Feb. 18, 2012; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines forward Evan Smotrycz (23) moves the ball against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

• In case you missed it, Mark Turgeon had his first practice with the post-Len era Terps, and he had some pretty good things to say. In particular, that Shaquille Cleare was doing all the right things to be a successful player, and Charles Mitchell was at least trying. And about that new recruit, Mr. Peters? Well, he’s going to be just fine come next season’s tip-off, rest assured.
• In a double Washington Post link dump, Prewitt gives us some insight into the life and expectations of Evan Smotrycz, the oft-overlooked Michigan transfer. Because he’s largely an unknown entity, fans tend to overestimate/underestimate his importance to the team. We know he is a shooter, but not much else about him can be gleaned from his limited playing time. I’m on the side that thinks he’s going to play a very big role, but I’ve only seen him play about three times.
• No, Maryland isn’t going to be in the ACC for the 2014 season, but that didn’t stop BleacherReport from giving the Terps a ranking in their most recent “Top 2014 recruiting classes in the ACC” article. You can check out where we are here, and note that the Terps are almost guaranteed to raise in that ranking as well. Unfortunately, it means nothing since they’ll be in the Big Ten by the time any of these guys play.
• Finally, Jeff Barker decides to make some bold Maryland football predictions since it’s the offseason and he can. Sorry to disappoint, but none of them are that outlandish, so I generally agree with them.

Stay out of the rain, Terp Nation!

Mar 15, 2013; Greensboro, NC, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Nick Faust (5) and guard/forward Dez Wells (32) react. The Terrapins defeated the Blue Devils 83-74 during the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday former Memphis guard and Baltimore native, Antonio Barton, decided against finishing his career at the University of Maryland and will be attending the University of Tennessee. After a month long recruitment process that was kept under wraps, Antonio announced yesterday via his brother, Will Barton, twitter account. Maryland was believed to be the leader throughout the process especially after his visit to College Park. However, Tennessee presented the younger Barton with more playing time for his final year.

The loss of Antonio Barton’s one year of eligibility hurts Maryland’s back court depth. Graduate student Logan Aronhalt is no longer eligible and rising senior Pe’Shon Howard is transferring to be close to home. Coach Mark Turgeon does have Roddy Peters, a 4 star combo guard from Suitland, MD, to add to the back court. But with Peters lack of experience, Antonio Barton was seen as the ideal fit to help Maryland for the 2013-2014 season. Maryland has an open scholarship, but adding an incoming freshman hurts future playing time with high profile recruits Coach Turgeon is looking to add.

While many believe that Coach Turgeon will still look to add another guard to the Maryland line-up, the Terrapins are not and should not view themselves in a desperate situation. There were many growing pains throughout the 2012-2013 season, but the young Terps appeared to have found themselves at the end of the season. They made a run to the ACC Semi-Finals and to the NIT Final Four. Along the way they beat Duke (with Ryan Kelly back), used a 5 guard line-up to knock off Denver, and were one of the few teams to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The loses of Alex Len and Pe’Shon Howard hurt the Terps, but both of their departures were expected. Maryland maintained their expected roster and coaching staff. We saw a good jump in player progression from Coach Turgeon’s first year to the second year, and with many players returning we can expect to see another jump as well from last year to this year. Most of the team is used to the routine, and what the staff expects of them. This should also help incoming freshmen Roddy Peters and Damonte Dodd transition easier. Last season Maryland was adding more players than they were returning, this year is the opposite. The locker room is not only more stable, but there is stronger leadership within the locker room. Players, such as, Nick Faust and Dez Wells, have shown the ability on the court to be leaders and players that are counted upon by the staff. Heading into last season, Maryland was searching for players to fill this role.

The loss of Logan Aronhalt and Pe’Shon Howard hurt Maryland’s depth, but their production can be made up for. Logan Aronhalt’s 43% three point shooting will be difficult to match, but his 6.0 PPG can be made up for. Michigan Transfer Evan Smotrycz is known for his ability to shoot from deep, and his high major experience should help him transition better to the ACC. Logan Aronhalt was a great addition for one year, but his experience at Albany didn’t have him completely ready to handle the ACC. While it is tough to place high expectations on a freshman, the role of replacing Pe’Shon Howard should not be too difficult for young Roddy Peters. It is has been well documented how much Pe’Shon Howard struggled last season, but Maryland was still able to be successful despite often playing 4 vs 5 on offense. Pe’Shon averaged 3.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.7 TPG, while shooting 29% FG and 24% 3FG. Asking Roddy Peters to surpass these figures shouldn’t be asking too much, even for a freshman.

