Terp-Centric Adidas Invitational Recap: Harrisons Top Britt in Front of Maryland Staff

I wouldn't characterize the first day of the summer recruiting session to be particularly action-packed for Maryland fans. Much of that had to do with the fact that there are currently three separate events going on at the same time: there's the Reebok Breakout Challenge, the Adidas Invitational in Indy, and the LeBron James Skills Academy/King James Classic in Akron.

As for Reebok, Seth Allen is there, but he's the only player of any Terps interest. With the majority of the staff in Indy for the day, I'm guessing it'll stay that way, though you never really know. Unfortunately, I didn't see any mention of Allen, either on Twitter or in recaps of the event. Sadly, he remains an unknown for at least one more day.

As for the Skills Academy, which morphs into the King James Classic starting today, well, it was closed to coaches. A bunch of Maryland targets were there, though, led by Mitch McGary. Unfortunately, the recaps of that event didn't have any Maryland targets mentioned, either.

Which leads us to the Adidas Invitational in Indianapolis, where at least three of Maryland's coaches were in attendance, and where the headliners were all Terp-relevant.

The day started with Mark Turgeon watching Dream Vision, an LA-based team featuring Robert Upshaw, a California big man. Upshaw has been mentioned several times in connection with Maryland, but he's never struck me as a serious target; he's never been very upbeat about Maryland unlike some other targets, and distance may be a factor considering he's from LA and all. But hey, it looks like he's still in play, at least for now.

After that, Nate Britt and the Harrison twins took over proceedings. First up was Britt, whose D.C. Assault team played against Eric Gordon Central Stars, an Indiana-based team. Unsurprisingly, Turgeon was in attendance, flanked by Bino Ranson and Dalonte Hill. The same trio also checked out Shaquille Cleare, Derrick Griffin, and the Harrisons later in the day, as their Houston Defenders played Nashville Celtics.

But really, those were just appetizers. Britt's DCA and the Harrisons' Defenders actually squared off later in the day, and the game was as good as you might've expected. The Houston side won 65-64 despite Cleare, Griffin, and Aaron Harrison all fouling out. Andrew Harrison, the point guard of the duo and generally the higher-ranked player, picked up the slack, dropping 18 points. And yes, apparently things got a little chippy. How chippy? Let Josh Barr tell you:

The top matchup, though, was between Britt and Andrew Harrison, with the two getting in each other's faces midway through the second half as Assault rallied from a 17-point deficit and things heated up. Britt drove to the basket, hung in the air and banked in a nifty right-handed shot to bring Assault within 47-46. Then the normally soft-spoken All-Met from Gonzaga got nose-to-nose with Harrison and had a few words.

That earned Britt a quick technical foul, but before the official could start toward the scorer's table, Harrison went right at Britt and got hit with his own technical. The rest of the game was quite chippy.

(FWIW, Barr mentions that Christian Sanders dropped 11). After the game, Andrew threw down the gauntlet a little bit:

Talked to Andrew Harrison about his battle with Nate Britt..."You saw the game. Of course [I think I'm better]."

Well, then, I guess it's good news that Maryland's in better shape with you, Andrew. See, Britt says that UVA, Villanova, and Georgetown are recruiting him the hardest. Of course, that's no guarantee of anything; otherwise, Maryland would be far-and-away the leader for Mitch McGary, and I don't know anyone who thinks that's true. But it ain't good.

Jeff Borzello talked to Andrew, meanwhile, who listed Maryland (first, it would seem, for whatever that's worth) along with a handful of others, including Kansas, Kentucky, Baylor, Arizona, Texas, and UNC. And, by the way, he says he doesn't "want to be a one-and-done like everyone else." I have no idea if he actually means that, but, uh, that'd be pretty cool, right?

Borzello also mentioned a few other Maryland targets in his notebook, saying that the Harrisons outplayed Britt and that Derrick Griffin might be the best dunker in the country. But the only other he wrote of with any length was Tywmond Howard, who apparently dropped 42 in a game.

After a subpar NBPA Top 100 camp, the two-sport star was knocking down tough shots all night. Howard finished with 42 points in an overtime loss, driving to the rim and also making 3-point shots with efficiency.

The old staff was tracking him, and I don't know if the new staff is in serious contact. But I really liked him earlier, and I still kinda do. Maryland isn't going after a lot of traditional wings in 2012, but Howard is one, and I'm a fan of his varied offensive arsenal. Keep an eye on him.

And, finally, to wrap things up we have the Rivals wrap from Jerry Meyer, who mentioned the only two stars for Houston Defenders who didn't foul out against DCA:

Andrew Harrison (2013, Houston Defenders) - A beast of a point guard, Harrison bullied his way to the basket and the free throw line on Wednesday. He keeps the defense honest with his jumper, and he also showed an exceptional feel for passing the ball off his penetration.

Christian Sanders (2012, Houston Defenders) - Sanders had a subpar shooting game during my viewing, but it was clear why he is such an attractive recruit at the moment. He was active in all areas of the game and had a bounce to his play. In other words, he is more than just a shooter.

It sounds like the Harrisons have staked their claim to being the preferred recruits of 2012, but I'm still intrigued by Sanders. Paul Biancardi called him a mid-major earlier in the day, but Paul Biancardi is pretty bad with this stuff anyway. I'm still not in love with him like some others are, especially because Allen is already on the team, but it's good to hear he's not one-dimensional.

Meyer also talked with Shaquille Cleare, who is still saying it's "no guarantee" he'll commit to Maryland, even though this time he says that he likes Maryland a lot. The sooner that gets done, the better for everyone.