Five-star 2014 big man Goodluck Okonoboh cut his list today, with Maryland no longer in the running ESPN's Adam Finklestein reports.
BREAKING - ESPN 100 big man Goodluck Okonoboh has cut his list to Florida, Duke, Indiana, Ohio St, & UNLV (in no particular order)
— Adam Finkelstein (@FinkelsteinNERR) August 20, 2013
Okonoboh was one of a group of 2014 big man targets for Mark Turgeon's Terrapins squad, and with the recent topsy turvy Trayvon Reed news, it would be very easy to read into this as a good sign as far as Reed is concerned. More likely? It doesn't mean anything. All five of those schools are excellent programs that recruit at an elite level, and Maryland's absence could mean no more than that.
Where does that leave the Terps in their quest for a big man? In a good place. Reed is a legit 7-footer who is visiting this week and seems to love the program, and would appear to be the most likely outcome. Other options include local four-star power forward Chinanu Onuaku, also considered a Maryland lean, four-star local power forward Martin Geben (who Notre Dame and Virginia are going after hard), and North Carolina 3/4 Gary Clark.
Maryland could end up with a five-person class - if you take a look at our scholarship chart, there is only one spot open, but there is a variety of ways that could change. Jake Layman and/or Dez Wells could leave for the NBA Draft, one of the incoming recruits could go to prep school for a year, or someone could transfer (the least likely option, given the team's chemistry).
The bottom line? Maryland is in as good of a position, recruiting-wise, as they've been in a very long time.