland.
[Tobias’ father] Torrel [Harris] did not want to make the visit dates public, but after Tennessee Tobias will tentatively visit Kentucky (Oct. 16 for Big Blue Madness), Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland in that order.
• Holly Springs, N.C., power forward C.J. Leslie’s list of schools appears to be expanding.
[Word of God coach Erasto] Hatchett said the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie is considering Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Florida and Florida International.
• Former Walbrook and current Oak Hill (Va.) small forward Roscoe Smith has scheduled three official visits.
Georgetown gets Smith's first visit, which is scheduled for this weekend. Smith plans to visit Duke the weekend of Oct. 9 before heading to Connecticut the following weekend.
• Roanoke, Va., center Josh Henderson has trimmed his list to four schools.
Cave Spring's 6-foot-11 senior center Josh Henderson has trimmed his recruiting list to four schools -- Davidson, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Virginia -- Knights' basketball coach Billy Hicks said Tuesday.
Henderson has eliminated Maryland, where his father, David, played from 1976-80.
• Charlotte, N.C., small forward Akil Mitchell -- who received some interest from Maryland but no offer -- committed to Virginia this week.
Mitchell, who wound up choosing Virginia over SMU, Liberty and UNC Greensboro, among others, says the combination of athletics and academics is what made Virginia so appealing. Mitchell, a very good student, hopes to major in business.
Football
• Maryland is still in the mix for defensive end J.R. Ferguson, a former St. John’s Catholic Prep standout who now plays for Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy.
J.R. Ferguson (6'3-275), a 4-star recruit out of Frederick, Maryland, will probably line up at DE in college. He has good pass rush skills and had 14 sacks in 2008. He has paired his finalists to Miami, LSU, Notre Dame, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Fla. St.
• Pittsburgh Penn Hills wide receiver-defensive back Brandon Ifill told Scout.com that Maryland is one of his two favorites.
“Maryland and Pittsburgh are on top right now because I feel the most comfortable there,” Brandon Ifill said.
• Two Maryland commitments are on The Washington Post’s All-Met watch list -- Atholton receiver-defensive back Matt Robinson and St. John’s (D.C.) defensive tackle Andre Monroe.
Maryland recruit had six tackles and two sacks in a 49-14 victory over Carroll.
• Archbishop Carroll (D.C.) lineman Nate Clarke, a Terps recruit, has been picked to play in the Maryland Crab Bowl.
Categories: Weekly recruiting roundup
Comments
Matt
I was reading where in all likelyhood, Burney's career is done. That is the 5th scholarship for next year, right? Thats why the terps are pushing so hard for Kirk and Harris.
Posted by: Ryan | October 2, 2009 2:20 PM
Awesome as always Matt. Keep up the good work. I always look forward to your Friday wrap-up.
Posted by: Dave | October 2, 2009 2:24 PM
Just saw where Gary added another recruit.Does anyone know who it is yet.Look forward to your post every week Matt .Great job and thank you very much.
Posted by: Tim | October 2, 2009 3:42 PM
There are two scholarships for 2010 now that Burney's basketball career is over. Most reports suggest Williams knew sometime last week of Burney's situation which would explain overtures to Collier and Pankey this week as well as rumors the Terps are renewing efforts at Hippo and possibly Graham.
This week's news on Burney had no impact on their pursuit of any of the top tier players, including Kirk. What it does do is allow the Terps to pursue more frontline players without having to worry about Harris or Leslie or Kirk committing. The Terps were in a somewhat awkward position while they waited for Harris, leslie and Jones. They couldn't offer other players, but ran the risk of getting shut out if they didn't land one of the premier players.
That is why they are now pursuing other players that had been on their short list. Kirk, I think it is fair to say, has always been a long shot. Regardless, the Terps can now offer and sign a big man like Pankey and still wait on a top tier player.
In a strange way, it's a blessing for the program, though by all acounts, Burney was a good kid and an excellent student.
Not sure if anybody noticed, but Leslie's list of schools keeps going up. I think he lists 12 schools now. While I still think we have a legit shot at Harris, I'd be just as happy with two from the Collier, Hippo, Pankey and Graham group.
Posted by: Go Terps | October 2, 2009 10:46 PM
I like St Anthony's ball so my short list includes Collier and from Miller Graham. Packing up the front court is good. The back court looks nice. Next year he can round out any short comings for '11 and then go out with a bang in '12 and '13. He can bring down the house with more than his fist if he keeps the heat on.
Posted by: KraftPaper | October 5, 2009 7:30 AM
I agree with Kraft paper. 2011 will be Gary's last recruiting cycle and he sticks around until 2013 or 2014. You never really know how players will turn out, but the Terps have put together a formidable group of players. It gives Gary a shot at another title, which I think he will get.
Posted by: Go Terps | October 6, 2009 9:30 AM
Kirk comitted to New Mexico yesterday.
Posted by: Go Terps | October 6, 2009 10:53 AM
Desmond Hubert is a Terp for 2011!
Posted by: Gary Fan! | October 7, 2009 8:59 PM
Gary Fan---do you mind sharing a source for that? I can't find it anywhere.
Posted by: Terp in NY | October 8, 2009 8:19 AM
Sorry misread, he was offered a scholarship instead of accepting one.
Posted by: Gary Fan! | October 8, 2009 11:00 AM