Rivals and Scout already pushed out their big updates for 2010 in the past few weeks, so we were just waiting on ESPN - the third of the Big Three recruiting services - to come out with theirs. Finally, it hit today. And boy, is Maryland looking good.
The full list of recruits interested in Maryland is:
#9 - Kyrie Irving (#2 PG)
#11 - CJ Leslie (#3 PF)
#12 - Will Barton (#3 SG)
#15 - Terrence Jones (#4 SF)
#16 - Mychal Parker (#6 SG)
#19 - Tobias Harris (#4 PF)
#23 - Roscoe Smith (#6 SF)
#25 - Terrence Ross (#7 SF)
#61 - Jonathan Graham (#14 PF)
#71 - Terrell Stoglin (#18 PG)
What a list. When was the last time Maryland was in such good shape with so many highly rated recruits? Eight of the top 25 have Maryland on their list, and several of those are feasible coups (Irving just cut his to ten with Maryland on it, which is the only reason I put him on the list). Even better, I fully expect the guys Maryland currently has (Ross & Stoglin) to continue to rise up rankings.
A few notes:
- Mychal Parker's jump was a bit unexpected for me, but good to see. I still think he'd be a complement to TRoss, and not the other way around.
- Nice jump for Tobias Harris, as well. My desire for him remains high.
- Meanwhile, Roscoe Smith is in the middle of a ranking drop across all three major services. He's falling back to earth, and seemed to be a bit overrated early on. Regardless, I don't expect him to fall any father than ~25.
- I expect Ross to continue to rise. He won't play AAU in the summer (good news) but the word is out there among HS coaches and knowledgeable basketball people - it's just a matter of time before it gets to the scouts.
- Where did Jonathan Graham come from? He saw a slight bump in the Rivals rankings, too, if I recall correctly, but this is very unexpected. I was under the understanding that he wasn't ACC-caliber. Even stranger, ESPN doesn't have a scouting report on him filed earlier than last year.
- ESPN is the first service to give Stogs a big boost in the rankings. Much like Ross, the word should get out over the summer - I've yet to read anything negative on him, again indicating it's just a matter of time before he gets into the mid-50s.
- This has all the makings of a top 10 class - Gary could feasibly bring in 4 or 5 recruits all ranked #60 or better.