Maryland Basketball (some football) recruiting news (Shaq, Layman Commits!)

[Tulane Skins Fan]

What's the story with Nate Britt? Supposedly he hates the Harrison twins, but has been offered a scholarship as well?

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

What's the story with Nate Britt? Supposedly he hates the Harrison twins, but has been offered a scholarship as well?

Yep....the Harrison's hate Britt too. I mean REALLY hate him.

Nates's been offered but I think he's the fall back plan just in case the Harrisons don't commit.

[Goingforburgundy]

Britt has been talking with Nolan Smith who has a strong relationship with DC Assault so throw in duke and the rivalry grows

[GoSkins561]

These kids need to commit soon, what's the latest?

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Phew. The second basketball recruiting evaluation is officially over, and with it ends most of the massive series of events that make up AAU basketball. Rankings were made or lost, prospects found or forgotten, and tons and tons of news was made.

Did you miss any? Because I'm here to remind you of everything that happened in the action-packed last ten days.

The Harrisons are very good, and probably Maryland's top priority regardless of class. They showed out at the AAU Super Showcase, taking home the championship and playing better than probably any other prospects at the event. They've been dropping teasing little hints about their future destinations, listing a top 5 - including Maryland - and saying they probably know where they're going to commit. Rumors have been persisting ever since that it'll be a Maryland-Kentucky battle, with Maryland potentially having an upper hand based on their variety of connections to the twins and their father.

Meanwhile, Elijah Macon emerges. Macon has really sort of been on the backburner for most Maryland fans behind guys like Jefferson and local SF candidates like Arnaud Adala Moto and Jerami Grant. But he looked great with All-Ohio Red at AAU Nationals, taking home the championship as probably the best player on his team. He'd be a great fit for the team Maryland appears to be building: he's high-energy, can play the 3 or the 4, rebounds extremely well, is extremely athletic, plays strong defense, and even has a nice little jumper. He'd be great coming off the bench to spell or complement Cleare, McGary, Jefferson, Robert Carter, or even Prince Ibeh.

And the good news is that he truly does appear to like Maryland. From NBE:


Macon said that Maryland, Miami, Florida, West Virginia and Iowa are the schools coming at him the hardest. Thus far Macon has taken trips to Xavier, Cincinnati, West Virginia and USC.

"For my officials I'll probably take one to Maryland," Macon said. "Right now that's the only one I have lined up to take an official to. I'd probably take one to Iowa too, but Maryland is the only one I know [about] for sure."

Fingers crossed. I'd love to see him as a fourth member of the class.

It's looking like a doozy of a class, both in size and in quality. Without Hawk Palsson on the squad, I'm thinking Maryland takes six players in the class pretty easily. They have the space to do it now without sacrificing flexibility in 2013, so I'm expecting them to go for it. Really, I don't know if there's a reason not to do it.

And, strangely enough, it's a possibility - admittedly a slim one - that Maryland could land a class consisting of a group like Seth Allen, Shaquille Cleare, Mitch McGary, Elijah Macon, Jake Layman, and Amile Jefferson. Okay, more like a very slim chance, but Maryland legitimately has as good a chance at landing every single one of those prospects as any other school, and that's a rare occurrence. And yes, in case you were wondering - that class is tops in the country, regardless of what happens with Kentucky.

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/8/2...acon#storyjump

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

PG/SG Andrew/Aaron Harrison, Houston Defenders

Bio: 6'4", 205 lbs.

HS: Travis

I lumped the Harrisons in together because while everybody is caught up in how Andrew is the PG and Aaron is the SG, they have basically redundant skill sets. The recruiting services have finally caught on to the fact that Aaron is basically just as good of a ball handler and slasher as Andrew, although not quite as good of a passer, so we're hearing a lot of talk about how they're interchangeable now.

Offensively, both kids have solid, but not spectacular dribbling ability, very good form on their jumpers, and a high basketball IQ. They are also very unselfish players who really look to get their teammates involved—sometimes even being too deliberate in this motivation. The great thing about having them as a tandem in the backcourt is that you are basically playing two oversized PGs and two well-sized off-guards at the same time on the offensive end, which gives their team a decided advantage in versatility. They are also extremely well built and can use their bodies to bully defenders to the basket.

