Weekly recruiting roundup
With the fall signing period for basketball three months away, the Maryland staff continues to identify new targets for the 2011 recruiting class.
InsideMDSports.com's Jeff Ermann reported this week on Jacob Lawson, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward from Oak Ridge (N.C.) Military Academy. The three-star prospect is considering the Terps.
Lawson is focused on six schools, said his father, Louis Lawson: Maryland, Ole Miss, Purdue, Seton Hall, Tennessee and West Virginia. Others, such as Georgetown, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, have offered, and Lawson's father said he hasn't shut the door on anything.
• The Slipper Still Fits, a Gonzaga fan blog, conducted a Q&A with TexasHoops.com writer Blue Zertuche about Terps forward target Antwan Space.
Blue Zertuche: He is looking to make an impact. At the high school level he is a dominant player, and he wants to go somewhere he can instantly step into a role and help the team out. I really believe that is his goal. Antwan is a very intelligent kid. He really does know what is going on with his recruitment, from the standpoint of he knows which team has spots available and he knows where he will be able to step in immediately.
Out of those five schools that he mentioned (Gonzaga, Maryland, Missouri, Florida St., Arkansas), they are all pretty much selling him an impact role in their system.
• The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported this week that UM is back in the running for shooting guard Jabari Brown .
Maryland has scheduled a home visit, as have Washington, Oregon, DePaul and Georgia Tech, according to David Brown. He said the family is trying to schedule a home visit with Cal coach Mike Montgomery on Sept. 28.
• Norcom (Va.) forward Dorian Finney-Smith will announce his college decision on Sept. 28, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Finney-Smith, a 6-foot-7 forward, narrowed his list to Virginia Tech, Florida and Old Dominion. Virginia and Maryland were recently cut from his final choices.
• Malcolm Gilbert, a three-star center who received some Maryland interest, has committed to Pittsburgh.
Gilbert, who plays for the The Academy of the New Church Boys School in Bryn Athyn, Pa., chose Pitt over Ohio State, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Football recruiting
• Terps offensive line commitment Andrew Zeller receives top billing in The York (Pa.) Dispatch's football preview.
The biggest of the big guys is Andrew Zeller, a 6-6, 290-pound senior offensive and defensive lineman. Zeller's campus residence next year will be in College Park, Md., where he'll play on scholarship for the University of Maryland Terrapins.
• CBS College Sports Network recruiting expert Tom Lemming had a quick update this week on DeMatha offensive tackle and Maryland target Cyrus Kouandjio.
Cyrus, who has the frame to weigh 330 in college, is a major national recruit with everyone from USC to UCLA to Notre Dame and Penn State on him. He recently visited Virginia Tech but the betting money is he will eventually follow his brother, Arie, who is also an offensive tackle who signed with Alabama in February.
• SB Nation D.C.'s high school football preview has notes on Kouandjio and Terps athlete pledge Delonte Morton.
[DeMatha boasts] no less than nine players who will likely be playing at Division I colleges next season. The leader of this group is offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio, who is ranked as the seventh best prospect in the class of 2011. His brother, Arie, was a top recruit in 2010 and may start at tackle for Alabama this year as a true freshman. DeMatha also features Delonte Morton, a bruising running back who will stay home and play for the Terps next season.