Next season is a big season for Coach Mark Turgeon. Him and his staff have done a great job on the recruiting trail so far of selling their vision of Maryland basketball. Eventually there will need to be results to back up their plan. The addition of Antonio Barton would have helped, but he would not have been the savior of Maryland basketball. The added depth and experience he brought would have been great, but he wouldn’t have arrived on campus and transformed himself into an NBA caliber player averaging over 15 PPG in the ACC. The core of Maryland’s basketball team is still in place and the roles of the players are also more defined. The players know each better and they know how to play with one another. The coaching staff also has a better idea of how the players work together then they did before. Maryland is returning more players then adding players this year, while maintaining the same coaching staff, those are more important then a one year rental player. It is still May, but buckle up because this season will be another roller coaster ride for us Maryland fans.

Mar 14, 2013; Greensboro, NC, USA; Maryland Terrapins center Alex Len (25) goes up for a dunk over Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward Travis McKie (30) during the first round of the ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

• The Wizards got the number three pick in the NBA draft lottery, so logically Alex Len’s name is being thrown into the mix as a potential draft pick. Problem is, the Wizards have a history of completely botching picks in recent years, especially when it comes to Europeans named Olekisy. That’s why Len made the TruthAboutIt #SoWizards picks. Great. Good thing he’s not going to Washington…I think.
• Continuing their Top 3 series, InsideMarylandSports.com gives us a (pay-to-play) look at the top three linebackers the Terps will face next year. Everyone on the list is going to be a nightmare to face, and is a future draft pick. The first guy in particular, is incredibly good.
• Heather Dinich over at ESPN gives the Terps a brief love bump by briefly summing up the whole Terps vs the ACC thing that’s currently going on. The ramifications of the ruling could have drastic effects, if there is even any ruling today at all. President Loh, as we know now, is currently in attendance though so it’s safe to say, “Does this roof look Loh? Cause I think it needs to be raiiiised!”
• It’s a shame that the Terrapins haven’t won a championship in lacrosse in a long while, because they have some very good players who deserve to get that trophy. In particular, the seven All-Americans that were named on the team. With that much firepower, Maryland has got to start winning the big one. (Diamondback)
• It may be weird, but Roddy Peters is already one of my favorite Terps players. When you read things like the Baltimore Sun’s piece on getting to know the kid, you’ll find out why. Some interesting blurbs? His favorite Terp is Juan Dixon, his role model is John Wall, and he’s ambidextrous. I can’t wait for this guy to don that beautiful Maryland pride jersey.

October 27, 2012; Boston, MA USA; Maryland Terrapins wide receiver Kevin Dorsey (12) prior to a game against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

• InsideMDSports gives us an update on the Maryland Terrapins point guard of the future, Roddy Peters. Looks like Peters is ahead of schedule in his recovery, and is most certainly going to be ready for next season thanks to his opting for surgery early. It’s a shoulder injury, not a deal-breaker, and I think Peters is going to be completely back into form come the start of next season. He’s going to need to be if he wants to complement Seth Allen properly.

• And another one from InsideMDSports, which is killing it lately, on Damonte Dodd. It’s nice to know that Damonte seems like he is realistic about expectations, given the front court crowding. As long as the kid is understanding that his development is still a work-in-progress, then he’s going to be a great piece for the team. He’ll also contribute in an intangible way: chemistry.

• It’s the offseason, so head coach Randy Edsall is running the interview circuit, talking about his Terps in the NFL and the future of the team. A few days ago he joined Norris and Davis on 105.7 to speak about C.J. Brown’s health, and interestingly enough, student-athlete pay programs. Read up/listen if you want to hear ‘ol Rangoon’s thoughts on the matter, which I tend to agree with.
  
• Maryland continues to live up to it’s newly minted (by me) name of wide receiver U with the addition of Kevin Dorsey to the Green Bay Packers. It was something I didn’t really expect, but I’m proud of him nonetheless and think going to play with Aaron Rodgers is probably the best thing for him to develop. Dorsey sat down with Matt Bracken earlier this week to talk about the NFL experience thus far, and it’s nice to hear him so happy.

