Terps Basketball Recruiting Talk With Jeff Ermann, Inside MD Sports

In the coming weeks, Maryland’s Men’s Basketball team will start their most anticipated season since they won the National Title in 2002.

There are a lot of things going right for the program currently, and that includes recruiting. Clearly Coach Turgeon and his staff (particularly Bino Ranson, Nima Omidvar, and Cliff Warren) are having success identifying talent, and providing a message that resonates with prospects.

To help us discuss Terps recruiting, we’ve reached out to Jeff Ermann, the Executive Publisher of Inside MD Sports.

Jeff is the preeminent source for MD information, and has a great reputation locally for his hustle and high quality work. Our thanks to Jeff for taking the time to answer these questions. 

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Baltimore Sports and Life: Before we look ahead, some closing thoughts on MD’s incoming two man recruiting class (3 if you want to count Ivan Bender who transferred in late last year, and took a RedShirt). Diamond Stone was the 5th ranked played in the Class, and will solidify MD’s starting lineup. Jaylen Brantley arrives as a Sophomore after a year in Community College. His ability to orchestrate the offense as the primary backup PG will be a question to watch as the season progresses. Stone described as a low-post threat, that has the ability to face-up. Brantley said to have a quick first-step, and be a positive creator. Anything further you can add for this duo?

Ermann: Everyone assumes Stone will come in an dominate because of his high school ranking, but I think it’ll take him a bit of time to acclimate. Maryland has two other experienced and improved big men in Damonte Dodd and Michal Cekovsky, so it’s not a situation where he’s automatically going to be handed the starting job and 30 minutes a game. That said, I think once he gets his legs under him, he’ll be a major determinant in how far this team goes. The only thing they’re lacking is a proven post scoring threat and he has the talent to become that.

With Brantley, minutes could be hard to come by this year. Maryland has Melo Trimble at the point and Mark Turgeon has said that Rasheed Sulaimon will play there at times. So Brantley will provide some extra depth and ballhandling this season, but I think the following year is when he’ll have a bigger chance to showcase his skills. 

Baltimore Sports and Life: When it was first announced that Maryland would be leaving the ACC for the Big Ten; some questioned how future recruiting would be impacted. As is, the Terrapins are entering their second year in their new Conference as one of leading candidates to win the 2015-16 National Title. Given the success the Terps had last year, and the current aspirations for this coming season; it appears that MD’s net has increased, and more prospects are considering playing for the Terps. Can you expand on that?

Ermann: Their fortunes have changed almost overnight, but I don’t think that’s directly correlated to the conference move. A huge part of that is Trimble. Turgeon hadn’t found a reliable point guard in his first three years, and then suddenly he’s got an immediate star there, a guy who can score 20 points on any night — as a freshman — and brought national attention back to the program. Turgeon was also wise to flush the program a couple of summers ago and start over; it was obvious it wasn’t going to work out with some of the personalities in the locker room, and he was able to replace them with high-character players who are also talented.

As you mentioned, more prospects are interested, which is only natural when you’re being touted as a No. 1 team and you have signature names like Trimble and Stone. Now the question is, can they get another five-star player or two and reach that elite level in recruiting. 

Baltimore Sports and Life: It is expected that Melo Trimble will leap to the NBA after this coming year. If so, the aforementioned Brantley, and incoming Class of 2016 Freshman Anthony Cowan will be his replacements at the 1. After a big Summer, Cowan’s stock seems to be on the rise Nationally. How do you view the 6’0, Bowie, MD native?

Ermann: Cowan’s a nice player. Not he biggest guy, but he’s smart and versatile, somewhat like Trimble. Between he and Brantley, they won’t have a proven point guard, but they’ll have two guys who appear capable of playing the position at this level. That would have been a big luxury even last season.

Baltimore Sports and Life: Recently, Maryland added their second member of the ’16 Class with the verbal of Kevin Huerter. What do you like about the SG, what do you question? How do you compare with him other 2G’s  – Rawle Alkins, Brandon Robinson, and Curtis Jones – MD was connected with?

