It was announced today that Coach Turgeon had added his first player at the University of Maryland with the verbal commitment of Virgina PG Seth Allen.
David Fawcett of InsideNOVA.com did a good job of detailing the back-story between Turgeon and Allen in this article:
Allen currently joins Justin Anderson in the 2012 class. As Fawcett’s article illustrates, Allen is friends with Justin Anderson. Considering how highly regarded Anderson is, adding a friend of his can only help with him staying committed to Maryland.
On the other-side, if you are Sterling Gibbs, this might be further incentive not to to come to College Park. Coach Eshan will not be part of Coach Turgeon’s staff, and with Stoglin and Howard ahead of him; there are already guards on the roster that will be handling the basketball plenty.
Scout.com Seth Allen Profile: http://maryland.scout.com/a.z?s=174&p=8&c=1&nid=5601959
Washington Post / Josh Barr on Allen: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/recruiting-insider/post/is-mark-turgeon-about-to-land-his-first-recruit-at-maryland/2011/05/12/AFfxHN0G_blog.html
Allen’s Fredericksburg Christian Coach Darren Berkley: “A lot of assistants were there (at a recent Open House), but Turgeon was the only head coach who came,” Berkley said. “Seth has such a feel for the game, anything he’s on, he wins. He splits [double teams] better than any kid I’ve seen. He can elevate. He’s a lefthanded Steve Francis. He’s pretty special, a leader.”
Rivals.com on Allen: http://highschool.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=1217145&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=
Fredericksburg Christian 6-foot-2 guard Seth Allen is seeing his stock rise perhaps as much as any prospect in the state for the Class of 2012. Allen, expected to move up quite a bit in the next rankings release, is currently being courted by colleges in the ACC, Big 12, C-USA and CAA with a couple of visits lined up already. See more on this lethal scoring combo guard right here!
Let us go with the idea that Faust, Bruenig, and Gibbs all wind-up still coming to Maryland this Fall. If that happens, the 2012-13 team with Anderson and Allen would currently look like (not a predicted depth chart, jut available options):
Guards: Stoglin, Howard, Gibbs, Allen
SF: Palsson, Parker, Faust, Anderson
Bigs: Padgett, Bruenig, Pankey
EDIT: As pointed out to me in the comments below, I made the dumb mistake of trying to give Weijs an additional year. Obviously ’11-’12 will be his last year in College Park, so MD will have two more spots available for the ’12 class, if Faust, Breunig, and Gibbs all come to College Park.
If MD winds-up having a roster that includes Parker, Faust, and Anderson; the Terps will find ways to get each of those 3 heralded recruits on the floor at the same time. Above I listed Faust as a SF, where as in previous roster layouts for ’11-’12 I’ve listed him as a 2 guard. Under Williams’ system, the 2 and 3 were basically interchangeable, we will see if that maintains under Turgeon. I listed Faust as a 3 in ’12-13, because there would be four smaller guards on the roster that could only be looked at as guards.
MD probably would have received a commitment from Shaquille Cleare last weekend if Gary Williams had not retired. With Ranson remaining on the staff, I think the chances are good he remains the next priority for ’12. Cleare’s AAU teammates the Harrison twins will also receive similar attention, of course they are part of the class of 2013.
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