Sterling Gibbs Commits to Maryland, Marks First 2011 Basketball Commitment

We've been waiting for that first 2011 basketball commitment for some time now, and it's finally come. Seton Hall Prep (NJ) point guard Sterling Gibbs pulled the trigger today and committed to Maryland. (Thanks to Jeremy for the FP).

The 2011 commitments continue to fly off the board, as junior Sterling Gibbs, a 6-1 guard from Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) made his commitment to Maryland Monday night.

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Gibbs chose the Terrapins over offers from St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers, DePaul, Indiana and Pittsburgh.

At 6-1, Gibbs is a pure point guard, and adds to the stable of solid if yet unproven points and combos in Maryland's backcourt. He's not as pure of a point as a guy like, say, Quinn Cook, but he's certainly nothing to sneeze at. Very quick and surprisingly strong, he's supposedly a "carbon copy" of his brother, Ashton, who plays for Pittsburgh.

All three scouting services have him in the three star, low top-150 range, which is pretty good all things considered. Probably not a jewel of the class (yet), but a very solid start with a big name. It's very possible, actually, that he's underrated by all three services; he played up an age group in AAU ball, and made the USA U16 team, which is a rather rare feat for someone in the mid three-star range. Don't be surprised to see a modest rise in stock this summer as he catches up in age.

Check out Sterling's highlights below.

Now, as for what it means for Maryland's recruiting class: the Terps have brought in three possible point guards in 2010 and 2011, meaning Quinn Cook is far from a necessity or even a priority at this point. Perhaps they made the move to press on Gibbs because vibes from Cook weren't great, but I don't want to look at it that way: Gibbs does deserve this spot, no doubt about it, but it may come at the cost of continue pursuit of Cook.

Frankly, I'm okay with that. Quinn Cook was a longshot the entire time. Gibbs is a solid player, and I'd rather have him in the fold than a 10% shot at landing Cook. Maryland's biggest needs now shift to an athletic, shot-blocking four (think Mikael Hopkins or Desmond Hubert) and a volume scorer (or at least a dangerous scorer) on the wing.

More coming tomorrow. For now, I'm hitting the sack happy.