Weekly recruiting roundup
With in-home visits starting and official visits being scheduled, the Maryland men's basketball program remains in the mix for several highly touted big men.
New Egypt (N.J.) center Desmond Hubert has a list of seven schools he's still considering.
Hubert’s list currently includes Villanova, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Princeton, Maryland, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Testudo Times, meanwhile, pulled a tweet from Phenom Hoop Report that lists five official visits for Maryland power forward target Adjehi Baru.
Report Baru Official Visit dates: Charleston 9-24/25, VT 10-15/16, MD 10-22/23, UNC 10-29/30, USC TBA
• The Washington Post reports that Landon forward Darion Atkins, who drew some interest from Maryland, has committed to Virginia
Atkins, a 6-foot-8 senior who averaged 10.2 points last season, had taken an official visit to Virginia earlier this month then took an official visit to Notre Dame this past weekend. After returning, though, he was torn between the two schools and made another trip to Virginia.
Football recruiting
• Michelle King, the mother of Maryland wide receiver commitment Nigel King, told the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record that she's happy with her son's transfer to Oak Ridge Military Academy.
"Once Nigel committed, football wasn't a big deal to me because I know (Maryland knows) what he can do..." she said. "And even if the competition isn't what he's used to playing, then it's still great practice."
• Terps athlete pledge Delonte Morton suffered a sprained ankle last weekend in DeMatha's win over Friendship Collegiate.
"He's a heck of a player and you hate not to have everybody with us," [Stags coach Bill] McGregor said of the 6-foot-1, 249-pound Maryland recruit. "But it is what it is. We have good backs and other guys will have to step up like they did the other day."
• The Gazette this week profiled Cyrus Kouandjio, who leads DeMatha against Gilman on Saturday night.
Beltsville resident Cyrus Kouandjio of DeMatha High is one of the nation's most-sought-after recruits this fall. The 6-foot-7, 322-pound senior has a slew of college scholarship offers and is listed as the seventh-best recruit in the nation in the Class of 2011, according to Rivals.com. His play on the line is a key component to the running game that is the core of DeMatha's offense. The Stags take on Baltimore powerhouse Gilman School at 8 p.m. Saturday at Towson University's Unitas Stadium.
• UM athlete target Travis Hughes found the end zone three times in Kempsville (Va.) High's 35-26 loss to Ocean Lakes on Thursday.
Travis Hughes, Kempsville’s bruising running back, had been slowed with a sore ankle. He finished with 78 tough yards and three TDs.
Comments
Matt - Off subject, but I wanted to get your impression of Gary Williams' incoming freshmen. Do you see any of them as having the sort of impact on the program of which most think Jordan Williams is capable?
Here I'm thinking more long term over the course of his Terps' career, rather than just his freshman year, but factor that in, too.
The name that seems to come up the most is Mychal Parker. Do you concur with that assessment? Thanks.
Posted by: Ken Francis | September 17, 2010 2:52 PM
Ken -- I'd agree with your assessment on Parker having the highest long-term potential. He was a proven scorer in high school and on the AAU circuit, so he's definitely the one to watch. I think Howard is the most college ready of the bunch, and he'll probably see some minutes right off the bat. Stoglin's a tough one to project. You can't argue with his production, but I've heard/read varying assessments on his game. The other three are more in the sleeper mold. Palsson's a glue guy who some say needs to be more assertive, Pankey's coming off a serious injury and Weijs is a talented shot-blocker but needs to add weight/strength. There are a lot of variables in the class, but there's a lot to like.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | September 17, 2010 6:21 PM
What do you hear about Bino's first summer on the beat for Gary and MD?
Posted by: Ari | September 19, 2010 9:12 PM
Ari -- I'm hearing very positive things on Bino and the Terps. Players and coaches love the guy. He's really energetic and connects well with the kids. People in the Baltimore hoops scene love the hire.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | September 20, 2010 9:47 AM
Thanks for the response Matt. With such a big loss in Chuck Driesell it was great to see Gary make another hire with deep local ties to MD and Bmore. This was not the case in the past and led to some down years for the program with the bench staff turning over so frequently.
Posted by: Ari | September 20, 2010 7:03 PM