Terps Recruiting Notes: Layman Claims No Leader, Another Tantalizing McGary Highlight

You might remember when Jake Layman said about two weeks ago, rather definitively, that Maryland was his leader. Apparently, that's not the case anymore. Per NBE, which interview Layman at the Super Showcase [emphasis mine]:

Jake Layman said he has offers from Maryland, Syracuse, Florida, Iowa, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Louisville, and others. Texas is a school coming at him that has not offered.

"No, not at all," Layman said of whether he has any favorites. As for people having written that Maryland is his leader, Layman remarked, "It was just kinda speculation. I have no favorites right now, that’s how it is."

Um, wait a minute. It wasn't "kinda speculation." You said so yourself. No, really. Adam Zagoria asked "Any favorites, Jake?" Layman responded, "Maryland," nodding. What about that is speculative, pray tell?

For the record, no blame goes out to him about opening the scope of his recruitment. What appears to have happened is that Layman blew up, got offers from Syracuse and Florida and Louisville and interest from Texas, and decided to open things back up. And why wouldn't he? It's a perfectly logical thing to do, and in fact, objectively speaking, he'd be doing the wrong thing if he didn't.

And sure, maybe I seem a bit like a jerk. But I'm pretty peeved that he tried to make bloggers and/or fans seem like crazies or, at the very least, over-eager, to make it seem like he didn't backtrack - which, again, is a perfectly logical course of action.

Rant over. As for the real-world impact for the Terps: they're obviously in a worse spot with Layman than they were before. I'd still expect them to be a favorite of sorts based on the fact that they were seen in a very favorable light just shortly ago, but they're no longer the favorite. Offers from Cuse and Florida - and potentially Texas - are game-changers in any recruitment. Layman just went from a recruitment in which Maryland had pretty good footing to a legitimate battle.

For those of you that were never big Layman fans to begin with, the news probably isn't heartbreaking. There's always Amile Jefferson, right? Well, sure, but that recruitment is getting more difficult and more crowded very day, too. Case in point: now it appears St. John's is putting itself in the mix.

Maryland, Villanova, and N.C. State have been after Jefferson extremely hard from the beginning, and it appears that he's recognized that, but he also hasn't given any indication of focusing down his recruitment and blocking out other schools. Ohio State, for example, has been a relative late-comer to the party but has still positioned itself well. St. John's is an emerging recruiting power; I don't know if they've maintained all of the momentum from last year's epic class, but Lavin is a force to be reckoned with regardless.

Elsewhere, if that 6-minute long Mitch McGary video wasn't enough for you, how about another one? Sure, this one's only three minutes long, but it's mixtape-y, if you're into that kinda thing. And yes, if you're wondering, McGary hits a few three-pointers.

Dave Telep has been calling him Tyler Hansbrough with a better offensive game, and I think the "better offensive game" thing really does shine through. The range on his jumper, his handle, his skillset, his athleticism - Hansbrough didn't have any of these. Is it possible that McGary is a rich man's Psycho T?

And to wrap things up, it looks like Maryland's been a bigger presence at Desert Duel than they were for Super 64. In NBE's wrap, Maryland gets several mentions. To begin with, they had someone at a Team Philly game - that is, Amile Jefferson's team. So did Temple, Penn St., and St. John's, among others.

Hill was also present for at least one D.C. Assault U-16 team, which is a pretty talented bunch. Assault's star at that level, Romelo Trimble, is claiming Maryland interest to go along with Miami and UMass offers. Trimble is a 2014 player, meaning he's playing up a level against players a year older than him. He'll likely be one of Maryland's bigger targets for that year.

And that's all ... for the next few hours, at least. Don't you just love the summer?