Ermann: With Huerter, you like his height, shooting ability and versatility. He’s 6-6 with a great stroke, he’s got good instincts and he’s not going to try to do too much. He could turn out to be Jared Nickens, but with more playmaking ability. The question is his athleticism. He’s not the fastest player on the court. He’s a more polished version of Robinson, was a bit more highly recruited than Jones and probably not on the level of Alkins, who’s one of the nation’s top recruits.

Baltimore Sports and Life: Maryland is also involved with some high end forwards. Among them Wenyen Gabriel, and the electric Josh Jackson. Jackson seemingly has offers from every National power, with Arizona seen as the current favorite by many. Where do you see Jackson ending up, and how special is he? Thoughts on Gabriel, and is Duke still the favorite there?

Ermann: Some will tell you Jackson’s the best guard prospect in a decade. I don’t know if that’s true, but he’s a a rare talent at 6-7 with incredible athleticism and skill. You don’t have to be a scout to see that — just watch two minutes of his video. As for where he ends up, I don’t think anyone knows yet. Arizona is a factor, Maryland is involved and Michigan State is trying to piece together a ‘Fab Five’ including him. It’ll probably be a while before anything serious comes out of that recruitment.

Gabriel is focused on Maryland, Duke and Kentucky, and the intel changes there regularly. He grew up loving Duke, but is he willing to join a roster full of talent at every position? Maryland presents the best opportunity for immediate playing time with Jake Layman set to graduate, but it’s hard to beat Duke and Kentucky for anyone these days. I think we’ll see a decision here within the next two to four weeks.

Baltimore Sports and Life: Another SF’s the Terps have tried to get involved with is Mario Kegler (Oak Hill). Do you see him as plausible, or no?

Ermann: He’s plausible. In my conversations with his coach, who also happens to be his guardian, he’s raved about Maryland and the chance to succeed Layman. Would I call Maryland the favorites? Probably not at this point, but he’ll visit in mid-October and seems excited about finally seeing the program up close.

Baltimore Sports and Life: This will obviously be Senior’s Jake Layman’s last year in a MD uniform. Same for incoming Senior Rasheed Sulaimon, and RS Graduate Varun Ram. As noted above, many/most expect Trimble to leave at year end. Others believe Stone, and Robert Carter will also go pro. How should MD handle this recruiting class, knowing several underclassmen could leave, but not knowing definitively if that will happen?

Ermann: They’re set at guard with Cowan and Huerter, so now it’s just a matter of how many big men you take. They definitely want a face-up three-four type to replace Layman, and then the question is, do you take a true big man or hold an extra scholarship for the 2017 class, where they have a lot of high-end prospects. My guess here is they wait until the spring to get a sense for how likely it is Stone and/or Carter will leave. They still have Dodd and Cekovsky barring a surprise departure, so they’re in pretty good shape there either way.

Baltimore Sports and Life: 6’11, 265lb Center Udoka Azubuike is seen by many as a Florida State lean. Should Stone go pro, thoughts on Azubuike as a replacement (where he would team with a Senior Damonte Dodd, and Junior Michal Cekovsky)?

Ermann: He’s a monster, but I don’t think Maryland is a serious contender there.

Baltimore Sports and Life: Jumping ahead to the Class of 2017, two of the best locals are DeMatha’s D.J. Harvey, and Baltimore native Myles Douglas. Both listed at 6’6. How do they compare?

Ermann: Harvey is the more touted of the two. He’s a top-10 national talent with offers from every major school. He’ll be a tough one to get, with Duke and Arizona seemingly in the lead. Douglas isn’t as well-known, but if you ask local observers they’ll tell you he’s one of the best prospects in the area. Maryland’s been on him hard for a long time and is considered the leader, but he’s been insistent about going through the recruiting process, so there’s no guarantee he’ll jump on board before someone else does in that loaded 2017 class.