Defensively, both players relish the challenge of locking down the opposing team's top perimeter player and both utilize their strong frames and good lateral quickness to stay in front of their men. Remember all those games where Texas was trying to juggle J'Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton's offense with Doge Balbay and Justin Mason's defense? Yeah, all those problems go away when these kids step on the court.

Because of their maturity and versatility, any team that gets these kids is going to have one of the best backcourts in the country from the start of the season. I don't feel like the kids are that interested in UT, and a lot of that is due to their huge interest in going to a "basketball school." They're also enamored of John Calipari and Kentucky, a battle I don't like UT's odds against even with a kid from Austin High. They also have some serious Maryland connections, which could become even stronger once Shaq Cleare officially commits there.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/201...wins-house-and

[Goingforburgundy]

Shaq needs to commit already to get the ball rolling

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Shaq needs to commit already to get the ball rolling

I expect he'll commit before Sept.

Hopefully.

[Goingforburgundy]

I expect he'll commit before Sept.

Hopefully.

He says hopefully August.

[Goingforburgundy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...NxI_story.html

Nice article about area recruiting in general with a focus on Nate Britt

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Maryland Targets Harrisons, Britt Fill It Up (on the Same Team) at Adidas Nations


Alternative title: "It can be done." Adidas Nations has been going over the weekend, and if you're active in the FanPosts, you've already heard the biggest piece of news: Maryland targets Andrew and Aaron Harrison have been playing with Nate Britt, also a Terps recruit, and Britt seems to like it.

That's important, because as I've said earlier, I would expect Mark Turgeon to at least make a run at convincing the three they could all play in the same system. There was talk earlier that the Twins and Britt may have an icy relationship - mostly driven by the "Of course I [think I'm better]" quote and the fight they almost got in on the AAU circuit - and that almost certainly would've been a non-starter in a potential combination. Perhaps that isn't the case here.

Of course, all parties involved still have to be able to think the combo is going to work; namely, that there'll be enough playing time and points to go around, as well as wins. Mark Turgeon will have to handle the PT pitch, but the latter two seem to be going quite well, if the box scores from the event are any indication. Britt and the Harrisons' USA Red 2013 won both of their games from day one, with pretty impressive statistical hauls. Aaron Harrison has been the best of the three this time around, scoring 23 points in the first game to go along with Britt's 14 and Andrew's 7. Then, in their next contest, the Harrisons combined for 40(!) in a close win over the African team. (Though, admittedly, Britt did only score 2 points in that one.)

(Robert Upshaw and Amile Jefferson were also at the event. Upshaw had 4 points and 7 boards in his only contest, while Jefferson dropped 19 in his only game of the day.)

So, it would appear that the pipe dream scenario of landing both the Harrisons and Britt may actually be attainable. Lots of guards on that roster, assuming no attrition - in fact, I'm starting to wonder if we just shouldn't start assuming more attrition. There's obviously a long way to go here, but the important take-away: it isn't impossible.

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/8/7...e-same-team-at

---------- Post added August-7th-2011 at 04:21 PM ----------

@NateTheeeGreatNate Britt

For all you fans out there of the Harrison twins and I playing together I'm in cali at Adidas Nations and we are on the same team...undefeated

http://twitter.com/#!/NateTheeeGreat...31573369044992

[Goingforburgundy]

Finalists for five star Noah Spence according to his dad are #PennState, #UNC, #Florida, #NCState, #NotreDame, #Maryland and #SouthernCal

The number 4 overall recruit this year for football. We have his close friend and teamate as a verbal commit right now

[Goingforburgundy]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/re...ry-narrows-six

After staying quiet in July, Mitch McGary (Chesterton, Ind./Brewster Academy) emerged from the silence and he's constructed a final list of six schools. Making the cut, in no specific order are Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan, Duke and Kentucky.

[WALL-LE]

maryland recruiting looks to be on the rise, good to see

[Fight4RGIII]

Looks like they are adding a big man from Ukraine this year, 6' 10" 220 pounds. Thank god, lord knows they need all the extra front court help they can get.