Weekly recruiting roundup
Senior year has been good to Oak Hill (Va.) Academy's Pe'Shon Howard.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound combo guard committed to Maryland last month, has improved his scoring ability throughout the season and become something of "a hoops socialite" on the circuit. Earlier this week InsideMDSports.com profiled the future Terp.
To top off all of the above, Howard has proven to be something of an advanced scout for the Warriors. A gym rat with an outgoing personality, he’s gotten to many of the top high school players in the country, both personally and in terms of learning their abilities and tendencies on the court. His phone is filled with numbers of other players, and when Oak Hill is facing a tough opponent, [Warriors coach Steve] Smith knows where to go for a scouting report.
• C.J. Leslie is apparently no longer considering Maryland. In his bi-monthly diary for HighSchoolHoop.com, the five-star power forward from North Carolina gave this Terps-less list of schools.
I’ve basically got the same list of schools: UCLA, Oregon, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky and N.C. State. That’s pretty much it. I’m looking to set some visits up soon. I’m not sure when, but my next visit will be to Florida. I’m still looking to cut my list down, I just have to find time to do that.
• Adam Zagoria checked in with New Heights AAU coach Jeff Rivera for an update on the injury to Maryland power forward commitment Ashton Pankey.
“Ashton’s surgery was successful. He will begin rehab in 4-6 weeks. He is extremely disappointed that he will not be able to play and help St. Anthony try to win another title as he worked hard over the summer to improve his game but he is looking forward to getting healthy for his freshman year at the University of Maryland,” said Jeff Rivera, Pankey’s AAU coach with New Heights.
• The Arizona Republic's Richard Obert named Terps point guard signee Terrell Stoglin one of the Top 10 players to watch entering Arizona's state tournament.
This 6 -1 senior point guard will have his toughest time reaching the 4A-II final after steering the Eagles there each of his first three seasons. Tucson Amphitheater stands in the way with its hectic pace. But Stoglin rises in the biggest games. He is the best at spacing and pulling up for big shots. But he is an even better passer.
• Former Maryland commitment Terrence Ross won't transfer to Westwind Academy in Phoenix after all. OregonLive.com's Tim Brown reported Tuesday that Ross is back at the place he began his high school career -- Jefferson High in Portland, Ore.
"The first thing is to get him in classes and make sure his academics are in order," said [Jefferson coach Pat] Strickland. "We are inquiring about his eligibility, but all of that is in the hands of our school administrators, so we're just waiting to see what happens."
There are no guarantees, however, that Ross will suit up for Jefferson this year.
A few hurdles have to be cleared before Ross can play. Jefferson coach Pat Strickland said he would have to talk to the team before allowing Ross to rejoin. Jefferson would then have to request a hardship waiver from the Portland Interscholastic League, since students who transfer during the middle of a school year are ineligible according to Oregon School Activities Association rules.
• Terps junior forward target Desmond Hubert reached a milestone Tuesday night.
Hubert has 1,009 for his career and is the second-player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-career point mark. Riverside, though, turned Hubert's performance bittersweet by nailing 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
• Two future Maryland women's players were selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game -- Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely center Alicia DeVaughn and Newark (N.J.) University High shooting guard Laurin Mincy.
"I was really surprised and honored,'' said Mincy, a two-time Star-Ledger State Player of the Year recipient and three-time First Team All-State selection heading to Maryland who has spent her senior year on the sidelines recovering from a pre-season knee injury. "It's a great accomplishment and should give me a boost of confidence going into college. I guess all my hard work has paid off. Looking back on my high-school career has been overwhelming.''
• DeVaughn's Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely squad recorded a 68-35 win over Palm Beach Lakes in the Florida Class 5A regional quarterfinals.
DeVaughn had a relatively quiet night with nine points as Ely utilized an effective perimeter game resulting in open looks for Talissia Carter and Kourtney Pendergrass, who combined for 12 points.
• Terps women's small forward pledge Alyssa Thomas led Central Dauphin (Pa.) to an 81-45 win over Bishop McDevitt.
Alyssa Thomas led a quartet of Rams in double figures with 23 points and 12 boards.
Football recruiting
• Wyndmoor (Pa.) running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman had good things to say about Maryland in this interview with Rivals.com.
