Quinn Cook, We Hardly Knew Ye: Sterling Gibbs Ends the Maryland Fan-Cook Affair

Just wanted to address something quickly that I've seen a variety of places, meaning in comments here and elsewhere: Maryland continuing to recruit Quinn Cook, even after Sterling Gibbs gave Maryland his pledge.

No one's doubting that Cook's the best recruit of the area (though he wouldn't have been last year - 2011's a down year), but it's highly, highly doubtful, for reasons on both sides, that he ever ends up in a Maryland jersey. It was before the Gibbs commitment, you could argue, but it's almost impossible at this point.

It's not necessarily because Maryland doesn't have room for him anymore, or because he couldn't beat out (or because he thinks he couldn't beat out) Sterling Gibbs. Every team always has room for a McDonald's All-American, and every McDonald's All-American has enough skills (and confidence) to challenge for a starting spot from Day One, no matter the competition (and to believe that they will start, no matter the competition).

No, Maryland and Cook are probably done because Sterling Gibbs' commitment allows Maryland to be done. Grabbing a legitimate point guard has been a major issue for 2011 for awhile, even with guys like Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard in town already. Now that Gibbs is onboard and has both the fans' and coaches' support, Maryland no longer has to mess around with Cook, if he's even interested at this point.

QC was a longshot from the start, and any time spent recruiting him would more likely than not end up being time wasted. When the coach is Gary Williams, the recruit a national star, and the handler Curtis Malone, that's just the way it is. When he was the best available player at a position of need, it was (sorta) justifiable to spend time on him. Now that PG is the opposite of a position of need - actually, it's one of strength - recruiting Cook seriously and heavily is rather ludicrous, because it a) will result in a ton of wasted time and energy, even if Maryland lands Cook (because he is no longer a necessity and the time could instead be spent on now bigger priorities), and b) could alienate Gibbs, a strong PG candidate in his own right.

I know some people are still drawn by the name, but the time would be much, much better spent on an athletic big man (like Cook's teammate, Mikael Hopkins) or a high-volume scorer (like Devin Langford). Sterling didn't eliminate the possibility of Quinn Cook; he eliminated the need. So, yes, while Maryland could still technically recruit Cook, it's rather pointless right now. With that in mind, let's turn our collective eyes to newer areas of concern, like that shotblocking 4 or a perimeter deep threat, and away from Cook.

Now, to retest out my post concluding abilities, we wait for the other shoe to drop (that other shoe being Jabari Brown).