It's been a few days without any big basketball news, so this is right on cue: former Montrose Christian star and current Villanova Wildcats forward Isaiah Armwood is transferring, and Maryland might be interested. (h/t JWKTerp)
Sources told CBSSports.com that schools in the mix for Armwood are Maryland, Iowa, Texas Tech and George Washington. Armwood grew up near Maryland and GW and both Iowa and Texas Tech have former Villanova assistant coaches - Andrew Francis (Iowa) and Chris Walker (Texas Tech).
Armwood is a former four-star and was part of a loaded DC-area 2009 HS class, which included Mouphtaou Yarou, Dante Taylor, and a few other players that didn't end up at Maryland. (Gary Williams landed Jordan Williams instead.) While he's yet to live up to his billing - averaging only 2.5 ppg as a sophomore last year - he did play 17 minutes per game for a pretty good (at times) team (and possessed pretty high OReb% and Blk% rates). But he was obviously a clubhouse leader: he was Villanova's captain for the upcoming year.
More importantly, he's 6-8 and talented. Wright says he was a starter during the Wildcats' overseas trip. Recruiting prospects be damned: Maryland isn't in the position to turn down that proposition. He's a combo forward, hovering in between the 3 and the 4 much like Amile Jefferson, but size is size. (Also, I'd love be able to call a player on Maryland "Zeke.")
He would have to sit out a year (unless he received an unlikely waiver), meaning he'd enter the program next season, the same year as Jefferson (along with Shaquille Cleare and Seth Allen) would play their first years. After that, he'd have two years of eligibility remaining.
And yes, there is some thought, however speculative it may be, that Villanova is just clearing space for Jefferson, given that they need the scholarship space and Jefferson and Armwood are similar players. But that's a good enough consolation prize for me. Jefferson, as good as he is, probably wouldn't have a significantly greater impact right away than a junior with a year of practice with the Terrapins under Turgeon.