City's Nick Faust closing in on his decision
Time is winding down in the recruitment of City shooting guard Nick Faust.
The 6-foot-5, 175-pound senior is fresh off a trip to College Park for Maryland Madness and has plans to make an official visit to Villanova this weekend.
After that, the consensus four-star prospect will make his decision during a special on ESPNU scheduled for Oct. 28. In addition to the Terps and Wildcats, Florida State also remains under consideration.
“I want him to have a clear mind before the beginning of his season starts,” said Anthony Faust, Nick’s father.
Anthony Faust said his son had “a great experience” Friday night at Comcast Center. The Knights standout sat with Terps point guard commitment Sterling Gibbs behind the Maryland bench.
“I think the coaching staff is phenomenal,” Anthony Faust said. “Gary Williams is a man of his word. I think he seems very sincere. The whole coaching staff -- with Keith Booth and Bino [Ranson] -- are great coaches. … I just think that the school itself is a good atmosphere. It’s just my opinion, [but] I think it would be a good fit for him. But he has to make the decision.”
For each college visit, Anthony Faust said he focuses on the university’s academic programs and support system. He’s less concerned with basketball, and that will be no different this weekend when they check out Villanova. On the court, Faust thinks his son would fit in well with the Wildcats.
“Villanova, really, they’ve been involved for awhile, but they fell off and I guess they couldn’t get who they wanted to get and came back on board,” he said. “Nick likes Villanova. He likes their style of ball. I think the reason why he’s in tune with Villanova and with Maryland is because of the guard play. That really fits his profile of basketball.”
The Fausts don’t have a visit scheduled to Florida State, but Anthony Faust said he has been impressed with Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton.
“His style of coaching, the way he runs his offense around the guard and actually, how many guards he’s put in the league [is impressive],” Faust said. “I was really impressed by that, and that’s something that he didn’t tell me. It’s something I read up on their website when I looked him up.”
Over the past six months, Anthony Faust has witnessed his son rise from a lesser-known regional recruit to a highly touted, consensus high-major prospect who will announce his decision on national television. It’s a precipitous rise that wasn’t necessarily a surprise to Faust’s father.
“I always knew Nick had it in him,” he said. “It was just a matter of Nick wanting to put it to action because Nick was always a great ball player. He just had to put his mind together to let himself figure out that he was ready to explode. I don’t know if it was just timing, but I just think he put himself in a good position where he waited for his time and he started excelling.”
Baltimore Sun photo of Nick Faust by Gene Sweeney Jr. / March 16, 2010
Comments
PLEASE GO TO MARYLAND, NICK!
Posted by: steph | October 19, 2010 12:12 PM
I second Steph's comments. This kid will be the next superstar at UMD. He will turn the program from national contender to national champion & help us build that Baltimore pipeline for years to come. Go get em Gary & Bino
Posted by: terp fan number 1 | October 19, 2010 2:51 PM
While I believe he has been very polite and complementary to everyone involved in his son's recruitment, the one telling item I have repeatedly heard throughout young Mr. Faust's recruiting process is his father's unequivocal stated admiration for Williams' and his coaching staff's character. One would think that such a strong belief would carry substantial weight with his son. I hope he sees everything that his father and those of us who frequent this board see in UM. And, while I have absolutely nothing upon which to base this belief, I feel that his commitment may create a domino effect with one or more of the Terps' other targeted recruits.
Posted by: Terp'nTexas | October 19, 2010 4:42 PM
I hope he goes to Maryland, I think he will fit perfect in that system. He can do it all at the guard position. Gary, Booth and Bino....bring that Baltimore flavor to the Terps.......
Posted by: Bmore BBall | October 19, 2010 4:58 PM
no doubt it would be great to have faust sign with md. they need a big guard and it is very important to get the better players from balto to come to college park but calling him the next superstar is absurd. anyone remember danny miller top 10 recruit mcdonald's all american or travis garrison top 20 mcdonald's all american or mike jones the number 2 shooting guard behind lebron james. none of those highly recruited players ever lived up to the hype. going from h.s to college is a big jump. a 6-5 guard in h.s with skills is rare but there are plenty of 6-5 guards in college with great skills. the speed of the game is faster and the competition is better
Posted by: fkterp | October 19, 2010 5:03 PM
Ive seen Fausty play and he's pretty smooth for a city player, but is a scorer first. I think he'd be a great add to the program and would make Baltimore proud pretty much no matter what. A former terp who his game resembles would be laron profit, both get tons of points off slashing but would rather shoot it. Faust's form is better than profit's I think that if he joins a guard oriented offense he could average 20 points by the time he's a senior, but in the flex he'd average 16 or 17 but learn to hit the open man better. Depends what he wants his game (stats) to be, im hoping he chooses Red and white
Posted by: Ed OG | October 19, 2010 6:31 PM
Local kids that go to Maryland get a lot of love from the home crowd. Nick would definately get that going to UM. I just wish more local kids understood that ... I would think that would be appealling to them.
Posted by: cjazh | October 19, 2010 8:34 PM
You can never have enough slashing guards or local talent. Hope to see Faust in Red, Black & Gold next year.
Posted by: Mike in San Diego | October 19, 2010 10:35 PM
Faust as a soph and Jordan Williams as a senior might be the best team in the nation word to that.
We back baby. Hold it down for BMore and the entire state!
Posted by: BlackTony | October 19, 2010 11:33 PM
I really hope we get this kid. Let's not assume we got him though. Remember this is the great recruiting guru Gary Williams.
Posted by: B-raven | October 20, 2010 10:35 AM
Gary has always developed better guards for the nba - see dixon, blake, GV, Francis than he has done with Forwards (Joe Smith being an exception). Im not assuming we have him locked up or he wouldn't be going to NOVA this weekend. Going to MD makes so much sense its scary - we are in need of a scorer guard to compliment our stud Big man (JW) and have plenty of guys to get him the ball (PE'shon, stoges, gibbs) with a few role players for him to dish too (parker, mosely). Not to mention his family can watch him become a legend at UMD each week.
Posted by: bball expert | October 20, 2010 11:24 AM
Anyone who follows the local scene knows that this is a done deal. Faust is a Terp. Everyone is saying it and everyone is never wrong. I mean everyone - from the HS level on up. DONE.
We back.
Posted by: BlackTony | October 20, 2010 11:45 AM
BlackTony, I love the confidence. But I will agree with you once the man gives his word and signs the letter. I just don't understand why he would wait so long if it was a sure thing. Here's hoping you got your facts straight.
On another note, Stogs, Howard and Parker are the best conditioned freshman I can every remember in a long time. Seriously, those guys should give the football team some workout drills. I can't imagine what they will look like as juniors and seniors. Looking forward to some big things from this class. Land Faust and Baru and we definitely got something brewing.
Posted by: WhiteRob | October 20, 2010 1:44 PM
"WhiteRob":
When discussing conditioning, don't forget that Weijs was one the few team members who have already successfully completed the "22" drill. He may be thin and could use some additional strength, but he apparently runs like a 6'10" gazelle. That should cause some match-up problems. Likewise, Pankey, too, has also impressed everyone with his strength, physique and demeanor (his continuing recovery from that stress fracture will dictate his conditioning progression.) If his leg holds up, he just might be a surprise contributor this season.
Posted by: Terp'nTexas | October 20, 2010 3:23 PM