The University of Maryland landed their first player of the 2011 Class, as they have received the verbal of PG Sterling Gibbs.
His brother Ashton is currently at Pittsburgh, which led many to believe he would become a Panther himself. Sterling was also recruited by Indiana, Florida, Seton Hall, Rutgers and DePaul among others.
According to Scout.com, Gibbs is the 22nd best PG in the 2011 Class. The Seton Hall Prep (NJ) PG is 6’3, 180 lbs. During his Junior season, he averaged over 23 points, and 5 assists a game. Despite that level of scoring, Gibbs is considered to be more of a true PG, vs. a scoring PG.
After penciling in Gibbs, the 2011-12 roster currently looks like:
Terps 2011-12
1) Howard (Soph), Stoglin (Soph), Gibbs (Frosh)
2) Parker (Soph)
3) Mosley (Senior), Palsson (Soph)
4) Padgett (Junior), Pankey (Soph)
5) Williams (Junior), Goins (Senior)
Howard and Stoglin will also get plenty of minutes as the 2 guard. Depending on the growth of Padgett, and Pankey; you could also see Mosley playing as an undersized 4, with Parker getting time at the 3.
Clearly I do not think Goins is going to be part of the Terps this coming year, let alone what would be his Senior year. Still, until that is officially announced, you have to project him. Even with him, there would be still 3 scholarships available. The development of the PF’s is going to be huge for this team.
I would guess this likely eliminates the Terps in their pursuit of DeMatha PG Quinn Cook. It will be interesting to see if Gibbs’ verbal spurs other 2011 recruits to give their commitment.
It is good to see Maryland get this verbal, on the same day it was announced that Coach Chuck Driesell would leaving College Park to take over the Citadel program. I actually had an interview scheduled with Mr. Driesell to take a look at the Terps for this up-coming season. I have not followed-up but I would imagine he is now going to be extremely busy building his own program.
If his schedule allows, I will follow-up for his perspective on his now former team. The reason it was good to see Maryland get the verbal of Gibbs today, is because Driesell has been the leading recruiter for the Terps these past several years. While MD has not always closed the deal, Driesell was getting Maryland involved with a lot of talented recruits. That is certainly going to need to be addressed.
Testudo Times has a good breakdown of potential options for the replacement of Driesell.
http://www.testudotimes.com/2010/4/26/1445539/running-down-potential-maryland
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