• Stefon Diggs is really, really starting to gain some national notoriety. He’s been in talks as an early Heisman candidate, ACC Player of the Year, and any other accolade you can tag to his name. The craziest part is how he’s managing to do this despite only being a freshman, and hasn’t played with a veteran quarterback yet. Ben Glicksman of SI.com gives us a rundown of how Diggs is growing into a bigger role at Maryland.

Mar 16, 2013; Greensboro, NC, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Seth Allen (4) shoots as North Carolina Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige (5) defends in the first half during the semifinals of the ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It’s transfer season for college basketball, and nowadays that basically means fans and coaches alike attack the subject with as much fervor as signing day and recruiting. Naturally, when news broke earlier this week that the Maryland terrapins lost out on two big name transfers, Eli Carter of Rutgers and Vertrail Vaughn of George Mason, people started to panic a little about not landing a transfer.

If we don’t get a veteran point guard now, or another scorer, are we destined for another NIT birth? Incoming freshmen Damonte Dodd and Roddy Peters (even transfer Evan Smotrycz) won’t be enough to get us over the hump and into the NCAA tournament. Mark Turgeon isn’t doing enough to lure these guys. If Antonio Barton doesn’t come, we’re screwed. Seth Allen and Roddy Peters are combo guards, and Nick Faust manning the point was somewhat disastrous last year; the turnover issue will persist. That was more or less the prevailing sentiment, but that’s standard protocol when fans get bad news.

Still, I have more than a little reason to believe that the gloom-and-doom speak is more than a little premature. The turnover problem was and remains a major issue plaguing this team, so the line of logic that with the same personnel the same outcome will occur is relatively sound. Seth Allen average 1.2 assists for every turnover he committed, and that number dropped to 0.8 during ACC play. That’s simply nowhere near proficient enough for a starting point guard on a tournament team, and I’ll readily accept that.

I’ll also concede, and even encourage, the line of thought that adding another freshman combo guard in Roddy Peters is going to solve next to nothing and he isn’t the savior people want him to be. True freshman point guards, let alone players that aren’t actually natural primary ball handlers, almost never fare well in the ACC during year one; the exception being one-and-done guards like Kyrie Irving, who come in and summarily destroy anyone standing in their way. Do I think Roddy Peters is going to be that type of player? Hell no. He isn’t even close, actually.

What I don’t understand is why everyone is so quick to dismiss the factor that experience plays in making things get better. Seth Allen played very nearly a full season against some really, really, tough opponents. For a three-star guard being given the reins of a young team, he obviously struggled a bit. But to say that he didn’t improve as the season progressed is a downright farce.

For that I point to his 24 of his final 25 games before he got injured. I cut the number to 24 to exclude his eight turnover performance against Duke (even though he was an integral piece to that victory). Over that 24 game stretch, Seth Allen averaged a mere 1.2 turnovers a game. The number drops to just one turnover a game if I take out his other four turnover performance. What does that tell me? It says that even though Seth Allen left a sour taste in every observers mouth with his. at times, painfully inaccurate passing early in the season, he was actually pretty good as a freshman.

1.2 turnovers a game over a 24 game stretch is an incredibly acceptable number for a freshman guard who is playing out of position in one of the toughest conferences in the country; I defy anyone to tell me otherwise in that matter. I ran his assist numbers over that 24 game stretch as well, and he averaged 1.7 assists over that same stretch. Note that I’ve never once suggested Allen was a pure point guard, or that he was even a great guard. I’m just trying to dispel the notion that he’s a turnover machine and we can write him off now.

Then of course there’s Roddy Peters coming in. I’m not going to sell Peters short at all with his game; from what I’ve seen, he’s a better player than Seth Allen already. As a top-end four-star guard, Peters is on the cusp of being a great player, but with a year off recovering from injury it’s going to be incredibly hard to gauge his production. Given that it’s guesswork at this point, let’s just speculate that he’s completely healthy come season time.

If Peters is at where he was at the start of his senior year, he’s a definite impact player coming into College Park. He is a competent shooter, and has the size to be a very effective defender as well. Even super scouter Dave Telep said earlier this year that he hadn’t seen a player evolve so quickly, and that he was already an elite point guard. If that’s the type of endorsement this kid is getting, I’ll take it. Roddy Peters is going to have turnover issues, but that doesn’t mean he is going to be a slouch when it comes to ball distribution.

