Weekly recruiting roundup
What had been rumored for months became official Thursday when City shooting guard Nick Faust announced his commitment to the Maryland men's basketball program during a live broadcast on ESPNU.
Faust's pledge gave the Terps one of their most high-profile recruits in years, which was noted in Thursday's commitment story that ran on the blog and in the paper. Here's a little more from Faust from Thursday's interview.
Faust said he made his decision “probably about a week ago” after sitting down with his family. Staying close to home was “kind of a deciding factor” for Faust. He told the Maryland coaches of his decision earlier in the week.
“They were just very happy for me,” Faust said. “But I don’t think they were too happy because they wanted it to actually [be said] nationally.”
Faust said the Terps’ staff is expecting a lot from him, but they’ve cautioned him that he has “to fill some shoes.” A good connection with the Maryland coaches was also an important factor for Faust. He called Gary Williams a “great guy” who was very straightforward throughout the recruitment.
And then there was Bino Ranson, the newest Maryland assistant and a St. Frances graduate.
“I’ve known him since I was about 9,” Faust said. “He used to come down to help us work out when we were little. … We have a great connection. He’s a great coach. He’s just a great person to have as a role model.”
Nike Baltimore Elite coach Carlton "Bub" Carrington has coached Faust since he was 8. No matter what school Faust had picked, Carrington had confidence in his ability.
"I think Nick is going to fit in ... because he can score the basketball and he’s going to rebound," Carrington said. "He can bounce, he can play in the halfcourt and he can shoot it. I just think regardless of the style of play, I just think this kid is destined to be a success."
• Fresh off a visit to Wake Forest, New Egypt (N.J.) center Desmond Hubert is headed to College Park this weekend, along with another highly touted big man.
Hubert is also considering Villanova, Princeton and Georgia Tech.
Hubert is one of several big men who will reportedly trip to Maryland this weekend, along with Antwan Space, a 6-8 PF from DeSoto, Texas.
• The father of St. Frances power forward Greg Lewis told Adam Zagoria that his son is down to Rutgers and Maryland.
“One of the things that stands out with Rutgers is the opportunity to play and the opportunity to develop,” Lewis Sr. said.”The location is wonderful. It’s not as close as Maryland, it’s about two and a half hours.”
• InsideCarolina.com's Rob Harrington offered a scouting report this week on Terps power forward target Adjehi Baru, who's making an official visit to Chapel Hill this weekend.
Whatever uncertainties exist, Baru is a very safe big man prospect due to his athleticism, length, leverage and toughness. While his offensive abilities are more of a mystery and too uncertain to place him at the McDonald’s All-American level, those other qualities should translate very well to the increased competition he’ll face in college.
Comments
Baru would be great but doesn't seem likely. Lets lock down Space and Hubert and this will be a great great class.
Posted by: Ben | October 29, 2010 2:12 PM
Hubert and Space will both verbal during Homecoming! Mark-it.
Posted by: Danny | October 29, 2010 5:09 PM
Matt-
Are Faust's academics solid? Do we know?
Again, I think it's a great start, but they need a big. A top big. Baru would be great, but Hubert huge too.
Either 1.
As far as football goes, I think we can all agree that MD not having a TV contract aside from the ACC's ESPN agreement, kills MD with a lot of the top kids.
Has there been any talk with MASN about maybe getting a deal done? THey are playing JMU vs. N Tenn Chatt, and MD is on the internet.
I mean, how can they recruit? It might almost make sense to GIVE the rights to a TV station for a few years, to get your recruitment up, then you can charge if the big networks want them.
Posted by: Ryan | October 30, 2010 6:35 AM
Lewis committed to Rutgers. Baru is an Ibekwe type....no offense and athleticism that does not translate onto the hardwood. Hubert is coming at the right time on the heals of Faust committing. That's promising. IF MD can get two big guys (I'm for Hubert and either Baru or Space) the team will have a great amount of talent in 2011. Exciting, except those are the teams Gary struggles with most. He's a superb teacher for those who need work but highly rated recruits do not historically do well in his system. I for one think it's not his fault as much as it's the BMOC high school egos that cannot be reigned in by discipline (see Gilchrist as a poster boy for that)
Posted by: johnny c | October 30, 2010 9:38 AM
From what I've heard, Faust is an extremely smart young man with great academics.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 30, 2010 10:00 PM
looks like space is heading to Fla. St. which is a shame for us.
Posted by: terp m.d. | October 31, 2010 11:34 AM
I agree with Ryan; there is no way that kids are going to consider Maryland a legitimate football school if we don't even have games on TV. How can you pitch a program when all of your games are online or on ESPNU, which hardly anyone gets. The contract the ACC has with ESPN is killing the Terps - we need to get the football games on TV!
Posted by: Zach | October 31, 2010 3:51 PM