Weekly recruiting roundup
Six ACC basketball programs have top 20 recruiting classes thus far for 2010.
So where does Maryland stack up against its in-conference rivals? According to Rivals.com’s recently updated class rankings, the Terps are 10th nationally and fifth in the ACC, behind North Carolina (4), Wake Forest (5), N.C. State (7) and Virginia (8), and ahead of Florida State (19).
Maryland is experiencing a recruiting resurgence with its 2010 class. Gary Williams locked up a couple regional four-star prospects in Ross and Parker. Ross is an athletic wing who can shoot with range. Parker is a skilled and versatile combo forward. Williams looked westward to land Stoglin, a Rivals150 scoring guard out of Arizona.
• Desmond Hubert, a junior center from Cream Ridge, N.J., picked up a Maryland offer recently, according to ESPN.com.
"It was real cool because like to me, coach Williams is up there with [North Carolina's] Roy Williams and [Duke's] Coach K in the ACC," Hubert said. "He's a really good coach, he's been there for a long time. He knows what he's doing."
• Maryland power forward target Tobias Harris will take an official visit to Tennessee this weekend, according to GoVolsXtra.com.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Harris will attend the Vols’ football game against Georgia at 12:20 p.m. Saturday where he’ll find himself immersed in a sea of orange.
• Los Alamos, N.M., center Alex Kirk made a commitment to New Mexico earlier this week.
“There has been a lot of support to stay locally,” Kirk’s father and head coach at Los Alamos, Allen Kirk, said. “At some point I think Alex decided he wanted to stay out west, although Maryland showed a lot of interest until the end before he settled in on Arizona and New Mexico.
• Kentucky fans are confident in the Wildcats’ chances of landing a commitment from Holly Springs, N.C., power forward C.J. Leslie. (Credit to Testudo Times for the link.)
• If SLAM’s Nolan Shulman could build the ultimate floor general, he would use the jump shot of 2011 Terps target Trevor Cooney.
More of a combo guard than a true lead man, Cooney has a chance to have a similar impact on the college game as JJ Redick and Gerry McNamara. The country’s best shooter can knock it down off the curl, the dribble or with his feet set. Simply put, he’s a one man zone buster.
Football recruiting
• Maryland is in good position with Norcross, Ga., offensive lineman Max Garcia, a former teammate of freshman running back D.J. Adams.
OL Max Garcia (6-5 275) of Norcross, GA, who has Clemson, Maryland, and Vanderbilt as his final three, took an official visit to College Park last weekend and loved the visit. "I loved everything about it," he said. "The players, the coaches, the atmosphere, everything. If I had to choose a school right now, it would be Maryland just because I've been there."
• DeMatha offensive lineman Shane Johnson is still formulating his list of official visits.
Johnson has offers from USC, Cal, Maryland, Virginia, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, New Mexico, Deleware, BC, Wake Forest, Pitt, Syracuse, and Rutgers. He has been to a couple of Maryland games this year and likes the program.
• Maryland athlete commitment Matt Robinson had a big game at wide receiver for Atholton last Saturday in the Raiders’ 32-14 win over Oakland Mills.
Matt Robinson led the Raiders with four catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
• River Hill offensive lineman Max Coale has started to receive interest from the Terps, according to The Washington Post.
Suddenly, though, according to River Hill Coach Brian Van Deusen, interest in Coale from higher-profile programs has spiked in just the past two weeks. Maryland and Michigan State, Van Deusen said, have shown the most interest, with Terrapins recruiting coordinator Dave Sollazzo asking Van Deusen earlier this week for more highlight tape of Coale. Stanford and Duke have also called about Coale.
Comments
YES !! - where is duke
Posted by: pepper | October 9, 2009 5:47 PM
Pepper:
Right or wrong, class rankings are based on size as well as quality. For example, if a school had only a single scholarship to give and landed the top player in the country, it still may not be sufficient to qualify as a top 20 class while on the other hand, a school that lands 3 4-star recruits will likely obtain such a ranking.
As for Duke, I'm not really sure what its scholarship situation is, however, it enjoys the same advantage as Florida State has had with many of its past top 5 ranked football classes. That is, much like Florida State used to be, Duke is already "in" on all of the top-rated talent, so it merely sits back and watches recruits' senior seasons to see which players further develop versus those who regress and end up signing who it generally wants near or at the national signing day. Obviously, the longer a school can delay a decision (offering a scholarship) on a player, the more questions regarding same can be answered which, in theory, adds greater certainty to the inexactness that is the recruiting process. At that time, Duke's ranking will immediately escalate.
Frankly, despite its national rating, I'm still surprised by Maryland's "low" recruiting position within the conference and, particularly, below that of NCSU and UVA. Clearly, those schools have more "holes" to fill and, therefore, present a greater attractiveness to recruits for immediate playing time, but NCSU's present ranking does not even include C.J. Leslie. Virginia's ranking indicates that Bennett may be a force to be reckoned with, although Leito, too, experienced some immediate recruiting success that never truly translated on the court.
Posted by: Terp'nTexas | October 10, 2009 2:31 PM
Please tell me that we are not taking Tobias to a UMD game on his visit like they did at TN. How about a UMD soccer game instead ( I heard they are good). Also it short ride to a good a strip club in DC? Unfortunately it sounds like he had a great time on his trip. This is another reason Old Ralphie Boy needs to go. Programs usually feed off on another. Hard to get a b-ball recruit excited about coming MD when your football team can't even beat Middle TN. I'm starting to think we are not going to land this kid. I also think that Stoglin is going to fly the coup as well. Then you might see others start to question there verbals and we are back to where we were last year. I hope this is not the case. Without Tobias this is a good class, but not a great one.
Posted by: Rob | October 11, 2009 7:49 PM
ok, but for whatever reason, md does much better being in the middle position then when they get the top picks...ie juan dixon, steve blake and company. maybe the wrong "top picks"...dont know. just seems that gary works better with the blue collar players (like him maybe).
Posted by: pepper | October 11, 2009 11:15 PM
Matt, this is the second time I heard someone say Stoglin's commitment is wavering. Any truth to this?
Posted by: Mitch | October 12, 2009 8:27 AM