That’s a major reason that I think things will be alright if the backcourt remains only Faust, Allen, and Roddy. Nick Faust will be able to play off the ball (where he excels) while Roddy is on the court, because Peters is more than likely going to be an effective passer. When Allen steps onto the floor, Maryland is probably going to have to run a lot more iso, but Nick Faust and Dez Wells are both pretty good at that, too. You add in an improved Layman and sharpshooter Evan Smotrycz around the perimeter to catch kick-out passes from those three slashers? I think that’s going to resolve a lot more problems than it’s going to cause. The three ball tends to cure a lot of things, and Maryland is going to be far more effective next year in that regard, I’d think.

They do lose Len, but the guy who will be replacing him in Charles Mitchell almost negates the necessity for tougher entry passes (an aspect the Terps struggled mightily in) that the big Ukrainian required to be effective offensively. Mitchell mostly creates his own points through an unheard of tenacity on the offensive glass, which is a very good thing. It’s going to really help lower the chances of a turnover being caused by our guards feeding it down low. If you can’t solve the problem, eliminate it outright.

The bottom line is that without Len, the guards that we have can specialize more on kick-outs to (hopefully) an improved deep shooting group. The entire dynamic of the team is going to look different without him. I think having a lot of guards who can slash and kick the ball out is more important than ever, and we’ll be getting that in Faust, Allen, and Peters. Two of those three I have reason to believe haven’t yet reached their ceilings and will stand to improve themselves after a year of seasoning. Basically, I like where the team is at, transfer or no transfer.

Dec 3, 2012; Hartford, CT, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese and bench react from the sideline as they take on the Connecticut Huskies during the second half at the XL Center. UConn defeated Maryland 63-48. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

• Maryland soccer is in the Final Four! Their first matchup happens to be against cross-town “rival” Georgetown. Get your scoop on when and where to watch here, written by Mike Bohlin of this here site.
• It’s unfortunate that Roddy Peters has to undergo season ending surgery on his shoulder right before his senior year, but the good news is that he is going to be ready to roll come Terps season. Next year, Maryland’s backcourt will be safe (even if it’s a bit rusty). (Washington Post)
• The great Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post has a preview of Maryland’s game Saturday against South Carolina State. SC State is better than UMES, but not by a whole lot. Maryland needs your fan support, so come on out!
• Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times has a good article about how the Maryland Terrapins basketball team is remaining grounded in spite of their recent successes. That’s a good thing, because beating the teams they’ve beaten doesn’t mean a whole lot.
• Gene Wang aka the Fantasy Guru has a little review of the Lady Terps basketball team taking down former ACC rival Virginia in basketball. Hats off to Brenda for continued success year in and year out. Let’s hope she can do the same in the B1G
• For those of you who don’t know, Maryland is working with some friends of ours, LetsMoveDown, to help fans upgrade tickets in-game. It’s a very cool app available for iOS and Android and one in which you should definitely download. Trust me on this.
• And finally, Maryland Terrapins wrestling (ranked 17th) is going toe to toe with Pittsburgh (ranked 16th) in what should be an interesting bout for all you wrestling fans. It’s worth following strictly because they’re Terps. We supoprt Terps

Roddy Peters senior season at Suitland High lasted all of 32 minutes. In last night’s loss to Wise High School Peters finished with 16 points in what will end up being the last game of his prep career. The local standout and Maryland Terrapins signee is shutting things down for the remainder of his senior season to have surgery on his shoulder. Peters confirmed this through a posting on his Instagram page last night.

While I am sure it was a tough decision for Peters to make, as last year’s Suitland High team made a serious run at the state title, having this procedure done now so that he is completely healed by June of 2013 in advance of coming to the University of Maryland is the right call. The desire to compete and to win will certainly be something that Peters will miss as he watches his teammates finish out their season from the bench but in the long run taking care of any lingering problems with his shoulder now will be to the benefit of Peters and the Terrapins basketball program. Interestingly enough I am of the opinion that we have the AAU circuit to thank for Peters ability to have this operation done now.

The Washington Post ran an article this morning on how Roddy Peters along with Maryland target Dion Wiley are “bucking the trend” of local basketball stars sticking with their local public schools instead of attending one of the private school powerhouses that make their home in the metro area. One of the main points I took away from reading that this morning was that your AAU affiliation is far more important than what high school you are playing for. Through watching the recruitment of former teammates and classmates I have been staunchly behind this train of thought for quite some time now. The AAU circuit presents the opportunity for players from across the country to go against each other in tournament settings making it easier to get top talent from a vast area on the same court at the same time.

Peters played for DC Assault, one of the area’s most widely known and well-respected AAU programs, and this is where he made his name on the national level blowing up into the consensus five-star prospect that committed to Maryland prior to his senior year. I am not going to make the claim that without playing for DC Assault on the AAU circuit that Peters would have never made it on to the Terrapins radar as I don’t believe that to be true whatsoever; good players are found no matter where they play.

What I will say, however, is this: The AAU circuit and Peters performance in it last summer allowed him the option to elect to have this surgery now and afford himself the opportunity to fully recover before he ever steps onto the College Park campus as a student. Without his performance for DC Assault and his subsequent jump in every major recruiting ranking index Peters could have found himself in a position where he had yet to commit and sign with a school like Maryland and would be forced to play through this injury in hopes of locking down that high major offer than all high school hoopsters long for.

Thankfully, for Maryland as well for Peters, this is not the case. Peters had the chance to show what he is capable of and landed his dream scholarship to a high major program all before his senior year at Suitland allowing him to have this surgery now and not worry about the ramifications. AAU basketball has long been vilified by media pundits for the practices of some of its programs. It is nice to actually be able to write a story where the point isn’t bashing AAU basketball for what it isn’t but instead acknowledging the positives that can be associated with it and seeing how its importance in the world of recruiting can promote positive outcomes for both the player and the institutions of higher learning these same AAU basketball players move on to.

We’ve all had a few days now to digest the news that Suitland High standout point guard Roddy Peters will be following his childhood dream and suiting up for the Maryland Terrapins in 2013. While the same amount of fanfare that surrounded the announcement of the Harrison twins was not present with Peters commitment the end result could be greater for this Terrapins program. The Harrison’s were going to be one-and-done players, everyone knew that all along. While they might have made a significant impact on the program in the short term being able to bring in a local player as highly touted as Peters will ultimately be a bigger deal in my opinion.

The biggest knock on, in my opinion, future Hall of Famer Gary Williams was that he simply could not get the top flight prep talent that this area produces year in and year out to stay in the area for college. He refused to play the “AAU game” and as a result Maryland brought in recruits that weren’t as highly touted as some of their peers in the area. For years programs would come into our back yard and be able to hand pick blue chip recruits out of DC, MD and VA to go out of state to play their college ball. For the most part these recruits would turn a blind eye to the program in College Park that is only 10 years removed from a National Championship.

That is why I am so hopeful over Roddy Peters commitment. Mark Turgeon is burning up the recruiting trail, by all accounts there isn’t a gym where high level talent from the Baltimore and DC area can be found that he hasn’t stopped by. He, and his staff, are putting in the work that is necessary to “Build a fence” around the DC, MD and VA borders and keep some of this high end talent we have been largely missing out on at home. Peters is the epitome of the type of player the Terrapins need to lock up. He will be someone that will be at least a three year player in this system and will be the lead guard that Coach Turgeon will need once Pe’Shon Howard’s eligibility has run its course.

It has been a long time since a five-star player chose Maryland over a host of other offers, since 2003 to be exact, when Mike Jones decided to take his talents to College Park. Despite entertaining the crowd by allowing them to scream “WHO?” every time he would make a shot, Jones never lived up to his five-star billing during his time as a Terp. Since then, Maryland has been able to attract a host of four-star players, which I want to make clear isn’t a bad thing at all, but have not been able to get a hold of those elusive blue chippers that seemed to be constantly leaving the area. Former TerrapinStationMD editor Pete Volk gave a great look at some of the players that have gotten away over the years in his recent article for TestudoTimes.com.

Why do I consider Peters commitment to be as big of a deal, if not bigger, than landing the Harrison twins? If I can echo some of the sentiments of the tone of Volk’s article, it’s quite simple. The Terps aren’t going to be building any pipelines to College Park from Houston or any other part of Texas for that matter. As I alluded to before we can, however, do that here in the greater Washington D.C. area and Roddy Peters is that first building block Maryland needed. Peters has already come out and said he will not be shy about actively recruiting other local talent to come join him at Maryland.