“I plan on going to Maryland’s junior day this weekend,” he continued. “I’ve spoken to my position coach and I have a bond with them more than the coaches at any other school. They’ve just been with me from the beginning of the season.”
• Good Counsel junior cornerback Blake Countess told Rivals.com this week that he has offers from Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland, Notre Dame and Illinois.
“I like Notre Dame obviously,” he said. “It’s because of the history and I like Coach Kelly, and his attitude. I’ve called my position coach there too and he’s really cool as well.”
• Maryland is one of many schools interested in Manassas (Va.) athlete Dominique Terrell, according to InsideNoVa.com.
Terrell currently holds offers from 13 Division I programs: Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
• Clifton Richardson, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound athlete from Newport News, is another Virginia native on Maryland’s radar.
He already has a good head start on garnering his fair share of recruiting-service love, considering he has scholarship offers from Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Miami, South Carolina, East Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina State, Maryland and Old Dominion.
• Alabama hopes DeMatha junior offensive tackle and Terps target Cyrus Kouandjio follows his older brother Arie to Tuscaloosa.
Arie's brother is Cyrus Kouandjio, who is already projected to be one of the nation's top offensive line (and perhaps overall) recruits for next year's class. The younger Kouandjio already has a scholarship offer from Alabama, along with at least a dozen other programs from the ACC, SEC and elsewhere.
• Check out Testudo Times’ early introduction to Maryland’s 2011 football recruiting targets here.
Comments
Matt, As usual, great job putting this together. It is frustrating to read about the Terps ineffectiveness at recruiting top talent in FB or BB. I understand that we are not going to get the same talent as NC, Kentucky or Duke, but we should be able to pull in a local top recruit more than we do. Honestly, given the lack of tradition in FB, I think Coach Friedgen and his staff do a much better job attracting top talent than GW does. Not sure what the problem is there but the program clearly lacks mojo with local kids. Need to fix that.
Posted by: CA Terp Fan | February 12, 2010 2:46 PM
Frustrating that Leslie is not considering MD. He would have thrived playing next to Jordan Williams for a few years. Gary's work ethic and coaching would have ultimately helped him develope into a better player then the glamour programs who focus on recruiting and not coaching the kids up.
Ross is a trainwreck right now. Feel bad for the kid because it sounds like his mom is calling the shots. Vetter seems to have washed his hands of the situation and is probably embarrassed by it all.
Not worried about recruiting this weekend. Just want to go down and let Greivis win another one at his "house."
Posted by: TL | February 12, 2010 3:11 PM
I don't understand why it's frustrating that a young man is not considering playing basketball for MD. GW has already put together an excellent class. Again, it appears to be full of quality young men who want to better themselves academically and athletically. Why do we care about some mythical "recruiting rankings?" Who really cares? I understand that it's great for generating hype and interest in a program, but does it really matter in the end. Syracuse is a pretty good example of this. Their current team is made of a number of unheralded recruits and they've rolled through most of their opponents. It's not the recruiting rankings, it's the team. MD happens to consistently put a good team on the floor year after year and they do it the right way. Why be frustrated, why not be proud?
I don't see anyone getting upset when some National Honor Society students or perfect SAT high school seniors from Baltimore decide to choose UVA or Va Tech or Notre Dame. To hold the basketball team to this "higher" standard (especially when it doesn't mean much; one need only look to the heralded MD recruiting classes after MD won the NCAA championship -- what did they do?) only plays into this ridiculous mythical AAU filled nonsensical arms race that means, nothing.
Let's try and focus on the positive.
Posted by: Charles | February 13, 2010 10:33 PM
Charles,
I am and always will be very positive when it comes to GW. I have always supported him and always will.
Nice little rant that you had there. Sorry that you had a bad day but you were really taking my comment of "frustrating" out of context.
I said it was frustrating because it would be nice to see an athletic 3 or 4 play next too Jordan Williams for a few years. They would make a nice combo. Doesn't mean that I am not happy that Stoglin, Parker, Howard, and Pankey are coming too the Terps next season. I love the way Gary coaches up his team whether they are highly ranked recruits or not. But it would be nice to have a guy who is as athletic as Leslie is to play alongside Williams. Look at what GW teams do when they have a number of skilled big men. Lonnie Baxter and Chris Wilcox were a great duo. Joe Smith, Keith Booth and Mario Luxas played pretty well together as well.
Posted by: TL | February 16, 2010 2:24 PM