The fall signing period ended this week with a couple of notable Maryland-related developments.
On Monday, St. Anthony (N.J.) power forward Ashton Pankey committed to the Terps, giving Maryland a four-man class which also includes Tucson (Ariz.) Santa Rita point guard Terrell Stoglin, Montrose Christian shooting guard Terrence Ross and Miller School (Va.) small forward Mychal Parker.
Then on Thursday night, Maryland target Tobias Harris committed to Tennessee.
So how does Maryland's 2010 recruiting class stack up nationally?
• Rivals.com has UM at No. 17 -- without including Pankey's pledge.
• Scout.com lists Maryland at No. 19 overall.
• ESPN.com also pegs Maryland as having the 19th-best class.
• And MaxPreps.com -- also without including Pankey's commitment -- ranks the Terps as the No. 10 class in the country.
Analysis: Ross and Stoglin should develop into a nice 1-2 punch at the guard spots for Gary Williams.• The Washington Post's Steve Yanda spoke to Scout.com's Dave Telep about Pankey's commitment.
"He went from not being very physical inside to doing a good job on the glass and playing with some intensity," Telep said. "The thing with him is he's always been a guy who's had talent and ability; he just hadn't gone out and done it with any kind of intensity or consistency, and I felt toward the end of the summer he was starting to do that, which is a really good sign. My evaluation on him won't be complete until I see him during his senior year, but I think he's got a chance to be a guy who makes a living underneath the basket as a rebounder and an impact-type player. I haven't seen a whole lot of offense out of him outside of that, but he looks like a guy who's pretty good right around the basket."
• Ross will wait until the spring to sign his letter of intent to Maryland, according to The Washington Post.
"He's going to wait until the spring," Montrose Christian Coach Stu Vetter said, adding that Ross remains committed to Maryland and that academically he could have signed this week had he chosen.
• Former Maryland small forward target Justin Coleman transferred to Huntington (W.Va.) Prep this week.
Coleman's list of potential suitors includes Marquette, Arkansas, Xavier, Kansas, Kentucky and Providence, according to Fulford.
• The Maryland women's basketball program signed the No. 2-ranked class in the country this week. Click here for the official release.
Football recruiting
• Bishop McNamara wide receiver Brandon Coleman told Rivals.com that he has narrowed his list of schools to three.
"It's between Rutgers, Maryland and Syracuse," he said. "I might try to do an official to Syracuse in January. I like the same things about them as the other schools. I visited there over the summer and they were interesting."
• Norcross, Ga., offensive lineman Max Garcia told Palmetto Sports that he will likely choose between Maryland, Clemson and Vanderbilt before the end of the year.
"They all have their pros and cons," said Garcia. "In the end, I have to go where my heart is telling me to go. I just want to go somewhere I am comfortable. Somewhere I can get along with the players and coaches and somewhere with a good journalism school."
• Phil Kornblut reports that Clemson running backs coach Andre Powell plans on checking out two Maryland commitments at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy.
Powell also will see LB David Mackall (6-3 245), a native of Baltimore, and LB Lorne Goree (6-1 210), a native of Silver Spring, MD.
• Matt Robinson's Atholton squad takes on River Hill tonight for the Class 3A regional championship. The Raiders hope to avenge a 35-14 loss to the Hawks in the regular season.
That said, Atholton scored twice on touchdowns of 90 and 80 yards from Kalvin Seamonson to Matt Robinson in that game. Something tells me that the River Hill secondary has been working especially hard this week on making sure that doesn't happen again. Hawks coach Brian Van Deusen does expect them to try, however.
"I'm sure they're going to come out and try that again, when you've got a kid like Matt Robinson you've got to," he said.
• Terps commitments Titus Till and Rahsaan Moore lead Wise against C.H. Flowers on Saturday in the Class 4A South regional championship. The Pumas fell to the Jaguars 14-12 just two weeks ago.
"That was a humbling loss," Moore said. "We learned a lot from that game. They came out and made the plays. We had the lead twice and they still beat us. Their offensive line is excellent and their running backs are really good. We have to find a way to stop them. We're definitely going to be ready for them this time. We're going to walk off the field with a win this time."
• Terps quarterback commitment Tyler Smith will battle for a playoff victory and a Pennsylvania state record tonight.
Lancaster Catholic's Kyle Smith and Wilson Area's Tyler Smith are not related, but they are second and fourth, respectively, on Pennsylvania's career passing chart. Both are taking aim at Downingtown East graduate Pat Devlin's record of 8,162. Kyle Smith has 7,771 going into tonight's District 3-Class AA semifinal against Middletown. Tyler Smith has 7,721 yards - just 41 yards shy of No. 3 and former Wilson Area standout D.J. Lenehan - going into tonight's District 11-Class AA semifinal at Allentown Central Catholic.
• The Washington Post profiled DeMatha offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio and his younger brother Cyrus this week. Both are Maryland targets.
Arie is not focusing on recruiting until next week, but it is believed that Alabama and California rank near the top of the several dozen schools to offer him a scholarship, with Maryland, Miami, Tennessee, Notre Dame and New Mexico among those still in consideration.