One thing I have learned from following recruiting is that when in-state blue chip players talk the younger prep stars listen and listen well. There is loads of talent in the 2014 class in this area and having Peters playing with and against these same players in an AAU competition for his D.C. Assault team or in high school matchups as he leads the Suitland Rams on another run at the state title he will have an opportunity to be in every single one of their ears selling them on joining him in College Park.

There are no certainties in life; we all learn this sooner or later. Until he puts on that jersey and steps onto the court for the first time no one can say they know what the Terrapins will get out of Roddy Peters. What I can tell you is this; Turgeon and Co., have brought in an uber talented player that has always dreamed of taking the floor at Comcast Center as a Maryland Terrapin. Thankfully for the Terps, we are going to have plenty of room for whichever players choose to listen to Peters recruiting pitch and follow him to College Park to build Maryland back into the championship contending program it once was.

Oct 17, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon speaks to the media during the ACC media day held at the Ritz-Carlton. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-US PRESSWIRE

Lots of good links this week coming from lots of great sources.

• Ben Broman of Testudo Times has a fantastic writeup about Maryland acquiring Roddy Peters for everyone to gawk at. Something you should read, is all I’ll say.
• Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun gets former Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan to give a pretty detailed scouting report on Mr. Peters. It’s nice to hear how good he is from a pro’s perspective.
• Eamonn Brennan of ESPN happens to think that Maryland, in it’s own way, won by losing to Calipari and gaining Roddy Peters. I tend to agree with his stance on the subject; not many programs go toe-to-toe with coach Cal.
• UMTerps reports about Mark Turgeon and the Terps on ACC Media Day 2012. It’s nice to hear how excited Mark Turgeon is to start the season, and it’s looking like the Terrapins are stacked and ready to roll with this young, big squad.
• It’s amazing to say this, but Perry Hills is one of the best fourth quarter performers in the ACC this year at the quarterback position. Don’t believe me? Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun has the facts to prove it.
• Rick Maese of the Washington Post gives us a profile on Maryland’s biggest fan. If you think that you’re the biggest Terps guy there is, then read this and I assure you that you shall be humbled.
• Maryland’s 2013 schedule is out, and they are playing some more teams from Florida and some more teams from Virginia. (Alex Prewitt, Washington Post).
• Papa Bear Sports Illustrated has a great review of some of the more talented freshmen in the ACC, and make no mistake: they are taking note of Perry Hills and Stefon Diggs. Please, let the heaping praise continue.
• And finally, if you want some enemy news, Fox Sports Carolinas Andrew Jones has some insight on what the North Carolina State Wolfpack need to do in order to take down Maryland.

Peters, who is rated as a five-star recruit and the nation’s number three point guard by 247Sports, joins center Damonte Dodd as the second member of the Terrapins 2013 recruiting class. Depending on which rankings you choose to go by, clearly my preference has been shown already, this would be the Terps highest ranked recruit since the days of Travis Garrison and (Who!?!) Mike Jones.

After missing out on the Harrison twins Peters was viewed by many as a must get recruit for Turgeon and his staff. It certainly did not hurt having Dalonte Hill as one of the lead recruiters of Peters. Coach Hill’s long standing relationship with the DC Assault AAU program is well known and certainly helped the Terps cause in landing the highly touted local point guard.

As I reported last night coach Turgeon and coach Hill had an in-home visit with Peters and his family on Monday evening. As much as the staff had made it clear that they wanted Peters in College Park it never hurts to reiterate that fact. Clearly, Peters had begun to give serious thought as to going elsewhere as the saga unfolded with the Harrison twins so locking up this commitment was big for Turgeon and staff. Whatever was said in that visit by Turgeon and Hill did the trick as Peters verbally pledged to Maryland this morning shortly after 9 A.M.

Coming off a junior season where he averaged 23 ppg 5.2 apg and 2.4 spg and third team All-Met honors Peters blew up nationally on the AAU scene while playing for Eddie Jordan and DC Assault.The top 20 ranked player heads into his senior campaign as one of the most heralded players in an area that is known for producing some of the nations best. I think I speak for all Maryland fans when I say it’s great to see top flight local talent staying home and hopefully this is the first of many to come.