Ever since it was announced Wally Judge was transferring from Kansas St., Maryland has seemed like a logical landing spot for the former McDonald's All-American. Judge is from Landover, just minutes away from College Park, and the Terrapins need immediate front court help. Two plus two equals four.
His re-recruitment has since opened up to include school like Memphis, Rutgers, and maybe Kentucky, but Maryland remains a legitimate possibility. How legitimate? He's visiting College Park this weekend, per our old friend Zags. He visited Rutgers a few weekends ago and will visit Washington next weekend. Zags also reports that Memphis is in play. No word on other rumored landing spots like Kentucky or South Florida, which I suppose is good news.
For what it's worth, Zags said that sources consider him a Rutgers lean. With Zags being a Big East guy, I'm not so sure which side those sources are on, so make sure to take it with a grain of salt.
Judge was never exactly productive in his time at Kansas St., averaging just 5.5 points and 3.8 boards per game last year. That said, his size and athleticism are unmatched for Maryland, and the Terrapins could use his experience, too. With Jordan Williams nearly out the door, it'd be nice to get him sooner than later, but barring an unlikely NCAA waiver, he'd have to sit out a year. Still, considering Maryland's frontcourt currently consists of someone who hasn't played competitive basketball in two years, a rail-thin JuCo transfer, and James Padgett, Judge's presence would be welcome.
Now seems as good a time as ever to bring up the scholarship chart again, which a reader asked for over the past weekend. If you're curious, here it is, assuming Jordan Williams doesn't return to school, which, honestly, is probably the prudent choice:
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-13 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Mosley | James Padgett | Pe'Shon Howard | Ashton Pankey |
| 2 | Berend Weijs | Pe'Shon Howard | Hauker Palsson | Martin Breunig |
| 3 | James Padgett | Hauker Palsson | Mychal Parker | Nick Faust |
| 4 | Pe'Shon Howard | Mychal Parker | Ashton Pankey | Sterling Gibbs |
| 5 | Hauker Palsson | Ashton Pankey | Terrell Stoglin | Justin Anderson |
| 6 | Mychal Parker | Terrell Stoglin | Martin Breunig | X (2011) |
| 7 | Ashton Pankey | Martin Breunig | Nick Faust | X (2012) |
| 8 | Terrell Stoglin | Nick Faust | Sterling Gibbs | X (2012) |
| 9 | Martin Breunig | Sterling Gibbs | Justin Anderson | X (2013) |
| 10 | Nick Faust | Justin Anderson | X (2011) | X (2014) |
| 11 | Sterling Gibbs | X (2011) | X (2011) | X (2014) |
| 12 | X (2011) | X (2011) | X (2012) | X (2014) |
| 13 | X (2011) | X (2012) | X (2013) | X (2014) |
I fully expect at least one player to sign on in 2011, whether its Judge or someone else, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one of those scholarships be saved. That would give 2012 an extra scholarship to play with (Mitch McGary, maybe?) or let Maryland save it until 2013 for the Harrison twins and/or Chris Thomas.