What many Maryland basketball fans have been speculating would happen for what seems like forever now seems to be official - Shaquille Cleare has committed to Maryland. Per IMS:
insidemdsports Jeff ErmannBREAKING: Shaquille Cleare has committed to the #Terps! More to come ...
It's about time. I think there have been around 20 fan post saying "I hear Shaq is committing this weekend" over the last two months, so I'm glad this is hopefully locked up now. This is by far Mark Turgeon's biggest recruiting victory thus far and hopefully it will open the door for other big time players to chose Maryland.
For those of you unfamiliar with who Shaquille Cleare is, he is a 2012 center and is currently Rival's #29 ranked overall player (#6 center), and is a 4 star player with ESPN and Scout. ESPN has him as a top 40 player and gives him a 95 grade.
He plays for the Houston Defenders AAU team, so Turgeon's Texas connections certainly helped, but Cleare was connected to Maryland prior to Gary Williams' retirement. He'll provide a much needed front court presence in 2012 and hopefully his commitment will result in friends of his, such as the Harrison Twins, committing to Maryland as well.
But for now, enjoy some good recruiting news. Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg!