Weekly recruiting roundup
Three Maryland football recruits suited up for the North squad Thursday night at the inaugural Chesapeake Bowl at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium. The statuses of their commitments, however, vary.
Red Lion (Pa.) offensive lineman Andrew Zeller said that while it was “a shame” to see Ralph Friedgen let go, he’s still on board with the Terps.
“Right now I’m currently committed. I’m going to stay committed,” Zeller said. I need to reevaluate the coaching situation and the whole new staff that’s going to be brought in. They said that a coach should be named by Jan. 4, so that’s just a couple days away. We’re going to see what happens, go down there and check things out and possibly take some more official visits.”
Zeller said the other schools that he’ll consider are Miami, Michigan State and Oregon.
Salesianum (Del.) School center Evan Mulrooney plans to visit another ACC school next month, but like Zeller, he remains committed to Maryland.
“Well with [Maryland offensive line] coach [Tom] Brattan, I still don’t really know what he’s doing,” Mulrooney said. “At this point, it’s still really get hired again or retire. So I’m still committed and everything, but I’m taking my official to N.C. State just for a backup plan and everything. … We’ll see what happens.”
Mulrooney said he bonded with Zeller and Point Pleasant Boro (N.J.) tight end Ryan Malleck in the days leading up to the Chesapeake Bowl, in addition to staying in touch with Charter School of Wilmington (Del.) running back Brandon Ross and Pope John (N.J.) linebacker Cole Farrand. The Terps commitments have discussed the coaching search and their plans for next year. Mulrooney said he’d be intrigued if former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach were hired.
“I know the spread is real quick with a lot of passes and everything,” Mulrooney said. “It would be great to work with someone like him. He just has a real potent offense, he’s just an offensive guru. It would be really cool to be under him. I’m sure whoever he would bring in for O-line is a good guy because they put a lot of numbers up back when he was at Texas Tech.”
Malleck, meanwhile, told InsideMDSports' Seth Hoffman that he could take visits to Miami, Nebraska, Rutgers and Vanderbilt.
“As of right now I’m still committed,” Malleck said. “I just want to talk to the new coach that comes in. I did open my recruiting again, I’m looking at a few other schools. I’ll probably take my four official visits before it’s all said and done.”
• The Boston Herald reported that Milford Academy (N.Y.) defensive back Rodman Noel still plans to head to College Park.
As for Rodman Noel, he told the Herald that he still plans on playing football at Maryland, despite the recent firing of Ralph Friedgen (the reigning ACC Coach of the Year).
• Boyd Anderson (Fla.) cornerback Corey Tindal, a one-time Terps target, has reportedly committed to Florida International.
Basketball recruiting
• Adam Zagoria spoke last week to Eugene McCrory -- a New Jersey prep school forward from Prince George's County -- about his recent interest from the hometown Terps.
A 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward who was once committed to Seton Hall, McCrory also lists Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Wagner, Clemson and Hofstra. He hopes to decide by January or February.
• Oakland Mills forward Greg Whittington scored 31 points in the Scorpions' 64-32 win over Western Tech on Tuesday and had a double double in a 61-50 win over Parkville on Wednesday.
In fact, the Scorpions only basket during the final seven minutes of the second quarter was a put-back dunk by Greg Whittington (14 points, 12 rebounds) with 1:54 on the clock.
• Maryland women's basketball commitment A'lexus Harrison was named The Baltimore Sun Girls Athlete of the Week.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore helped the No. 5 Rams to two victories last week, including a hard-fought 42-35 victory over National Christian Academy in which she had 19 points and 17 rebounds. Harrison, a point forward, also scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 68-19 win over Edmondson. Harrison, who averages 19 points and 17 rebounds for the 5-2 Rams, already has made an oral commitment to play for Maryland.
Comments
Matt, please keep up the good work, and HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!
Posted by: curt shaw | January 1, 2011 6:16 AM
Matt, Thanks again for the great reporting. Really looking forward to your insights as to how the hiring of Edsall will affect recruiting.
Posted by: CA Terp Fan | January 3, 2011 1:00 PM
curt shaw -- Thanks very much. Same to you.
CA Terp Fan -- Appreciate the kind words. I just posted a blog on a Scout.com analyst's take. I don't anticipate a huge uptick in recruiting. Friedgen and his staff were underrated on the trail, and early returns on the last couple classes are positive. Edsall, like Friedgen, seems like a no-nonsense guy who doesn't suck up to recruits. There are some similarities there, so a lot will depend on how Edsall fills out his staff.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | January 3, 2011 2:36 PM