Terrence Ross Discussion

A widely debated topic the past week, has been Terrence Ross withdrawing his verbal commitment to attend the University of Maryland.

This decision was not a surprise, because during the Fall Signing Period, Ross did not officially sign. The only reason to not officially sign, is because you are not 100% officially solid and are still weighing your options.

I think too much has been made of it, because there is still a great opportunity for him to be a Terp. While comments from Ross have been scarce, comments from his High-School Coach Stu Vetter have not.

Matt Bracken of The Baltimore Sun spoke to Vetter, and Vetter stated, “He has reopened his recruitment,” Vetter said. “He’s going to reopen it for a limited number of schools — no more than four or five. Maryland is still very strong in the picture. He just felt that he wanted to open it up and make sure he was making an informed decision. And that’s pretty much it.”

Vetter said Ross, a four-star prospect who grew up in Portland, Ore., is not looking at any West Coast schools. There are four programs, in particular, that he’s currently focused on.

“Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Maryland,” Vetter said. “He has limited who he [is considering]. Not anybody can come in and recruit him. Our rule, also, is that there will be no official visits until our season is over. And as far as recruiting during our season, the No. 1 priority is his academic work and the Montrose basketball team.”

Ross committed to Maryland in April, selecting the Terps over Arizona state, Cal, Oregon State, Washington, and several others. Vetter said Maryland still has a shot at landing Ross.

“Maryland has done an outstanding job of recruiting him and Terrence is very familiar with Maryland and he likes Maryland a lot,” Vetter said. “They are still very much in the picture.”

Vetter also reiterated those same thoughts to Bruce Posner of Terp Talk.

So, Vetter says Maryland has done an excellent job of recruiting Ross, and remains a viable option. I would question anyone that says that they know better.

Ross might be a Terp, he might not. He is a high-school kid that will probably change his own mind a 1,000,000 times between now and the Spring Signing Period. This is a huge decision for Ross, and he has the right to spend the time he deems necessary to make that decision.

While Ross has the right to take his time, and even change his mind; I am not sure why some feels this reflects negatively on Gary Williams. All a Coach can do is sell his program, and provide a vision to a prospect. Williams did a good enough job doing that, that Ross provided a verbal commitment to the program.

Bracken previously interviewed Ross for The Sun, and asked him why Maryland. Ross answered, “I like the atmosphere and they recruited me the hardest.”

So again, in Ross’s own words, and the words of his HS coach, Maryland is the school that recruited him the hardest. Now if Ross changes his mind, and decides to sign with Kentucky, Kansas, or Duke; obviously that would hurt. However, that is his right. Maryland will continue to recruit him, and it will ultimately be Ross’s decision.

The Terps can not control his signing. Maryland has to worry about the things they can control. They can continue to control how hard they actively recruit Ross. They can also control what backup plans they attempt to put in place. InsideMDSports.com has already reported, the Terps have reactivated the recruitment of Oak Hill Senior PG Pe’Shon Howard.

Ultimately, the results on the court this year are likely to carry weight as well. If the Terps can overcome their 8-4 start, and win 10 ACC games and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the 3rd time in 4 years, that can only help.

I am a glass half-full type of guy, and if that makes naive, that is fine. I say he winds up signing with Maryland. I’ll point out that the same people that would call me naive, were the ones stating that Ross was ‘definitively’ going to back to the West Coast before he provided his verbal. Those people were wrong then, and I think are also wrong now, when they say Ross will ‘definitively’ not be a Terp.

Beyond wishful thinking, there are reasons to think Ross will ultimately sign with Maryland. Ross played a large roll in helping persuade Mychal Parker to sign with the Terps. Parker is signed, sealed, and delivered and that will remain appealing to Ross. Another thing to remember is that Ross verbally committed on his own once. Ross clearly saw reasons to believe Maryland was the answer. The facilities, coaching, league, and academics will remain. Ross came across the country to play HS ball at Montrose. Maryland’s location (and proximity) to the things he has become accustomed to, will not change.

I think he is just a kid that is doing his due diligence. He has gone from being a Top 100 prospect, to a Top 30 prospect in less than a year. The fact that he was not 100% comfortable signing in the fall, does not mean his future home will not be College Park.

In the meantime, I expect that Maryland will attempt to make this a 5 man class and get a commitment from a player that can add depth with some upside like Howard, or perhaps Jonathan Graham.

As Roscoe Smith remains unsigned, perhaps the Terps could even get involved with him again.
The future would obviously look better with Ross, but the cupboard would not be bare without him.

2010-11 Terps

1) Bowie (Senior), Stoglin (Frosh)
2) Mosley (Junior), Parker (Frosh)
3) Tucker (Senior), Kim (Junior)
4) Padgett (Soph), Pankey (Frosh)
5) Williams (Soph), Gregory (Senior), Goins (Junior)