Maryland Target Christian Sanders Commits to Stanford After Visiting Terps
by Ben Broman on Sep 23, 2011 8:28 PM EDT
in Basketball Recruiting
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PrintChristian Sanders, the combo guard from Houston, visited Maryland last weekend for the West Virginia game. There was some speculation he might commit on the spot for the Terrapins. He left without making a pledge, but he's made one now ... to Stanford.
Sanders is a smart guy who was always likely to value the education, which is one reason why Stanford always had a shot. Still, it's a surprise for him to pledge to another school so soon after visiting the Terps; it's a fairly rare occurrence. A few plausible reasons run through my mind (he was giving Maryland a final shot, perhaps), but without more info it's a little pointless to speculate.
Turgeon appeared to like Sanders a lot, and had been recruiting him hard ever since the Texas A&M days. That alone was enough to get me (and most others) on board, though I have to be honest and say that I was never in love with his game as an off-ball point guard, Eric Hayes-type. Not that that type of player doesn't have a role on a team, but he was always a little invisible when he played for Houston Defenders on TV. (Turgeon's obviously seen more of him, but I'm just throwing in my $.02.)
With Sanders off the board, Maryland's focus for a combo/2-guard will likely move on to Torian Graham, who was recently checked out by the staff and has strong connections to Dalonte Hill, and Terry Henderson, an athletic sleeper from North Carolina. That is, of course, assuming they take another guard - if there's no attrition, there's a fair amount of talent 1-3 on the current roster, with a depth of guard options in the 2013 class, as well.
Oh, and in case you'd forgotten: recruiting is as much a rollercoaster as it's ever been.
Update: And as a fun bonus, Elijah Macon is gone to WVU. He hadn't been listing Maryland in a while, but it's worth mentioning.
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Torian Graham
Torian Graham is 11th rated SG and 4 star with Scout. Sanders is a 3 star 26th best SG according to Scout. So in theory Graham should be the better prospect.
Rankings are a best guess, nothing more
Graham is better ranked, but not necessarily better. That depends on a number of things, not least of which is the situation in which they’re put. I do think Graham is objectively “better” in the traditional sense of the term – he’s undeniably more athletic and is probably a better shooter – but who knows if he’s a good fit here.
It doesn't matter who is the better prospect...
if neither one of them come to Maryland. As far as I know, Torian Graham hasn’t even visited Maryland.
* Maryland basketball has been a sleeping Giant. The Giant is waking up.
.
.
* If you think Greivis Vasquez is a better Terp than Joe Smith, you have impeached yourself and have no credibility when speaking of Maryland basketball.
by CharlesDriesell on Sep 23, 2011 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
He Plans To
The link Ben provided says he plans to visit schools, but there is no timetable. The lack of influence the HS coach thought Hill would have bothered me. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to sound neutral or he actually believed their relationship was a non-factor.
*All Terp Everything*
I really think we are getting graham
hill is gonna earn that paycheck. i think he de-committed to commit to the terps when he say dalonte get hired. he would be a great great great addition and really elevate our class. im all for taking 2 more commits for this class bc the twin arent a lock and there will surely be attrition/ room made for them if they do want to come. i say take torian and a PF and call it a day, and by day i mean top 3 class and potential top 10 team in 2012-13
When exactly did this kid...
visit campus? I don’t even think we’ve gotten him to campus yet.
* Maryland basketball has been a sleeping Giant. The Giant is waking up.
.
.
* If you think Greivis Vasquez is a better Terp than Joe Smith, you have impeached yourself and have no credibility when speaking of Maryland basketball.
by CharlesDriesell on Sep 23, 2011 9:52 PM EDT up reply actions
just a feelimg
and im pretty sure he is visiting soon. living in the area and playing aau in DC he also must have been on campus at some point.
oh and macon just tweeted he committed to WVU
so theres that
Guessing Graham is on the horizon.
Mitchell’s a possibility, but haven’t heard anything since the in-home.
TTRC
11% had Sanders to Stanford: Broman and Glory801
39% had Macon to WVU: johnnyrobs13, terps97, Snappin Terp, terpsallday, terpfarms78, Glory801, rquidas
After 4/10 commits from the recruiting competition, 5 people have 3/4 correct: johnnyrobs13, Snappin Terp, Ben Broman, terpfarms78, Glory801
BOOM
GET ON MY LEVEL, MOST OF YOU
by Ben Broman on Sep 23, 2011 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Show Torian Love
@TorianG4
He’s been retweeting a lot of terps stuff, so let him feel the love. Honestly this would be a huge pick up imo. I know we are kind of stacked in the backcourt, but it never hurts to have athletic guards on the team.
I don’t think he will make a decision soon, seems like the type to wait it out and weigh all of his options. A commitment would be awesome though. The sooner, the better so we can focus on picking up that much needed PF.
*All Terp Everything*
And Torian
Would be the only guard besides Faust that can drive to the lane and make shots while being shoved around a bit. Stoglin is a CP3 type player, and Pe’ just has nasty court vision and handles.
We need another bruising guard. You know until we get those Harrison Twins that is
Not really upset about this...
Macon could have been a nice addition for sure and though i trust turge a lot I would prefer torian (plus I had torian to UMD in recruiting competition lol). Sanders was always in my mind a player that would work well in turge’s system at A and M but I don’t think with this super class we got coming he would have added anything more than depth in a position that has plenty of depth already. i think torian would be able to have more of an impact sooner.
UCLA who?
Sucks About Macon
I think he is a real talent, but i think ultimately it came down to grades. Good luck finding a conference to play in homeboy…LMAO
*All Terp Everything*
Sanders
I always figured he would go to Stanford. Shooting guard is not a huge need at this point so I’m not terribly disappointed. Let’s go out and get a McGary or at least another big to put next to Shaq.
