Miss basketball recruiting? Me too. Unfortunately, this isn't the happiest of returns to a normally happy subject: two 2011 Maryland targets are off the board in one day.
Dezmine Wells, a 6-3 SG from Word of God in NC, is headed to Xavier, while Achraf Yocoubou, a 2-guard from Lutheran (Tobias Harris' old school) in Long Island, pledged to Villanova.
Obviously, neither is good news, but neither is killer. It's good that Nova lost a scholarship spot, as many of Maryland's top targets (Sterling Gibbs, Trevor Cooney) were high on them, and the presence of another SG can't help (Cooney's a pure 2, Gibbs is a combo).
Still, striking off two targets on the same day (at the same position, no less) always hurts, especially when the Terps are so momentum-starved right now in 2011. Michael Gbinije's status is unknown, and he was widely considered Maryland's best shot at landing an elite player early on. It's time to lock up one of Hippo/Pankey, go all-out for Tobias Harris, and move on to 2011.
On Tobias Harris, it looks like he'll be making his decision Nov. 19...if he's made his decision, of course (scroll down on that link).
"On the 19th we will announce if Tobias is ready," said his father, Torrel.
Maryland will be the second to last visit; after visiting the Terps the 13th through the 15th, he'll head over to Georgia Tech for a few days and a make a decision shortly after.
For those of you wondering, that's one day after the fall signing period ends. Looks like whoever lands Tobias will have a non-signed commitment on their hands for quite some time. Not that I'd complain about that, of course.