clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Maryland Target Christian Sanders Commits to Stanford After Visiting Terps

Christian Sanders, the combo guard from Houston, visited Maryland last weekend for the West Virginia game. There was some speculation he might commit on the spot for the Terrapins. He left without making a pledge, but he's made one now ... to Stanford.

Sanders is a smart guy who was always likely to value the education, which is one reason why Stanford always had a shot. Still, it's a surprise for him to pledge to another school so soon after visiting the Terps; it's a fairly rare occurrence. A few plausible reasons run through my mind (he was giving Maryland a final shot, perhaps), but without more info it's a little pointless to speculate.

Turgeon appeared to like Sanders a lot, and had been recruiting him hard ever since the Texas A&M days. That alone was enough to get me (and most others) on board, though I have to be honest and say that I was never in love with his game as an off-ball point guard, Eric Hayes-type. Not that that type of player doesn't have a role on a team, but he was always a little invisible when he played for Houston Defenders on TV. (Turgeon's obviously seen more of him, but I'm just throwing in my $.02.)

With Sanders off the board, Maryland's focus for a combo/2-guard will likely move on to Torian Graham, who was recently checked out by the staff and has strong connections to Dalonte Hill, and Terry Henderson, an athletic sleeper from North Carolina. That is, of course, assuming they take another guard - if there's no attrition, there's a fair amount of talent 1-3 on the current roster, with a depth of guard options in the 2013 class, as well.

Oh, and in case you'd forgotten: recruiting is as much a rollercoaster as it's ever been.

Update: And as a fun bonus, Elijah Macon is gone to WVU. He hadn't been listing Maryland in a while, but it's worth mentioning.