Four-star guard Franklin Howard commits to Syracuse

Four-star prospect and former Maryland target Franklin Howard has committed to Syracuse, announcing his decision on his birthday Monday night on live television.

The Terps extended an offer to the highly-touted recruit last spring, but there was never much movement between the two sides. Maryland was among the final six schools for Howard, but Syracuse and Georgetown emerged as leaders early on in the process. NC State, Ohio State and Virginia were the other schools in contention.

The 247sports composite ranks the 6'4" junior as the 69th-best player and the 13th-best shooting guard in the class of 2015 as well as the third-best player in the state of Virginia. He helped lead Paul VI High School -- the 4th-ranked basketball school in the country -- to a 31-6 record.

The Terps will look elsewhere for another talent at guard, although shooting guard is far from their priority in the class. Donovan Mitchell and Chris Clarke are much more likely targets for the Terps at the position For now though, they'll have to settle for a similar player that will be joining their squad as part of a top-10 recruiting class next season: Dion Wiley. If that's settling, Maryland would appear to be in good shape.