Juvonte Reddic has committed to VCU. C.J. Leslie isn't heading to Maryland. Eric McKnight is falling off the radar. Where does that leave Maryland for 2010 basketball recruiting?
Well, I can tell you where it leaves most fans: in the dark. It's possible that Gary Williams is content with a somewhat balanced five man class (two guards, two wings, one post player) and decides to stop it there. But Maryland still has an available scholarship, and they might sniff around using it. That doesn't necessarily mean they will, or even that they're likely to, but it's certainly still an option. Personally, I'd be surprised if they didn't go after at least one more player, but I've been wrong before.
As to who they'll pursue? That's the million dollar question. There aren't a lot of obvious options at this point; most have committed elsewhere by now. We do know that Gary and Co. would probably go after a post player (seeing how that's the only imbalance in the class), and that there isn't a lot to choose from in terms of elite post players.
The best available is Luke Cothron out of Alabama, a former N.C. State commitment who decommitted a few days ago reportedly due to concerns about a possible C.J. Leslie commitment, which would result in decreased playing time for him. But he's very interested in Kentucky and Alabama, and reportedly has attitude concerns (as evidenced by the whole decommitting thing). That probably means he's not an option. I figured I'd throw the name out there, though, just so you were familiar with it.
With him essentially off the board, it begins to get more sketchy. Jon Graham is a familiar ol' name, but I would imagine that if they were going that route ("easy" local get) that McKnight would be a more prominent option.
Another familiar name might be Aziz N'Diaye, a JuCo center out of Idaho. He has legit size (7-0) and is a three star on Rivals. You don't hear a lot about Maryland being connected to him anymore, but the name has been thrown around in the past, so it's worth keeping an eye on.
ESPN recently published an article that detailed the best under-the-radar post players in the country. While there are a few ringers in that article that are hardly "sleepers" (Maurice Walker, Enes Kanter, and Kadeem Jack are all very well-known commodities), others could be options. Gorgui Sy Dieng, a 6-9 center, has been lightly recruited, with his only offers from Louisville and Marshall, and so could be a possible option. The name that really caught my eye was Brice Kofane, a teammate of Mychal Parker and ex-target Hippolyte Tsafack. He's a little on the thin side, but is extremely athletic and an energy player that would thrive in an up-and-down game. He's also a great student, which is never a bad thing given that whole '8%" controversy. The Parker connection can only help.
Either way, I expect Maryland's to coaches to wrap it up soon and move on to 2011, where they could use a big-time impact player to pair with a senior Sean Mosley and a junior Jordan Williams; get one more impact player, and that's an elite team. To do so, they'll need to recruit hard, and that means tme is needed. That being the case, I don't expect too much in the way of mid-April recruitments again.