• Two Maryland women's recruits will try out for the U.S. U-18 national team.

Incoming Maryland women's basketball freshmen Alyssa Thomas and Laurin Mincy were invited to partake in the 2010 USA Basketball women's U18 national team trials June 8-11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. They will be among 26 players battling for 12 roster spots on the 2010 USA Basketball women's U18 national team that will compete in the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 championship June 23-27 in Colorado Springs.

Football recruiting

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Terps fullback commitment Tyler Cierski is arguably the top returning starter for Mill Creek (Ga.).

The team’s best player may be fullback Tyler Cierski, who had 82 carries for 329 yards and four TDs. The 6-foot, 245-pounder has committed early to Maryland.

• UM defensive end signee Clarence Murphy, his coach and three Hollywood Hills (Fla.) teammates were given the Leo Suarez/Walter Krietsch Courage Award at the Miami Herald All-Broward Athletic Awards on Wednesday.

``This is a life-changing event,'' said Murphy, who will play collegiately at the University of Maryland next year. ``It brought us closer as friends, and we just cherished that moment together.''

• The Sporting News has named DeMatha offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio its No. 1 overall prospect for the class of 2011.

Auburn, California, Clemson, Florida, LSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UCLA and USC are just a few of the schools that have offered scholarships, as well as nearby programs like Maryland, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Virginia and West Virginia. While he has no leaders and no top 10, he did tell Sporting News that he will try to take unofficial visits to Clemson, Alabama and UCLA soon, and he’d like to take his official visits after his senior season.

• ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman conducted a Q&A with St. John's (D.C.) defensive tackle Kevin McReynolds, who has emerged as a national recruit.

Next Friday is my last exam and then I have prom and after that I'm getting on a plane to go to New York to Rutgers. From there, I get on another plane to go to Alabama to see Auburn. From there, I go to see Arkansas. Then, I come back here for three days. After that, I head to Oregon. Then, I go down the coast to see USC and UCLA and then to Arizona State. I'm racking up the frequent flier miles. Then, I go down to Texas and I'll see some family and maybe go to TCU.

• Good Counsel cornerback and Maryland target Blake Countess impressed scouts at a recent Nike camp in Alabama.

Another corner who came in to the camp with a big reputation and definitely lived up to it was Blake Countess (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel). Countess was very active during the 7-on-7 session and took as many reps as any of the defensive backs. His ability to break on the ball and his quickness in exploding out of his backpedal were very impressive.

• PennLive.com has a few notes this week on Jamal Abdur-Rahman, a running back from Wyndmoor, Pa.

Abdur-Rahman is generating some Division-1 interest – he’s had a scholarship offer from Maryland for quite a while and has received interest from schools like UCONN, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Virginia, according to his profile on Rivals.com.