A new junior target has emerged on the Maryland basketball program's radar.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this week that the Terps are watching Aaron Brown, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound small forward from Penn Wood High in Lansdowne, Pa.
Maryland and Providence have expressed interest. If Maryland is eliminated early from the NCAA tourney, Terrapins coach Gary Williams is scheduled to visit Penn Wood next week.
• Word of God Academy (N.C.) power forward C.J. Leslie revealed his top five this week in a diary for DimeMag.com.
The crazy thing is I have the same list, but I read stuff that says I've cut my list of schools. It's still UCLA, Oregon, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky and N.C. State.• Progressive Christian Academy power forward Moses Abraham appears to be down to two schools, according to The Washington Post.
As for Maryland, [Joe] Boncore said he spoke to Terrapins coaches multiple times on Sunday, but has had no contact with them since then. At this point it would appear that Indiana and Georgetown are the two programs primarily in contention for Abraham's services.
• Maryland targets Quinn Cook and Mikael Hopkins powered DeMatha to an 89-38 win over Cathedral (Ontario) on Thursday in the opening round of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament in Frostburg.
Cook had a game-high 18 points and six assists, Hopkins added 16 points and eight rebounds ...
• Maryland women's commitments Alyssa Thomas and Natasha Cloud met in the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAAA tournament Tuesday. Cloud had 15 points, five rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocked shots for Cardinal O'Hara, but Thomas' Central Dauphin squad prevailed.
Thomas, who helped Central Dauphin win the PIAA Class AAAA championship as a sophomore, was 9-for-16 from the floor and 9-for-10 at the foul line for 27 points and added 10 rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot to help the Rams (21-6) to a 50-42 state tournament second round win over Cloud and the Lions at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School Tuesday night.
Thomas will lead Central Dauphin against Cheltenham in a quarterfinal matchup tonight.
Alyssa Thomas might find enough room to roam in the open floor to score 35 or more points. Cheltenham isn't a walk-the-ball-up-the-floor team, and the tempo could be high octane from the opening tap. Thomas has scored 727 points this season alone. For most players, that's a pretty good career.
Football recruiting
• PressBox contributor Dave Lomonico took an extensive look this week at Maryland's in-state recruiting.
Ron Darby, a speed-burner from nearby Potomac High, received a verbal offer from Maryland before his sophomore year. Owings Mills junior offensive tackle Donovan Smith already has multiple Division I offers, but Maryland was one of the first schools on board.
"Sooner or later I'll have to narrow down my favorites list," Smith said. "But Maryland will be there until the end because they offered me before these other schools."
• Ballou (D.C.) lineman Jamar Lewter visited College Park earlier this month.
"The only school I visited was Maryland a few weeks ago for the Duke game," he said. "It was good. This time I attended a basketball game and it was just like the football game, even a little bit more hyped since they beat Duke.
• Red Lion, Pa., lineman Andrew Zeller has picked up an offer from the Terps.
"Duke offered me on Friday and then Maryland offered on Monday," Zeller said on Thursday afternoon. "I've gotten a lot of feedback from schools. I've heard from UConn, and I've actually visited there. I've heard from Georgia Tech, Illinois, Oregon, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Temple."