2011 Basketball Recruiting on the Horizon for Maryland: Forming a Battle Plan

Even as Maryland wraps up 2010 recruiting, the coaching staff must press forward to 2011. If you remember last year (probably not), Terrell Stoglin committed to the Terps April 2. It's currently March 30. That means that, using last year as a barometer - which doesn't always work - Maryland should be getting their first commitment within the next few weeks.

With that in mind, it's probably a good idea to introduce those of you that aren't too familiar with the Maryland's situation for 2011, or are otherwise new to following recruiting, to what's going on. First off, the scholarship chart is a necessity:

Now, 2014 was a bit unnecessary, but I figured I might as well do it right. Steve Goins' name is in red because he's extra-special (by which I mean probably isn't returning for another year in College Park, so that slot will likely be an X soon). Xs are free scholarships.

If Maryland holds pat for 2010 - which may or may not happen at this point - and Goins remains on the team, there will be four available scholarships for 2011. They could end up with as many as five or as few as three, but no more or less, provided there is no additional attrition.

Looking at the roster in 2011 and beyond, I see one stud post player, a possible starter-level post player, one ACC-level wing, one player we hope will be an ACC-level wing, and hopefully at least one point guard. Two of those things are good bets (Williams and Mosley). The rest aren't locks.

A lot of people want a high-talent, high-athleticism four to complement J-Dub, a comparison partially made from history - think Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox. Baxter's senior year, Wilcox was a sophomore. Williams' senior year, a hopeful 2011 commitment would be...a sophomore. Now all we need is Sean Mosley to gain another year of eligibility to have a senior Baltimore-bred guard, and we're golden.

But I digress. That athletic four would be nice; so, too, would be another wing, seeing how a 2011 player will only be with Sean Mosley for a year. A point guard would also be welcome, because Stoglin and Howard are both chances at this point, and both are combos that could play off the ball. It's a good idea to have two good PGs, and if one of them busts, having another will become imperative.

In terms of playing styles, backcourt speed should also be a priority - Mosley, Terrell Stoglin, and Pe'Shon Howard aren't exactly slow, but they're certainly not fast. Mychal Parker, while extremely athletic, isn't a burner. Getting an Adrian Bowie (in terms of speed) would be nice. Obviously, a shooter might be needed above all - we hope that Stoglin, Parker, Howard, or Palsson will provide a good outside shooting presence, but it's just a hope at this point.

Okay, now on to targets. We've been maintaining a Maryland basketball recruiting target database, which is updated fairly regularly with new info and scouting reports. If you want to know about a guy, odds are fairly decent that they'll be in there.

Some of the major recruits to keep an eye on are Quinn Cook, Mikael Hopkins and Desmond Hubert. Dai-Jon Parker is a personal favorite, and Kyle Wiltjer has been popular among fans.

Last year, Maryland fans had a bit of a moral victory - the Terps were in the final 8 or so for a variety of big time recruits - Terrence Jones, Tobias Harris, Roscoe Smith, and C.J. Leslie. Three of those guys are McDonald's All-Americans now. Of course, Maryland didn't land any, but they got closer than before. Now it's time to earn a commitment.

Interestingly enough, though, none of those guys (Smith excluded) were considered real possibilities until summer. In spring, none of us had even heard of Jones, Leslie was a major pipedream, and Harris wasn't considered as good as Taran Buie (God, that seems ridiculous). My point here? We don't know the list of major recruits yet. We won't until the AAU circuit kicks off in late spring/early summer. We also don't know who's good and who isn't. So if they get a random commitment (think Nick Faust or Durand Johnson) don't write him off. If they get a great guy, be excited, but remain tempered.

Anyway, we'll keep you posted. This will be a major topic for the next few months, so learn to love.

P.S.: I wrangled up a Google Form so you guys could vote on who should be the top ten targets for Maryland in 2011. Any interest on voting on it so I could get an actual, semi-real big board up?