The Maryland basketball program made the top-five cutline for 2017 power forward Ira Lee, the player announced Tuesday on Twitter.
My final 5 pic.twitter.com/w0vZW1F3G6
— Ira Lee (@iramandoesit) August 17, 2016
Lee is ranked as the No. 5 center (there’s some positional ambiguity with these things) and the No. 53 overall player in the country on the 247Sports Composite. Maryland offered Lee a scholarship in July, and the two have clearly made an impression on one another. Now Maryland can vie with a smaller group of suitors for his signature. Lee is listed at 6'8 and 210 pounds, and he plays for Prolific Prep. He hails from San Pedro, Calif.
Maryland can use blue-chip talent at any position, but it’s especially important to find some in the frontcourt. Maryland has a bevy of guard talent with years of eligibility remaining, but the Terps don’t have as much depth at power forward and center.
Next season’s roster includes two seniors (Damonte Dodd and L.G. Gill), a junior (Michal Cekovsky), a redshirt sophomore (Ivan Bender) and a true freshman (Joshua Tomaic). The Terps have a few small forwards who could eventually play power forward in small ball lineups, but adding elite big men can be nothing but a top priority.
In the unlikely event Maryland has no roster attrition after this season, the Terrapins would have two open scholarship slots for next year.