Terps Get Their Shaq!
When I tell people who aren’t that close to our Basketball Program that the future of Terps Basketball is indeed bright. I hope they don’t throw our upcoming 6-24 record in the 2011-2012 season, back in my face. Let’s be clear, immediate future of Terps is pretty dismal, long term future, couldn’t be brighter.
Today that outlook got a little more rosier.
Matt Bracken at the Baltimore Sun (here) is reporting that Terps landed Center Shaquille Cleare (did you expect a guy named Shaq to be a 170 lb PG?). Shaquille had been leaning Maryland’s way for quite a while, but today he pulled the trigger and committed. This is a great get for Mark Turgeon as Cleare is a top 30 prospect and was also being recruited by Arizona, Miami, and Texas among others. He will join Seth Allen as the second member of the 2012 class.
Cleare, I should also point out is 6-9 285 lbs and is from Houston Texas, he also plays AAU ball with several other guys the Terps are targeting. How this impacts their recruitment is anyone’s guess, but I’m sure it won’t hurt it.
Anyway, we don’t get too wrapped up in recruiting on this site (reasons: EJ Henderson, Juan Dixon among many others), but for Mark Turgeon this is a good day. I can’t say enough how excited I am about this new era in Maryland Basketball. Turgeon has a chance to pretty much make the program from scratch (still 5 scholarships left for the 2012 class) and he is using this opportunity to bring in some pretty sought after players. Hopefully this opens the door for some other key signings down the road.
Welcome to College Park Mr. Cleare.
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August 24th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Having been through the last few years where we get people to commit, and then never suit up, I am not holding my breath, but I think this is a huge get, and will be the first of many marquee commitments for Turgeon.
August 24th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
They aren’t a Terp until they are in uniform and on the active roster during the actual season in which their sport is playing.