Maryland four-star quarterback commit Kasim Hill was watching in astonishment, like many of us, while the NBA-champion Cleveland Cavaliers parade through their city’s streets on Wednesday. He had thoughts:
in all seriousness, you see how much that ship meant to lebron, since he put on for his city.... can be the same way at UMD, just saying
— Kasim Hill (@Khillqb11) June 20, 2016
Not such a bad idea for Maryland fans, probably.
Hill is from Delaware and now lives not far from College Park, but I do think there’s a certain point to be made here about Maryland’s recruiting approach. Few college football teams in the country (or their recruits) have made such a vocalized, localized recruiting pitch that’s tied into a geographic identity than Maryland has.
The Terps have always been — and will always be — a program that has to clean up in local recruiting to compete, so it’s got to be heartwarming to see sentiments like Hill’s.
(No, LeBron James leaving and then returning to Cleveland as a free agent is not directly analogous to college football recruiting. But it’s more about the principle.)
Maryland and the NBA Draft
The draft is Thursday night. All of our coverage is in one convenient spot.
Some scouting reports we’ve done so far:
Rasheed Sulaimon is solid at everything, but he’s not likely to go in the NBA Draft
Maryland’s one-year shooting guard hasn’t gotten much interest.
Robert Carter Jr. is a likely 2nd-round NBA draft pick after a strong season
Carter, on the other hand, has been popular.
Diamond Stone needs work, but he could score a bunch of NBA points
But nobody’s been more popular from Maryland than this guy.
Three Terps are likely to get picked: Carter, Stone and Jake Layman. Here’s a stab at their landing spots, based on workout histories.
Here’s a profile on Layman from the NBA’s official site. It’s good, but you really should read the one Matt Ellentuck wrote the other day.
Other things!
Focus on quality over quantity in early recruiting rankings – SB Nation
Maryland’s done a bit of both.
College football’s guarantee games are about more than just easy wins – SB Nation
For SB Nation, I wrote about the business side of scheduling.