Put these guards on the back burner, We need 2 bigs
And we are right on their heels nipping at them all the way. AJ and Mitch are our 2 other dream recruits. If we get 1 of them I’d be happy. There are still some others like Carter and Mitchell who would fit in nicely.
Looks like Sanders wanted high academics and Macon didn’t..
Graham seems to be a little uncertain at this time. If he commits soon, he may decommit again before making up his mind. The longer he takes, the better.
I don't even think we need two bigs...
If the one big is McGary, we are set for this recruiting class. Would be nice to get McGary AND Jefferson. But I’d settle for McGary alone. Adding Len really gave us some flexibility.
On the other hand, if we don’t get McGary, I wouldn’t mind taking Jefferson and another big.
* Maryland basketball has been a sleeping Giant. The Giant is waking up.
.
.
* If you think Greivis Vasquez is a better Terp than Joe Smith, you have impeached yourself and have no credibility when speaking of Maryland basketball.
by CharlesDriesell on Sep 24, 2011 4:23 AM EDT up reply actions
Sanders
He probably saw the talent on the roster already at his current position(s), and knew its just a matter of time before the Harrison’s make it official and didn’t want to get lost in the rotation, haha.. Go Terps!
by amarshall on Sep 24, 2011 7:15 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Actually, I think that had a lot do with it
I really didn’t see him getting alot of playing time, especially when the twins commit. Plus, after watching him a few times over the summer I wasn’t totally impressed with his game. I don’t think he was as good as Eric Hayes. But Turge saw him way more than I did so I’m sure he was a good player. Good luck to him at Stanford.
Some tweets from our favorite terp
Per MVPe
P21howard Pe’Shon Howard
Cant believe @nickfaustLIVE was 5’6 when he started high school now he 6’7 starting college smh he ooddee lucky
@chilledontherox
@P21howard torian grahm come on down
Twitter for Android • 9/23/11 6:48 PM
Retweeted by P21howard
Imagine Faust and Layman at 6'7 or 6'8 driving and raining threes
Line them up with Stogs and Torian Graham and Shaq….in my best Dick Engberg voice “OH MY!”.
Faust 6'7"?
I thought he was 6’5 – 6’6? Still, pretty legit size for a guard, almost 3 size
So 6'7'' in college
means 6’5’’ 3/4
But I’d love to be wrong.
Ha. I’ve seen him around campus. He’s tallllllll. Especially to me, since im only 5’7 haha
by hockeyman33 on Sep 24, 2011 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
only concern
Is that turge thought he was getting a commit from Sanders and didn’t. Apparently on Thursday in Baltimore Turge said he’s expecting a commitment any moment. Sanders himself isn’t a huge loss but if Turge thought Sanders was about to commit, that in itself is huge. I’m hoping he was talking about someone else.
by rquidas on Sep 24, 2011 9:25 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
If Turge said that
Then he knew it wasn’t from Sanders because he wouldn’t go all the way down to Florida if he knew Sanders was going to commit. I think the staff already knew Sanders wasn’t coming so they’re putting the pressure on Graham.
IMHO I think either Turge is being an optimist by saying he’s expecting a commit soon or that he really expects one and just from the info we all have the most likely candidates are Charles Mitchell or Torian Graham.
Robert Carter, Amile Jefferson, and Mitch McGary all seem to be taking their time with their recruitment.
by word2bigbird on Sep 24, 2011 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions
couldn't agree more
But why even say were expecting a commitment any moment. Usually with a decommit TG, they take their time before commiting again. Just very odd.
by rquidas on Sep 24, 2011 9:51 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Very thankful
I was not impressed with sanders. I think he could turn into a solid college player but is not going to take us to an elite level. I am actually thankful that some of these players are starting to comit. This narrows the coaches options and allows them to concentrate their focus on a few prospects. Henderson will be gone soon as well. He is at wvu and it sounds like he is having a good time up there based on his tweets. Look for him to verbal to wvu soon.
Graham, Mitchell, and mcgary seem to be the players we are pursuing the most recently. Haven’t heard much on the Jefferson front
Please dont bring up Raylew52 like he knows what the hell he is talking about. That kid throws darts at a dartboard blindly hoping one will stick so he could say I told you I would hit the board. "L7 WEENIE"
by Charlotte NC Terp on Sep 24, 2011 9:58 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
toriang4
He’s asking on twitter where he should go to college. Show him love! Seems like the type of kid who wants to hear from terpnation!
by rquidas on Sep 24, 2011 11:03 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
just added him and im tweeting.
Please dont bring up Raylew52 like he knows what the hell he is talking about. That kid throws darts at a dartboard blindly hoping one will stick so he could say I told you I would hit the board. "L7 WEENIE"
by Charlotte NC Terp on Sep 24, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Graham
TG looks better anway. Right now the boards sound a little down. Remember Turg just got here. the first yr will be ruff. And this isn’t 2003 anymore. It’s really all about rebuilding the team and reputation. If he continues to recruit like he has so far by his third season he’ll have a very competitive ACC team. But they’re not ready for prime time. I like the fact he’s out there openly competing with the elites. Now he has to win some games. He doesn’t have the cache of a Calipari as far as name recognition (for better or worse). And regardless of the fan base and alum MD just isn’t in the ranks of Jayhawks etc. Newcomers like Mason and VCU took some time to get where they got. Hey Hewitt will have a bigger prob if he can’t keep winning and I have my doubts he can. Turg and Edsall look the part of a taskmaster who knows more than just x’s and o’s. Give him time and the Terps will be a good all around team consistently back at the dance and going deep enough to fill the seats. I’m just not going gaga over one or two early recruits who he eyed from A&M this early in the game. Gotta produce now.
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