Terrence Ross

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This is extremely, incredibly unexpected, and more than a little shocking. Via Terps Insider:

Montrose Christian senior guard Terrence Ross, who recently broke off his verbal commitment to Maryland, will leave the Rockville high school effective by the end of this week, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Ross, a 6-foot-5, 180-lb. All-Met shooting guard who was one of Montrose Christian's leading scorers this season, backed off from his verbal commitment to the Terrapins in December and re-opened his recruitment. The schools said to be in contention for Ross's services are Duke, Kentucky and Kansas, though Montrose Christian Coach Stu Vetter has said on several occassions that Maryland remains in the mix.

Calls to Vetter's cell phone were not immediately returned Tuesday night. The reasons for Ross's decision to leave Montrose Christian remain unclear.

It's arguable that, once Vetter lost control of the situation, this was likely to happen at some point. I don't particularly agree with that, but one could try it. But that still doesn't answer why. Homesickness? Didn't get along with Vetter? Exposure?

I don't know, and I'll wait before speculating further, but the reason could be telling for a variety of reasons.

Regardless, if you were holding out hope for Ross, I'd end that hope now. He's now leaving the most pro-Terp coach in the area, probably leaving the area, maybe going back to the West Coast. I just don't see it happening. It was Vetter that kept the Terps in it, not Ross, at least from a media perspective. He never seemed very pro-MD throughout this process, particularly in this interview. I don't have any inside information and I hope I'm wrong, but connecting the dots on this one isn't that hard. It's only a guess, but an educated one.

Anyway, it's just another twist to the Terrence Ross soap opera. Let's see if he opens it up past the "four schools" that Vetter seemed to insist on. If he does, maybe we'll have our answer right there.

Now, who's ready for some Haukur Palsson and Juvonte Reddic?

N.B.: It’s easy to bash Ross here, but please keep in mind that he’s a teenager and we don’t have all the information. Oh, and FWIW, this will probably be the final TR post, unless he goes to Duke.